The Urban League of Miami and the local NAACP want the Miami-Dade school district to stop work on a $1.2 billion bond project to renovate schools and upgrade their technology. The groups believe black-owned businesses arenāt getting a fair chance at school construction projects. It was a district review of contracts — a legal requirement […]
Florida and other states are phasing in new standards for school lunches. Fat and calories are being reduced as more fruits and vegetables are offered. The National School Lunch Program requirements stem from the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which focuses on improving child nutrition. Starting this school year (2012ā2013), school lunches have new […]
Florida State Universityās film school welcomed more than two dozen students to its new digital media program in West Palm Beach this month. The new Bachelor of Fine Arts program costs $28,000-a-year. Students join the program after spending their freshman year in Tallahassee. They are co-enrolled at FSU and the Digital Domain Institute, where animation […]
K12, Inc. held a conference call with investors this morning to announce its earnings. Ron Packard, founder and CEO of the nation’s largest online education firm, started the call with a statement about the Florida Department of Education investigating whether the company used improperly certified teachers in Seminole County schools. Packard said K12 always uses […]
Editor’s note: Trevor Aaronson is with the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting. Executives for K12, the nation’s largest for-profit online educator, discovered in May that the Florida Department of Education had launched an investigation of the company’s practices in Seminole County. The state probeĀ was examining whether K12 employees in Florida used teachers with improper certifications, […]
School nutrition will be the big topic at a conference in Orlando today. Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam will tell the Florida Association of District School Superintendents about moving the school nutrition program to his office. In January, the stateās program moved from the Department of Education to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The […]
Florida schools helped contribute to the state dropping 11 spots in a national ranking of business-friendly states. The state ranked 42nd in education, according to the CNBC analysis. That’s down from number 35 in 2011. CNBC looked at test scores, class size and spending on K-12 education. They also considered the number of higher education […]
Floridaās public schools rely heavily on parents to provide supplies and help with fundraisers. It turns out businesses also have crucial roles to play in providing resources for schools. The 2012 Commissionerās Business Recognition Awards ceremony honored more than 70 Florida businesses and organizations last week in Tampa for their support of education. āTheir pledge […]
Education Week has a nice explainer on how the Florida Virtual School works, including shortcomings in the way the school is funded. The piece also looks at school performance, referencing a Tampa Bay Times story that looked at whether any evidence exists that the school is out-performing district schools. Also worth noting is this follow-up, […]
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives.
Learn More »