From our investigation: Tres Whitlock types on the DynaVox tablet that serves as his voice. Whitlock, 17, has cerebral palsy and can’t speak on his own. He tried to enroll in a Hillsborough County charter school, but the school had concerns about the therapy and services he needs.
Our investigation revealed 86 percent of Florida charter schools don’t enroll any students with severe disabilities — like autism and cerebral palsy — compared to 50 percent of traditional public schools.
Florida is a big producer, and receiver, of Teach for America candidates.
The number of Teach for America teachers working in Florida schools is going up.
Teach for America recruits, trains and places candidates — often recent college graduates — in low-income schools.
The program currently places teachers in just two Florida school districts: Miami-Dade and Duval.
This year, 300 TFA teachers are on Miami-Dade school rosters.
In 2010, there were 150 TFA teachers working in Miami-Dade schools. And 250 the year before.
Jacksonville area schools have 160 TFA teachers in its teaching corps this year. That’s up from 110 in 2011 and 100 the year before. Continue Reading →
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush at the Republican National Convention in Tampa.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush was all about education during his Thursday night speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa.
He kicked off the speech by asking President Obama to stop “blaming your predecessor” for today’s problems.
“Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let’s talk a little bit about our kids and education,” said Bush — the younger brother of George W. Bush.
Jeb Bush promoted school choice, teacher tenure and his usual education reforms. His focus was on preparing students for the right jobs that help the U.S. economy.
“China and India produced eight times more engineering students each year than the United States,” Bush said. “This is a moral cost to our country, our failing schools need to be fixed.”
Setting high standards for teachers and students can change that, according to the man known as the “education Governor.” Continue Reading →
Broward Schools already prohibit students from panhandling. Should other counties follow their lead?
Students trying to raise funds for school bands, athletic teams and school trips like to set up at busy intersections to collect money.
And one Florida lawmaker is trying to ban students in North Lauderdale, Fla. from doing that.
North Lauderdale City Commissioner Jerry Graziose says students are putting themselves at risk.
“Fundraising could be better handled not standing in the middle of a six lane highway,” Graziose said. “They’re walking in between cars at major intersections.”
Graziose has proposed a city ordinance that would ban students in kindergarten through 12th grade from panhandling. Continue Reading →
College students with a sense of civic engagement are more likely to complete a degree, according to the Lumina Foundation panel Tuesday.
The Lumina Foundation hosted a panel discussion in Ybor City Tuesday discussing the importance of graduating students with a post-secondary degree.
The foundation, which is an underwriter of StateImpact Florida, has one big goal: to increase the percentage of Americans with high-quality degrees to 60 percent by 2025.
According to a report by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, 59 percent of Florida’s jobs will require postsecondary education by 2018.
Here are four suggestions the expert panel had for colleges trying to improve retention and graduation rates:Â Continue Reading →
JP Taravela High Principal Shawn Cerra with the school's guidance director, Jody Gaver.
When JP Taravela High school went into the summer break, there were 16 teacher vacancies — three resigned or relocated, 13 retired.
Over the summer, five more teachers resigned, according to the school’s principal Shawn Cerra.
“I lost four out of the five to the virtual world,” he said.
The Broward County teachers left the school to become Florida Virtual School teachers.
“They showed the respect that we look for by letting me know they were going into the interview or when they filled out an application,” he said. “So I had an idea that some were interested in leaving, but I really didn’t know for sure until late July, early August.
“So I guess that’s when [FLVS] was doing their hiring — in the middle to late July.”
Cerra had just two weeks to find and hire five new teachers. Continue Reading →
About 148,000 students sucessfully completed 303,000 half-credit Florida Virtual School courses this past school year.
And PE — as in physical education — is a popular class, according to students.
So how do you take PE virtually?
There are two half-credit courses: Personal Fitness and Fitness Lifestyle and Design.
“They make you run, they make you do reps of crunches and you’re supposed to record it,” says student Vanessa Richter, a senior at Terra Environmental Research Institute in Miami.
Students are asked to record their heart rate before and after they exercise — its supposed to serve as proof that students did in fact complete the assignment.
Robert Runcie starts his first full school year as the Broward County School District Superintendent.
Robert Runcie began his first full year on the job as head of Broward County Schools.
The district has been rebounding from School Board member arrests and a statewide Grand Jury report that called the Board inept and corrupted by contractors and lobbyists.
The former chief of staff for the Chicago Board of Education says the scope of  job in Broward is similar to that of the Windy City.
Runcie spoke with WLRN’s Phil Latzman about restoring confidence in Broward’s scandal-ridden school system.
Q: Superintendent Runcie, of no fault of your own you’ve come in to a school system wracked with scandal in recent years. Two members of the school board were arrested on bribery charges. There was a very harsh grand jury report severely criticizing the district’s practices. These are problems you inherited, but do you feel you have to restore faith in Broward Schools?
A: We absolutely have to work very diligently to restore public trust and confidence in the institution. Continue Reading →
A lot of Florida students got to stay home from school today because of Tropical Storm Isaac — even though it didn’t strongly affect many parts of the state.
In South Florida, rain and wind was pretty light, but districts made the decision on Saturday to cancel school today.
Should they have reopened schools once Isaac made its way north?
Parents and students took to social media saying some districts jumped the gun. But others appreciated the precaution.
Check out our Storify after the jump, and read why one school district made the decision to cancel classes early on.
Broward County School Board members said the Religious Freedom Amendment would take money away from public schools.
The battle over Amendment 8 — the Religious Freedom Amendment — is being fought on several fronts: civil rights, the maintenance of vital social services and, recently, public education.
The very prospect of allowing religious organizations to receive public funds goaded the Broward County school board to issue a barely-legal public warning last week.
The board said opening the treasury to the faith-based could not possibly end well for public schools.
It said any money awarded to “sectarian” schools would be money siphoned away from public and charter schools.
It’s the one raised against former Gov. Jeb Bush’s “Opportunity Scholarship” program. Continue Reading →
About StateImpact
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives. Learn More »
[fusion_map]
