School districts would have to share local school construction and maintenance money with charter schools, according to an amendment filed by an influential state senator. Sen. Don Gaetz, a former Senate president, filed the amendment Tuesday. The amendment would require half of the money raised by an optional local property tax to be split between […]
Education Commissioner Pam Stewart has recommended eliminating a high school exam, making another optional and asking state lawmakers and local school districts to cut back on the amount of testing. Stewart’s recommendations are the conclusion of a statewide review of standardized testing requested by Gov. Rick Scott. “There is, without a doubt, an excess of […]
A proposal to limit students to 45 hours of testing a year is unlikely to reduce the amount of time spent on exams, according to a survey of Florida’s largest school districts. Districts say they don’t currently track the time individual students spend on testing. Calculating the number is complicated. The amount of testing varies […]
Florida charter schools which consistently earn good grades on the state’s public school report card get special privileges. Soon, out-of-state charter schools could too. It could help national charter school chains have an easier time finding a foothold in Florida. The state’s “high performing” label allows schools to expand across Florida more quickly, sign longer-term […]
Education Commissioner Pam Stewart says students can not skip state-required tests, and teachers and schools can be punished for refusing to administer required exams. Stewart’s letter is a response to questions from Senators as they prepare for the upcoming legislative session. Senators wanted to know if students could opt out of state-required exams and how […]
Lots of people think there’s too much testing going on in schools right now. It’s one of the most contentious issues in education. Lawmakers want to scale back the amount of time Florida students spend taking tests. But at the same time, Florida is rolling out a new test tied to new math and language […]
No Child Left Behind needs an update. Born in 2002, the law expired in 2007 and has sat as Republicans and Democrats struggled to find agreement. But Republicans now in control of both Congressional chambers seem ready to take on the task — and likely reduce federal education requirements on states. The biggest question is […]
When lawmakers return to Tallahassee in March for the annual legislative session, they have a lot of questions they need to answer about public school testing. Senators laid out their concerns about the state testing system last week at a series of meetings. They don’t know how many tests the state requires, or how long […]
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