John O'Connor is the Miami-based education reporter for StateImpact Florida. John previously covered politics, the budget and taxes for The (Columbia, S.C) State. He is a graduate of Allegheny College and the University of Maryland.
Fewer Florida schools earned an A this year after state officials raised standards.
Fewer Florida schools earned an ‘A’ on the state’s annual report card, while more schools saw their grades drop to ‘C’, ‘D’ and ‘F,’ according to state Department of Education data released this morning.
Last year 58 percent of Florida elementary and middle schools earned a ‘A’ grade. This year the percentage fell to 43 percent. That’s 368 fewer schools earning a ‘A.’
At the other end of the spectrum, an additional 14 schools earned an ‘F’ — a total of 47.
The percentage of schools earning ‘B,’ ‘C,’ and ‘D’ grade also increased, with the number of ‘D’ schools doubling.
The survey also found 30 percent of Florida 8th graders read five or fewer pages in class or for homework each day. And more than two-thirds of Florida 8th graders said they had not been taught about engineering and technology.
The report argues that curriculum at U.S. schools is not strenuous enough and that work loads are too light compared to other nations.
“Teaching is not easy work, and most teachers work very hard every day at their
practice,” the study’s authors write. “But it’s clear that too many students are not being engaged in class.
“These students don’t understand their teachers, and they don’t feel like they are always learning.”
Gracie Fowler dropping her son, Jackson, and daughter, Havilah, off at karate lessons. She wants Florida to expand access to Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act to ensure coverage for her kids and herself, but doesn't think it should come at the expense of schools.
Gracie Fowler earns $11 an hour at an Orlando title company. It’s just enough that sometimes she earns too much for her two kids to qualify for Medicaid.
That’s what happened for two months earlier this year.
“Luckily they didn’t get sick but that was like the only couple of months where they didn’t have a little ear infection or they didn’t need to be tested for strep,” she says. “If they would have needed to go to the doctor then it would have been an emergency room visit. ”
Fowler, 35, recently got insurance through her job. But she’s worried she or her children, Jackson, 8, and Havilah, 6, could lose health coverage again. Sometimes it depends on whether Jackson and Havilah’s father pays child support.
And if Florida expands Medicaid to cover more adults, she’d be eligible — and that could save her $120 a month.
“That’s heavy-duty to me. My phone bill is $50,” she says, one of many tough budget choices she makes in her household. “I’m scared. I’m a single mom. This rides on me. These children are with me 99 percent of the time.”
But Gov. Rick Scott is worried about a heavy-duty bill for expanding Medicaid.
Gov. Rick Scott says Florida students may be taking too many tests. But Scott says assessments are important to measuring school quality.
Gov. Rick Scott says Florida students might be tested too much, and is talking to teachers and education officials about what changes should be made to the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
Scott’s made the comments Friday at a newspaper editor meeting, the Associated Press reported.
Testing is important to measure quality, Scott said, but the state must find balance. From the story:
“Parents and taxpayers expect measurement. We’ve got to measure, we’ve to find out who the best schools are,” Scott said. “We have to have a good measurement system but we have to make sure we don’t have too much of it.”
He said among the FCAT, federal testing and end-of-course exams, students might be tested too much. He said he is talking to officials and teachers about what changes should be made.
“In the end, I think it’s going to change a lot,” he said.
A student who tried to stop a classmate from being bullied and was then attacked himself is suing Palm Beach County schools because a bus driver did not follow the county’s anti-bullying policy, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Palm Beach County schools have one of the state’s highest rates of bullying, according to state data, with one bullying incident for every 95 students. It’s not the first time the school district has been sued over bullying.
A bank owned sign is seen in front of a foreclosed home on December 7, 2010 in Miami, Florida.
The Florida real estate market is showing signs it has finally hit bottom, which is good news for schools suffering budget cuts due to a declining property tax base.
Martin County officials reported the county’s property tax base declined 1 percent last year. That’s less than county officials expected and the smallest decline in five years.
Former California State Sen. Gloria Romero help write the nation's first parent trigger law.
Former California State Sen. Gloria Romero writing at redefinED takes education historian Diane Ravitch and others to task over the inspiration for the parent trigger.
Why does it matter to Florida?
Because the parent trigger was the most contentious education bill during the last legislative session and it’s coming back when lawmakers return in 2013. The bill allows parents at failing schools to choose how to restructure the school, including replacing faculty or principals, closing the school or converting to a charter school.
Ravitch has argued the bill is the brainchild of the conservative-leaning American Legislative Exchange Council. But Romero said the bill was born in California, among Democrats:
Jeffrey Johnston killed himself in 2005 after being picked on by classmates. Florida's anti-bullying law is named after him.
Three of every ten bullying incidents reported in Florida last year happened in Palm Beach County schools, according to state data.
That’s been the case since Florida approved a law in 2008 requiring school districts to report bullying and follow-up with parents — or face penalties.
Palm Beach County schools reported one incident of bullying for every 95 students during the 2010-2011 school year – the highest rate among Florida’s large schools districts. That rate is three and a half times higher than Tampa’s Hillsborough County schools, four times higher than Miami-Dade County schools and 10 times higher than neighboring Broward County schools.
Instead, 143 bullying incidents were not reported to the state because of a glitch with the school district’s new computer system, said district spokeswoman Jackie Johnson.
With the mistake, Alachua County school district was the largest of Florida’s 10 districts to report no bullying in 2010-2011.
With the mistake corrected, Alachua County schools had the fourth-highest rate of bullying in the state – with one case for every 192 students. That’s more than twice the state average rate.
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