Teachers rally in support of education funding last year.
The Washington Post published a story looking at the Montgomery County teachers’ union, and how union leadership has worked with the school district on training teachers, firing low-performing teacher and setting budget priorities.
The cooperation is one reason the suburban D.C. district is one of the nation’s best public school systems, according to some quoted in the story.
It’s not all positive: Critics argue the school board has promised unsustainable pay and benefits.
But the Post story argues Montgomery County is getting more done by working together:
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush started the Foundation for Excellence in Education to push new education policies — some of which were pioneered in Florida during Bush’s two terms.
Step Up For Students, the Tampa non-profit that administers the state’s private school scholarship program for low-income students received $1.23 million. The Florida Charter School Alliance, a new group that shares leadership with Bush’s network of foundations, got a $159,743 grant.
Opponents of the parent trigger have urged constituents to call Sen. Ronda Storms.
The parent trigger debate could reach its conclusion today, with the Senate scheduled to vote of the bill.
The vote is expected to be very close, and supporters and opponents have stepped up their efforts this week.
A StateImpact Florida reader says she got a phone call yesterday urging her to call Sen. Ronda Storms and tell her to vote against the bill. The general tone of the call was that Darth Vader was attempting to takeover Florida schools through the proposed parent trigger legislation, she says.
An Ohio state agency is suing Columbus public schools over the use of “seclusion rooms often used to isolate special needs students, according to our colleagues at StateImpact Ohio.
Florida also allows schools to seclude and restrain students with disabilities. The state places a few limits on schools: Students can not be choked or their breathing restricted; and schools can not turn off the lights in a room where a student is secluded.
A bill proposed this year would have placed additional limits on schools, such as requiring anyone placing restraints on a student to be trained by the school district and requiring a medical evaluation after a student has been restrained.
That bill is in a Senate committee as the session winds down its final days.
The legislative budget deal ties up a number of loose ends with the University of South Florida.
The fight over whether to create an independent 12th university from the University of South Florida Polytechnic provided the most dramatic moments of this year’s legislative budget debate.
Students bused up to the Capitol to protest. Newsrooms flooded the zone and made it the big story. And senators questioned their colleagues’ motives — and candidness.
Lawmakers wrapped up a budget deal this week, with the key concession to Senate budget chairman JD Alexander to create the new university. Here’s a wrap-up on everything USF-related in the budget:
Pinellas County schools interim superintendent John Stewart recommended closing Life Force Arts and Technology Academy.
Bonnie Harvin says her 11-year-old daughter is doing well at Life Force Arts and Technology Academy in Clearwater.
“She’s a straight A student,” says Harvin. “Her FCAT scores are above grade level. So yes, I do think she has improves. A lot”
But Pinellas County school board members say the evidence to close Life Force is “overwhelming.” The charter school is in bankruptcy, it changed its curriculum without permission and it’s failing to serve students with disabilities.
“If corrections can not be made then I think we should close the school,” says school board member Carol Cook.
The school uses a controversial curriculum from the Church of Scientology, first reported by the Tampa Bay Times. But school board members said Scientology did not affect their decision.
Rep. Mike Bileca is one of a handful of sponsors of the 'parent trigger' legislation. Parent groups opposing the bill feel they have been shut out of debate.
Education activists say Florida lawmakers have repeatedly shut down public comment on a bill that would allow parents to choose how to restructure
Fund Education Now, 50th No More and other groups critical of Florida’s recent education policy say that at each of three State House hearings on the so-called ‘parent trigger’ bill, those opposing the idea had little or no time to make their arguments. The parents noted they drove several hours, hired babysitters and missed time with their children to travel to Tallahassee.
UPDATE: Parent Revolution, the California-based group that supports parent trigger legislation nationwide says Florida unions are creating “boogeymen.”
A Senate committee approved the bill Saturday and it now heads to the Senate floor. The House approved the bill last week. Here’s all you need to know about the ‘parent trigger.’
Last night comedian — er — conservative talk show host Stephen Colbert took on the story of Dawn Quarles, a teacher at Pace High School in the Panhandle. Quarles faces a $1,000 fine for charges she violated Florida’s new law placing strict limits on who can register voters.
Colbert declared Quarles, and other teachers, were “People Who Are Destroying America.”
Colbert’s piece clearly makes the case Quarles was trying to promote voter fraud. It also suggests high school students might jump from a second story window if they are prematurely registered to vote.
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