“Who are these bonuses for?” It’s a question we heard from teachers over and over again while reporting on the new Best and Brightest Scholarships. They’re not actually scholarships — they’re bonuses worth up to $10,000 for teachers who scored in the top 20 percent of students when they took the SAT or ACT and […]
In Brigette Kinney’s design class at Ada Merritt K-8 center in Miami, one of the key concepts is editing and revising ideas after getting feedback. Her 8th graders created role-playing games based on books they read. And then adjust the games, after watching their classmates play. Kinney hopes Florida lawmakers will be as open to […]
Gov. Rick Scott’s budget veto list broke records Tuesday, and education projects weren’t spared despite Scott’s emphasis on K-12 funding this year. In total, Scott vetoed $461.4 million from the now $78.7 billion spending plan. Scott signed the plan in private Tuesday and the budget takes effect July 1. Among the largest items Scott trimmed […]
Gov. Rick Scott visited a Miami elementary school Monday to ask lawmakers to meet his request for school funding. Lawmakers return to Tallahassee today to finish the budget. The big disagreement is how to pay for health care. And that could affect how much money is left for education. Scott opposes expanding the state-run Medicaid […]
A Florida State University researcher says programs which reward colleges and universities for hitting targets — known as performance funding — don’t help more students graduate or stay in school. Florida has performance funding for its university system. So how does it work? Universities are scored in ten categories, with a maximum of 50 points. […]
Florida’s earned a C grade and ranked 28th overall on this year’s Education Week Quality Counts ratings. Education Week gave the state strong scores for equity in student achievement. Test results show minority students generally perform better in Florida than other states, and the gap between white and minority student scores is smaller in Florida […]
A state senator and leader of the Florida’s school superintendents association said he’s not sure schools will have the technology in place for new online exams this spring. Education Commissioner Pam Stewart told the Senate Education Appropriations committee that Florida’s new statewide tests, the Florida Standards Assessments, are on track for use beginning in March. […]
2014 was a big year for education in Florida. Activists in Lee County convinced the school board to ditch state testing — before the board reversed the decision a couple of days later. Florida schools pushed ahead with new Common Core-based math and language arts standards in every grade, despite rising opposition to Common Core […]
Polls show Governor Rick Scott and former Governor Charlie Crist are polarizing. Voters are as likely to dislike the candidates as they are to approve of them. So both candidates are talking about schools, colleges and scholarships — to motivate their supporters. “Education is an issue that is helping to appeal to the base,” says […]
State university leaders want to add $45 million in needs-based financial aid to help make up for changes to the Bright Futures scholarship program. Those new, higher qualifications will eliminate more than $250 million a year in college aid by 2018. The State University System Board of Governors will discuss the proposal today. UPDATE: The […]
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