Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, has introduced a bill allowing teachers to donate sick leave to colleagues.
If a cancer-stricken colleague has burned all of his or her sick leave, would you want to donate yours to help them out?
A Florida lawmakers has introduced a bill allowing just that.
Stuart Republican Rep. Gayle Harrell told TCPalm.com that the bill was inspired by Karen Gangi, a Martin County elementary teacher who used all her time off helping her husband recover from a brain injury in North Carolina.
Currently the law only allows teachers who are related and work in the same district to directly donate leave time. Teachers can donate time to “leave banks” but can’t specify which teachers get to use the time.
Harrell’s bill would not require districts to set up the leave program.
What do you think of the idea? Do you know colleagues who could benefit? Should lawmakers approve the bill?
The Academy of Arts and Minds in Coconut Grove used to be a shopping mall. But no one was buying space. That's when the owner of the property started up a charter school and now rents the property to his school. The campus still looks like a shopping mall with wrap-around balconies. Classrooms have floor-to-ceiling windows, much like a store front.
This story is a collaborative investigation between The Miami Herald and StateImpact Florida. Read the Herald’s story.
People who want to start up their own charter school must go through a rigorous application process. But after that initial hurdle, the school founders get a lot of freedom over how to run their publicly-funded schools and who to hire. And because of loopholes in Florida statues, a lot of taxpayer dollars can end up in the hands of one person.
Progress reports in Miami-Dade county schools have already been issued. But students at the Academy of Arts and Minds in Coconut Grove didn’t get a grade in biology, because they haven’t had a biology teacher for the first six weeks of school.
Sarah Gonzalez / StateImpact Florida
Academy of Arts & Minds students Darcy Morenza (10th), Toni Robotham (11th) with her little brother Brandon, and Darlene Valejjo (10th) on Open House night.
And on Open House night, parents want answers.
Parents introduce themselves as Janeysi’s mom and Hannah’s mom.
But Sharon Blate, the new biology teacher, doesn’t know who Janeysi and Hannah are.
“I have no idea who is in my class. I have not even seen the list yet. At a quarter to six was the first time I walked in here,” said Blate.
Gov. Rick Scott listens at a Miami business roundtable meeting in August. Scott wants state universities to encourage students into science and math degrees.
Colleges will need to produce more science and technology graduates, according to Gov. Rick Scott’s economic agenda released Wednesday.
Less than 20 percent of Florida university system graduates earn degrees in science, technology or math — also known as STEM — Scott wrote in a release. That rate of STEM graduates will not fill the estimated 120,000 high-tech jobs Florida will create by 2018.
Scott does not set a goal for state universities, but urges universities to “drive [their] graduates toward high employment and high earning careers.”
“In order to achieve these goals, it is critical that Florida establish a goal for STEM graduates over the next five and ten years,” Scott writes. “High expectations coupled with increased accountability will ensure that our universities are a driving force for economic growth.”
Hillsborough school district chef Ben Guggenmos shows Broward Elementary students how to build a dessert fruit pizza.
Part of the reason I moved to StateImpact Florida from a newspaper was the chance to learn some skills and try new things.
It turns out that producing radio news stories is much harder and a lot more work than I expected. You don’t show up sounding like NPR on your first day no matter how easy it sounds on the radio.
Between the equipment, techniques, editing and mixing, I’ve learned first-hand there are a lot of ways to ruin a story.
So I jumped when I saw a Hillsborough County schools press release about a new nutrition program. It’s fun and fluffy and not the world’s most important education story.
But I knew it would be a great chance to gather ambient sound, interview “characters” for the story and practice, practice practice for more important stories down the road.
A protestor holds up a sign at a Boston rally encouraging others to submit testimonials.
Teachers are joining the anti-corporate Occupy Wall Street movement that has been spreading across the country since mid-September.
The Occupy Education blog features photos of teachers holding up messages outlining how they work on behalf of their students. Many of the messages imply that administrators or bureaucrats undermine their efforts.
