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.
Teachers rally in March to protest budget cuts, including requiring teachers to take a three percent pay cut to pay for pensions.
Florida’s teacher union will challenge a law ending long-term contracts and requiring merit pay in court, according to the Associated Press.
The law, known as the Student Success Act or S. 736, was passed this spring. School districts are just starting to design systems to evaluate teachers and pay the highest-rated teachers more.
For more on why the legislature approved the law and what it requires, read this.
What do you think of the new requirements? What do you think of the lawsuit?
Gov. Rick Scott listens at a Miami business roundtable meeting in August. Scott has been circulating a Texas plan designed to quantify college and faculty performance.
Is it possible to evaluate a college professor the same way NFL scouts measure the speed, strength and quickness of college athletes?
The Texas model has sparked a Lone Star backlash from schools concerned the plan forces them to adopt a one-size-fits-all template, undermines research and damages the value of a degree. An organization of the nation’s top research universities has warned members about adopting the Texas reforms.
Supporters say the plan was meant to start a conversation. They believe they achieved that goal.
President Barack Obama unveils his jobs plan Monday at the White House.
President Barack Obama’s jobs bill would pump $1.7 billion dollars into Florida to preserve teacher and first responder jobs, according to details released this week.
Florida would also receive $1.3 billion to modernize and upgrade school facilities. The White House estimates the projects would support 16,600 jobs.
Republican presidential candidates at last week's debate in California. CNN and the Tea Party Express host a debate in Tampa tonight.
If you had to guess, how many of 2012 Republican presidential candidates appearing at this evening’s Tampa debate list education as an issue on their campaign web sites?
Just one: Radio host and former pizza executive Herman Cain.
If past performance is any guide, don’t expect education to be a major issue in this evening’s CNN/Tea Party Express debate. (Particularly with so much recent focus on Social Security).
President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan talk about "Race to the Top" during a stop at a Virginia elementary school last year.
Lawmakers gave a delayed go-ahead this week to compete in the latest round of federal Race to the Top education grants — this time for early childhood education projects. Here’s what to know about the latest version of the federal program to spur education innovation.
1. Another Race to the Top grant?
The federal education department announced in May they would award a $500 million pot of grants to improve education programs for children who have yet to enter kindergarten.The agency is specifically seeking programs which target children in low-income families.
Federal officials believe research proves children who enter school better prepared will be more likely to graduate high school and college. The program also emphasizes workforce development and the ability to measure progress.
Broward County parents need to arrange child care the week of Thanksgiving because schools will be closed.
Got plans for Thanksgiving? If you live in Broward County you might need to reschedule.
Broward County will close schools and furlough teachers on Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week in addition to the traditional Wednesday through Friday holiday.
Parents told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that they will have to scramble to arrange child care. Some cities said they were working on day camps that week.
The Texas Observer story also notes that Pearson products have spread their way throughout the education ecosystem, from science course materials to remedial programs for students who fail to score well on Pearson’s standardized tests.
Pearson, according to the Observer story, is just one high-profile beneficiary of the privatization of public schooling. The story pins blame on the federal No Child Left Behind law, which mandated standardized testing to measure student performance.
The upside, supporters say, is that testing is still the best way for parents to gauge their child’s progress and the quality of their schools.
Teachers rally against proposed budget cuts in March
Seminole County could turn classroom thermostats all the way up and athletes may have to pay to wear their school’s uniform.
The wife of a Polk County Tea Party congressman led a failed effort to raise money for college counselors whose positions were eliminated.
Many students can no longer walk to catch the bus after districts merged stops.
School districts have been forced to make painful budget choices as state property values decline and the economy continues to sputter. More than $2.1 billion has been cut from state education spending since 2008, according to the state education department.
This year, districts are facing an 8 percent cut, or $542 per student.
Florida students’ math skills rank just below Latvia and slightly better than Lithuania, according to a new state-by-state comparison of international math and reading tests.
The U.S. ranks 17th in the world on the Program for International Student Assessment tests, according to the analysis by Harvard University’s Program on Educational Policy and Governance.
Florida students scored below U.S. averages on both math and reading tests. Florida ranked 36th among the U.S. states on math, with 27.4 percent of students proficient. In reading 28 percent of students were proficient, ranking 31st among U.S. states.
The U.S. economy could grow more quickly if U.S. students scored as high as some of their foreign counterparts, the Harvard researchers concluded.
Education bills await lawmakers' January return to Tallahassee.
Education-related bill are stacking up in Tallahassee, four months before lawmakers return for the 2012 session.
Yesterday we wrote about Sen. Joe Negron’s bill that would allow voters to once again choose the state education commissioner. Here are other topics that will be on the calendar come January.
School Funding
At the top of the House heap is HB 1, sponsored by Rep. Michael Weinstein, R-Jacksonville, which requires state analysts to determine how much Florida should spend on education and report back to the legislature.
A similar bill in the Senate, SB 142 sponsored by Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, would earmark $100,000 to hire an outside company to study and report back on state education funding.
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