Last week Orlando hosted one of the oldest and largest education technology conferences in the country. Technology is an important issue in Florida schools because lawmakers have required half of all classroom instruction is delivered digitally when classes begin in 2015. Lawmakers are working on a bill which would pay for new bandwidth and devices, […]
Florida schools could get more money to upgrade classrooms, purchase new computers, tablets and other technology and train teachers and staff how to use them. But they’ll have to meet new goals set by the Florida Department of Education, submit annual technology plans and document how they’re spending the money. That’s according to a bill […]
The chairman of the Senate’s Education Committee said Gov. Rick Scott and lawmakers want to spend at least $40 million, and likely more, to upgrade school Internet capacity and add new computers, tablets and other digital tools. Sen. John Legg, R-Port Richey, said education technology is a priority for Scott and both Republican and Democratic […]
Earlier this week we told you about why some students prefer single-gender classes, and a bill which would create a pilot program for single-gender elementary schools. We asked Karen French the principal of all-girls Ferrell Preparatory Academy, a public middle school in Tampa, about the differences in single-gender and traditional schools. Q: I assume you’ve […]
The last time lawmakers all gathered in Tallahassee, the opposition to Florida’s new math and English standards was just getting started. But opponents of the standards, known as Common Core, have turned up the heat throughout the spring and summer. The opposition hails from the political right and the political left, and their concerns range […]
The Florida Department of Education wants to spend an additional $126.77 per student and $40 million on school technology, according to the agency’s preliminary budget request. The draft budget is one item on a busy State Board of Education agenda tomorrow. The board will also discuss what’s next in hiring a new education commissioner and […]
We caught up with House Speaker Will Weatherford at yesterday’s meeting of the Suncoast Tiger Bay civic club. Weatherford, a Wesley Chapel Republican, took questions about Obamacare, Stand Your Ground and requiring power customers to pay the cost of new nuclear plants up front. We asked him about the expected legislative debate over Common Core […]
A Florida lawmaker has filed a bill that would put the implementation of Common Core education standards on hold until the the State Board of Education conducts an independent review of how much the new standards will cost and holds a public hearing in each of the state’s congressional districts. In addition, the bill would […]
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