Florida Readiness Gauge / Florida Department of Education
This map shows how school districts are reporting broadband Internet access. Green districts mean at least 75 percent of schools meet standards. Red districts mean less than 25 percent of schools meet standards.
The State Board of Education will get an update next week on Florida’s next education standards, the Common Core State Standards.
The meeting will include information about the technology needed to implement the new assessments that are scheduled to begin in early 2015.
Florida is among a group of states developing the PARCC assessments, or Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers.
The PARCC tests will be given online.
The main concern is technology and whether the proper equipment will be in place for testing in all 67 districts when the 2014-15 school year begins.
The Florida Department of Education has come up with a readiness gauge to measure each district’s progress toward meeting Common Core and digital learning deadlines.
A map of Florida gives each district a color based on readiness.
Education Commissioner Tony Bennett says Common Core is about local control, not federal intervention.
Education Commissioner Tony Bennett says he will have more information next week about plans for implementing new education standards known as Common Core.
“We have rolled out a very aggressive implementation plan,” Bennett said. “We know that we have to be fully implemented and prepared to teach and assess these standards in 2014-15.”
Florida and 45 other states are transitioning to Common Core.
Levesque is a divisive figure, drawing criticism from parent groups that charge she and Bush are out to boost the bottom line of private corporations at the expense of students.
We sat down with Levesque to discuss her mission and hear what she has to say to her detractors.
Q: You served as an education adviser to former Gov. Jeb Bush, and now you run two education policy organizations with him. One is Florida-focused, the other is national. What are you working to accomplish?
It gives parents a say in what changes should be made to a chronically failing school.
Turnaround options include closing the school, turning the school into a charter, and replacing the principal or the entire staff. The ultimate decision rests with the local school board.
Rep. Cynthia Stafford, D-Opa-locka, doesn’t see a need for the law. “Not only do parents have a voice, they have a seat at the table” already, she said.
Democrats have repeatedly argued against the bill, saying it’s designed to privatize education and turn public dollars over to for-profit charter school companies.
“I come to you today as a person who has spent almost 30 years believing that parents and students should have the ultimate right to choose the educational opportunity that meets their needs,” Bennett said. “It amazes me that we live in a land of freedom…and yet people oppose the freedom of parents and children to choose their schools.”
Gov. Rick Scott told the kids they’re changing the direction of the state.
It allows districts to operate their own version of a charter school, instead of the school being operated by an outside entity.
A popular Democrat is behind it.
The Florida Innovation Zone Schools Act is sponsored by panhandle Sen. Bill Montford, the CEO of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents.
Montford is a long time educator who has a middle school in Tallahassee named after him.
His bill frequently uses the term “innovation schools” instead of charters.
Speaker Will Weatherford says the House budget proposal goes above and beyond what Gov. Rick Scott requested when he asked lawmakers to prioritize education.
The Florida House has released its proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Speaker Will Weatherford says education was prioritized over everything else.
“The big winner is education,” Weatherford said. “We invested over a billion dollars into our K-12 education system from last year.”
He said that amounts to a 6.2 percent increase in overall education funding.
Weatherford said they created “a silo of funds” to be funneled down to the districts, including up to $676 million available for teacher pay.
“They can spend as much of that on salaries as they want or as little,” Weatherford said. “The reason why we like that is because it creates flexibility for the district.”
He hopes that at least half of whatever is set aside for teacher salaries will be merit-based.
The FEA says Florida's pension system is strong, and changing it would result in retirement insecurity for teachers.
While the Easter Bunny is delivering festive eggs this week, the Florida Education Association said lawmakers are trying to take a chunk out of teachers’ nest eggs.
“Our members who devote their professional lives to teaching our children and making sure they are safe and well cared for in our schools are already facing financial sacrifice,” said FEA Vice President Joanne McCall said. “Teachers earn less than those with similar levels of college education who enter professions like computer programming, public accountants, and nurses.”
Students will take the new Common Core assessments online. The assessments are still being developed, and school districts are scrambling to get the necessary equipment.
House Speaker Will Weatherford says Florida needs to be ready in case the test accompanying new education standards isn’t ready by a spring 2015 deadline.
The standards are a new way of teaching – students will delve deeply into fewer topics than they do now, and they’ll have to explain their answers. It also means the end of most Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests.
But the Department of Education is looking at a potential delay in implementing a new, accompanying test.
Speaker Will Weatherford said he hopes Florida won’t need a delay, but it might be necessary.
“There is a possibility that it’s not going to be ready for prime time,” Weatherford said. “So if it’s not, we’re going to have to have a Plan B. So I think it’s prudent of Commissioner Bennett to kind of have a backup plan just in case.
Patricia Levesque runs former Gov. Jeb Bush's Foundation for Florida's Future. She says the parent trigger bill is about giving parents a legal seat at the table when changes are needed at a failing school.
Supporters of the parent trigger bill held a briefing with reporters today near the Capitol.
The briefing was hosted by Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Florida’s Future. The foundation was created by former Gov. Jeb Bush.
“It’s a provision that says that schools need to make sure students are assigned to effective or highly effective teachers at least every other year,” Levesque said. “Schools that are low-income tend to have an over representation of teachers who” don’t meet that criteria.
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