High school dropouts looking to prepare for a General Educational Development test (GED) now have to pay for classes that used to be free. The same applies to those who want to take courses in English as a second language. The cost is minimal, but it could be a deal breaker for people having trouble making ends meet.
The Sun Sentinellays out the numbers. Nearly 340,000 adults took basic education classes last year. That number is expected to shrink this year by at least 38 percent. In Broward County alone, there’s been a 70 percent drop in students taking GED preparation courses.
Some students working on college degrees in Florida are signing a petition asking Governor Rick Scott not to sign their diplomas. The creator of the petition says it’s because of the governor’s repeated assaults on the Florida education system.
Petition author Eric Curtisson writes that Scott works constantly to remove students’ rights to higher education. Curtisson doesn’t offer examples, but the governor has gotten plenty of criticism in the education arena.
College debt is a major theme among the Occupy Wall Street protests, such as this October rally in Washington, D.C.
OnlineUniversity.net has released an infographic on schools that graduate students with the most and least college loan debt. And three of the top five colleges with the highest student debt are in Florida.
The University of South Florida has responded to Gov. Rick Scott's questions about students and graduates.
A few weeks back Gov. Rick Scott sent state universities a list of questions for data on university students and graduates — including how much they are earning.
It’s all part of Scott’s push to realign state universities so that they produce more graduates in fields expecting job growth. Scott has emphasized science, technology, engineering and math fields, or STEM, in particular.
University of South Florida president Judy Genshaft has responded with a 106-page letter outlining the entire USF system’s efforts.
A Florida lawmaker has introduced a bill to earmark gaming revenue for education. Lawmakers are likely to debate allowing megacasinos.
A Jacksonville state Senator has filed a bill that would earmark gambling money for K-12 education as state lawmakers prepare to debate allowing megacasinos, according to the Jacksonville TImes-Union.
The bill would set aside 2 percent of gaming revenue for a Department of Education endowment and juvenile justice.
But is it a good idea to rely on gambling to fund schools?
Lawmakers have had to restrict eligibility for the lottery-funded Bright Futures scholarship program as revenues have flattened, and eventually declined, in the past few years. Lottery revenues typically plateau as they reach “maturity,” experts say.
Shamir Ali of Bangladesh made national headlines after StateImpact Florida and others described his plight: He was being deported, even though the Obama Administration’s policy was to allow college students like him to stay in the U.S.
That’s put a wrench into his plans to enroll in college full-time. Here’s an update from Shamir:
“I’m trying to sign up for full-time spring 2011 classes at Miami Dade College.
They acknowledged that I’m legal but want evidence that I’ve been in Florida for at least 12 months, which I have. This has nothing to do with ICE. It has to do with the State of Florida requiring strict evidence of residency to qualify for in state tuition. Continue Reading →
An Orlando mom just gave her child a lesson in how not to handle a bully. 31-year-old Leslie Ann Thomas is facing a string of charges for attacking an Orange County middle school student.
Investigators say Thomas did not have permission to be on school property when she entered the lunchroom and hit one of the kids. Witnesses say she blocked others from trying to help. Her daughter is also accused of participating in the fight.
It’s not known what kind of bullying her daughter endured and whether Thomas had made any efforts to discuss the problem with school administrators.
The Academy of Arts and Minds in Coconut Grove used to be a shopping mall. But no one was buying space, so the owner of the property founded a charter school and now rents his property to his school. The campus still looks like a shopping mall. There are wrap-around balconies on every floor and the classroom have floor-to-ceiling windows very much like a store front.
Miami-Dade school district officials say a Coconut Grove charter school is “heading in the right direction” and they will not close the school this month, according to the Miami Herald.
The school — which is A-rated — has drawn criticism for a handful of practices:
• For years, Arts & Minds has charged fees ranging from $15 for classes like math, reading and physical education to $60 for classes like dance, graphic design and photography. School district officials say some of those fees are illegal, and want to examine the records.
• This year, Arts & Minds fell behind in evaluating and crafting education plans for special-needs students.
• Some classes had neither teachers nor textbooks for the first five weeks of school, parents said.
Parents have also questioned the role of the school’s founder, Manuel Alonso-Poch, who serves as the school’s landlord, manager and food-service provider. His cousin, Ruth “Chuny” Montaner, is the chairwoman of the governing board.
Florida is one of 11 states that asked the U.S. Department of Education to waive federal No Child Left Behind provisions.
A couple of months ago, President Obama agreed to offer states more flexibility from the federal mandates if states submitted a request showing their commitment to boost student achievement.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, “We set a high bar and an aggressive deadline, but these states rose to the challenge.”
Each state designed a plan to do the following:
Develop rigorous accountability systems that include a focus on low-performing schools and schools with persistent achievement gaps. Continue Reading →
“I was informed during the EET (Evaluating Effective Teachers) orientation session last year that I would only be observed by a peer teacher that had experience in my level and field,” Thomas wrote in an email to evaluator Justin Youmans on October 7. “I thus refuse to be evaluated by any teacher who has no experience teaching Social Studies in a Hillsborough County High School.”
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