Tonight’s the Town Hall on Session 2013, live from Fort Lauderdale.
Florida legislative leaders and journalists from the Miami Herald and WLRN Radio will discuss the big issues lawmakers plan to tackle during the 60-day session that begins Tuesday, March 5th.
Education will be one of the biggest policy issues this year. Lawmakers will answer your questions about topics like the parent trigger bill, teacher evaluations, and Common Core standards.
Radio listeners can hear the discussion at 6:30PM on WLRN 91.3FM and stations across the state.
The Florida Board of Governors approved a two-part plan to expand online learning in higher education.
The Florida Board of Governors has approved a plan to add online learning options in the State University System.
The board’s strategic planning committee has been taking testimony and working with those with a stake in the decision for more than a year on how Florida should expand online learning.
Weatherford said he is pleased with the Board of Governor’s work.
“I think they’ve set a great course for the Legislature and put us in a position to where we can utilize technology and leverage technology to creating that 21st century environment that our education system …and our students are looking for,” Weatherford said. “Hopefully it will turn into good policy this session.” Continue Reading →
Resolutions issued by the NAACP and LULAC Florida refer to parent trigger bills as controversial and experimental.
Two civil right groups have teamed up to write resolutions against the proposed Parent Empowerment in Education bill in Florida.
The bill — best known as the “parent trigger” — passed the Florida House last year but failed on a tie vote in the Senate on the final day of the legislative session.
“Currently it is done on a class by class basis,” said Rep. George Moraitis, R-Fort Lauderdale, the bill’s sponsor. “This would change it to a school wide average, which is the same as the charter schools have.”
Mike Kooi with the Florida Department of Education says districts may come up with a variety of teacher evaluation plans, as long as they comply with the Student Success Act.
That’s because evaluations will vary — not just between charter schools and regular public schools — but between public school districts.
Mike Kooi, Executive Director of the Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice, has been trying to set the record straight after a legislative committee took up a new charter school bill earlier this month. The bill would set standards for opening a charter school and add regulations to existing ones, but it left the teacher’s union and others with the wrong idea.
“They were under the incorrect impression that the bill took charter schools out of the requirement for teacher evaluation systems, and that just simply isn’t the case,” Kooi said.
By 2014-15, all public school teachers in Florida – including those at privately run charter schools – will have to be evaluated based on standards set forth by the Student Success Act, also known as Senate Bill 736.
State laws sets standards for public school teacher evaluations. Whether charter school teachers will be evaluated on par with their traditional public school counterparts is questionable.
The way charter school teachers are evaluated has become a source of conflict for teachers and for lawmakers in Tallahassee.
The question isn’t whether charter teachers have to be evaluated under state law – they do.
The point of contention is whether those evaluations will be the same, putting teachers in both camps on a par with each other. That seems to be open to interpretation.
The recommended budget includes a boost in teacher salaries and classroom supplies, money for digital instruction materials, and funds for districts to implement additional safety measures following the Sandy Hook shootings.
It provides $100 million for charter school facilities and another $100 million to expand STEM programs at Florida universities.
Senate President Don Gaetz says students and teachers should have school choice options.
Supporters say the charter school bill that has a good chance of passing Florida’s Republican controlled Legislature this year will better regulate charters and expand choices for parents.
“It’s great public policy. It empowers families. It empowers parents, gives them the choices that they need,” Weatherford told StateImpact Florida. “It engages them in the education of their children.”
The measure enables parents at a chronically failing school to petition the school board for significant changes. Turnaround options include firing some or all of the staff, letting a charter school operator take over or closing the school. Seven states, including California, Indiana and Texas, have some version of a parent-trigger law in place.
Education Commissioner Tony Bennett updated a Senate committee on the transition to new state education standards.
Education Commissioner Tony Bennett updated a Senate budget committee that oversees Florida education funding on the implementation of Common Core State Standards today.
Bennett gave a presentation explaining where we are in the process and what’s next. He told the committee the Common Core will transform learning, teaching and assessments.
“Florida’s children will be exposed to a set of standards that will enable them – if mastered – to compete with students not only across our country but around the world,” Bennett said.
The report lays out the purpose of Common Core: To define the English language arts, literacy, and mathematical skills and knowledge students in grades K-12 should achieve in order to graduate from high school ready to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing academic college courses and workforce training programs.
“I think it was an unintended stroke of genius that you have international benchmark standards developed by states that honor local control,” Bennett said. “I think that is a very huge benefit to these standards and the fact that they produce students who are college and career ready.”
Bennett ticked off the state’s goals during his presentation. Continue Reading →
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Tonight’s the Town Hall on Session 2013, live from Fort Lauderdale.
