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.
Patrick Farrell / Miami Herald Staff
Jeremy Rosende participates in his first-grade art class at the Renaissance Charter School in Coral Springs.
Florida charter schools are a $400 million business operating with little oversight whose business interests occasionally conflict with their educational mission, according to the first story in a Miami Herald three-part investigation published Sunday.
The story boils the issues down to these:
Joe Raedle / Getty News Images
Gov. Rick Scott proposed adding $1 billion to K-12 budgets Wednesday.
Here’s a sampling of coverage of the budget proposal Gov. Rick Scott unveiled Wednesday. Scott wants to add $1 billion to K-12 education, but it could come at the expense of Medicaid and other state programs.
Scott vowed to veto any budget that did not increase K-12 funding.
From the Palm Beach Post:
Florida Department of Education
Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson is recommending higher 10th grade reading requirements.
Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson said his decision to raise reading test requirements means fewer students will pass, but that state teachers and students will rise to the occasion
Of particular concern are the new reading requirements for 10th graders on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Students must meet a minimum score in order to be considered proficient and graduate from high school.
School district superintendents have said the current scores are too high. A panel of school, college and business experts recommended a score of 243.
Robinson announced Wednesday he recommends 10th graders score at least 245.
Joe Raedle / Getty News Images
Gov. Rick Scott listens at a Miami business roundtable meeting in August.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott wants to add $1 billion for Florida education, according to the News Service of Florida, despite an expected $2 billion budget shortfall.
Scott will release his budget today, but News Service of Florida said he gave school leaders a preview Tuesday:
In a conference call with state school superintendents Tuesday, Scott, who will be proposing his second budget since getting elected in 2010, said he plans to call for lawmakers to increase per-pupil spending from $6,262 to $6,372, even after factoring in expected growth of about 30,000 more students over the current school year.
A spokesman for the governor said late Tuesday that officials in the governor’s office believe it would be one of the largest increases in K-12 spending in recent history if lawmakers were to go along…
His spokesman, Lane Wright, declined to say Tuesday where the governor will propose to cut spending to be able to afford the proposed boost in education spending a cut that will need to be even larger because of revenue projections that are off by nearly $2 billion over what legislators earmarked this year.
Florida House of Representatives
Republican Rep. Janet Adkins has introduced a bill intended to equalize funding for charter and district school students.
A new charter school advocacy group has just one item on their Legislative agenda come January — Equal funding for charter schools students.
The group, the Florida Charter School Alliance, said a 2010 Ball State University survey showed Florida charter schools receive $2,749 less, on average, per student than district schools.
That 25.1 percent gap put Florida among states with a “severe” difference in funding charter and district schools Most of that Most of the difference comes from the roughly $2,000 additional dollars district schools receive in local tax dollars.
So the group is getting behind HB 903, sponsored by Fernandina Beach Republican Rep. Janet Adkins. Adkins sits on a number of education committees, and is vice-chairman of the PreK-12 Appropriations subcommittee.
60 Minutes
Austin and Arielle Metzger discuss living in a truck with '60 Minutes'' Scott Pelley.
Two Seminole County students living in a truck became the face of the Great Recession thanks to Sunday’s ’60 Minutes’ profile.
Stetson University put on its white hat and rode to their rescue Thursday.
The DeLand school offered Arielle, 15, and Austin Metzger, 13, full scholarships. School president Wendy Libby told the Orlando Sentinel the school community demanded to help after seeing Arielle in a Stetson t-shirt,
The scholarships are just part of what the Metzger family said has been an avalanche of support. Seminole County schools said they have also been overwhelmed with offers to support the district’s homeless students program.
We’re guaranteed a few comments every time we write about Gov. Rick Scott on StateImpact Florida. A recent post about a petition to remove Scott’s signature from college diplomas was no different.
Readers rekindled the debate about whether Florida universities should “drive” more students into science, technology, engineering and math fields.
Trena G said government doesn’t have the authority to require a student pursue a certain degree.
Fine if he wants to make SUGGESTIONS to individual students, as to what they might enjoy studying. But, the gov has no right to dictate what people study, or what courses the school can offer. The schools are there to serve the students, not to serve the governor, or his state. The state is there to serve the students, not the other way around.
Dave said Scott is right to have some foresight to protect taxpayers from the future costs of current poor decisions:
The petition signers will soon be in some city park screaming at us because their degree in 15th century Chinese literature isn’t helping them find a job…liberals tend to rebel against common sense. And we have to suffer the consequences by bailing the idiots of out student loans then paying for a lifetime of welfare while they raise 3 kids on a McDonald’s job.
Bassetjaw offered an idea on how to encourage STEM graduates:
A market solution would be to waive all or a significant amount of tuition for students that attain STEM degrees with a GPA above 3.0. That would take someone with a brain to come up with. Sorry Florida you elected him.
What’s your take? Add it to the comments or shoot us an email.
Reader reaction is an important part of building StateImpact Florida’s education coverage. Feedback Loop will be a regular feature highlighting your questions, criticisms and comments.
Matt Stiles / NPR
This map shows charter school attendance in every Florida county. Click on the image for an interactive map.
More than two dozen counties did not have a charter school during the last school year, despite a rising percentage of Florida students attending charter schools.
These interactive maps show the counties without charters and the percentage of students in each county that attend charter schools.
Click on the image to view the interactive maps.
Mag3737 / Flickr
Which industries are adding the most jobs? Georgetown University researchers think they know the answer.
Marketing and sales and hospitality and tourism industries will create the most jobs in Florida between 2008 and 2018, according to a new Georgetown University report.
Overall, researchers expect the state will create 1.04 million jobs over the ten-year period.
The report projects information technology and health science will have the fastest percentage growth over that time period. At the bottom of the list is science, technology, engineering and math with just 3 percent growth and 21,100 new jobs expected.
According to the report, these five industries will create the most jobs in Florida:
Amy Kellogg / Flickr
The University of South Florida has responded to Gov. Rick Scott's questions about students and graduates.
A few weeks back Gov. Rick Scott sent state universities a list of questions for data on university students and graduates — including how much they are earning.
It’s all part of Scott’s push to realign state universities so that they produce more graduates in fields expecting job growth. Scott has emphasized science, technology, engineering and math fields, or STEM, in particular.
University of South Florida president Judy Genshaft has responded with a 106-page letter outlining the entire USF system’s efforts.
Read it after the jump:
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