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.
Rep. Mike Bileca was one of a handful of sponsors of the 'parent trigger' legislation. Parent groups opposing the bill feel they have been shut out of debate.
The New York Times is hosting a debate among national education leaders about the push for so-called “parent trigger” laws in many states.
Florida’s Senate rejected the proposal on the final day of the session, so of course Florida plays a prominent role in the discussion.
Parent triggers would allow a majority of parents at schools repeatedly failing to meet federal standards to choose one of four options to restructure the school. Those options include replacing the principal and or staff, closing the school or converting the school to a charter school.
It’s the last option that has drawn the most scrutiny, with education historian Dianne Ravitch arguing parent triggers are pushed by corporate charter school management firms for their own profit.
StateImpact Florida won first place for journalism blogging in the Education Writers Association awards.
The Education Writers Association announced its national awards today, and StateImpact Florida took home the top prize for journalism blogging.
Our collaborative investigation with the Miami Herald looking at the number of charter schools enrolling students with severe disabilities took second place in the investigative broadcast category.
We’ve only been up and running since August, but the blogging award recognizes our coverage of a range of pressing education issues including how well schools serve students with disabilities, recent changes to Florida’s system of lottery-funded college scholarships, and Gov. Rick Scott’s singling out anthropologists as a means of overhauling state universities.
What's in that burger your child is eating at school?
So-called “pink slime” has joined ketchup-as-a-vegetable, peanut allergies and chocolate milk as the school lunch controversy of the moment.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday that schools will have the choice of whether to purchase ground beef that contains the filler product critics have called “pink slime.”
The filler is beef trimmings from which the fat has been rendered and then pressed into blocks. The blocks are treated with ammonium hydroxide gas to kill bacteria and other food-borne pathogens.
Florida State University Schools director Lynn Wicker
A charter school affiliated with Florida State University is building an online community to support the state’s more than 500 charter schools.
The site, developers say, will serve as a hub for curriculum, instruction and assessment assistance tailored for charter schools. The hub will build off the current CPALMS site, which offers the same types of support and resources to traditional public schools.
“They can see that other people are having the same challenges and share solutions,” Lynn Wicker, director of the Florida State University Schools, said in a statement. “It really won’t matter where you are geographically in the state: You’ll have the same access to the same resources.”
The project is funded by a $500,000 grant from the Florida Department of Education. More details here.
The piece also looks at school performance, referencing a Tampa Bay Times story that looked at whether any evidence exists that the school is out-performing district schools. Also worth noting is this follow-up, which shows how the school jiggered its Advanced Placement test results to a more PR-friendly figure.
The Education Week story notes that Florida Virtual is an unusual animal in the world of online education.
Accelerated learning — Students who want to graduate high school in less than four years can do so if Gov. Rick Scott signs this bill into law. This was a top priority of the Foundation for Florida’s Future, the education non-profit founded by former Gov. Jeb Bush.
Florida parents and teachers are finding new ways to embarrass students.
The parents of a South Florida seventh-grader forced him to wear a sandwich board to publicize his poor grades and preference for cracking up his classmates, according to WSVN television.
Michael Bell Jr. is standing at a Kendall intersection wearing the sign.
As other students enjoy their spring break, Michael will be out holding his sign. “I got an F in most of my classes, so as a punishment, I’m supposed to stay here for the whole spring break,” said Michael.
Michael’s father hopes Michael will learn a lesson and understand the importance of getting good grades. “I don’t know any other way, I’m trying to reach him. He doesn’t want to be reached, and this is my last resort,” said Michael Bell Sr.
In addition to the bad grades, Michael’s teachers told his parents he is a little bit too much of a class clown. “If you don’t do right then you get a lot of stuff taken from you,” said Michael.
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.
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives. Learn More »