“I see my students as individuals, not data points. We aren’t perfect, we’re people. Learning is messy—sometimes you need to get your hands dirty,” one note says.
The site explains its purpose this way:
“This is a collection of adults and children’s messages that challenge public school to become something more than it is – messages that dare public school to serve students’ passions instead of politicians and vendors’ coffers.”
Just what kind of shape is the state budget in? Tune in this morning.
State economists are counting the contents of Florida’s piggy bank this morning to see how much money the state will have for its budget beginning July 1.
Earlier this year it looked like Florida might have a very small surplus. Estimates last week suggested the state economy has slowed and lawmakers could now face a $2 billion shortfall.
If revenues fail to meet expectations, school budgets may need to be cut — again — next year. That decision will be made after lawmakers return to Tallahassee in January.
You can watch the revenue meeting live here, starting at 9 a.m.
Parent Revolution is organizing parents to demand public school reforms.
Parents unhappy with their children’s schools are using labor union tactics to build support for charter schools, according to a story by the Associated Press.
California was the first state to adopt a so-called ‘parent trigger’ law, which allows a majority of parents to vote to convert a district school to a charter school. Florida Gov. Rick Scott is considering a similar law, according to his draft legislative agenda.
Movement leaders argue a parent’s first concern is his or her child:
Behind the parent empowerment movement is a feisty Los Angeles-based nonprofit, Parent Revolution, which in 2010 pushed through a landmark law giving parents authority to force turnarounds at failing schools through a petition.
Known as the “parent trigger,” the California law was the first of its kind in the nation. It inspired Texas and Mississippi to adopt similar laws and legislation is under consideration in 20 other states. Two states have voted down parent trigger bills.
“Parents have a different incentive structure than anyone else,” said Ben Austin, Parent Revolution’s executive director. “They’re the only ones who really care about kids.”
Parent Revolution also has the backing of the Gates Foundation, which has poured billions into education reform efforts. The foundation has given a $100 million grant to Hillsborough County to design a teacher evaluation and merit pay system.
What’s your view of groups such as Parent Revolution? Do you support a ‘parent trigger’ law in Florida? Do parents always know best when it comes to schooling?
Florida spends 18.1 percent less per K-12 student in state money than when the recession began in 2008, once figures are adjusted for inflation, according to the report.That means Florida is spending $705 less per student this year than it was in 2008.
South Carolina registered the highest budget cuts at 24.1 percent per student, while North Dakota increased funding by 24.2 percent per student.
Overall, 37 states are spending less per student this year than last. 30 states are spending less per student than they did four years ago.
The report argues that the budget cuts have hindered states’ ability to implement education reforms and extended the economic recovery.
So you think you want to make the switch and send your kid to a charter school, but you don’t know where to start.
As a part of our ongoing series on charter schools, we’ve identified the best places you can turn to to help you decide which Florida charter school is best for your child.
Find a Florida Charter
There are more than 500 charter schools in Florida today, and navigating the state Department of Education website isn’t always the quickest way to find what you’re looking for. Although the FDOE maps all of the charter schools throughout the state, it isn’t the best tool for locating schools near you.
We’ve found the Florida Consortium of Public Charters does a good job of finding the schools for you. For a list of charter schools located near your home or work zip code, you can search here.
Where are the “A” and “F” Charters?
Maybe you want your kid to attend only the top performing Florida charters. Or maybe you just want to know which schools are the failing charters. To get the rundown on school report cards from 1999-2011, you can click this FDOE page.
The program started with cereal, but has now added lots of other items — even Hi-Liter markers. School officials and dietitians say it’s possible to collect box tops and still choose healthy foods.
But many of the participating products are far from a health teacher’s dream: Betty Crocker SuperMoist cake mixes, Cocoa Puffs Brownie Crunch, Pillsbury Big Deluxe Cookies, Spider-Man Fruit Flavored Shapes.
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