Tony Bennett drove from Indiana over the weekend to start his first day as schools chief in Florida today. Last month the State Board of Education hired Bennett, a Republican who served as Indiana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction for one term. He lost his re-election bid there after Democrat Glenda Ritz organized a grassroots campaign […]
2012 was a busy year in Florida education. One state education commissioner left, while another will take the reins early next year. And Florida got great news on an international comparison. Here are the biggest education stories of 2012, with links to StateImpact Florida coverage. International test results — The biggest education story of the […]
Tony Bennett, who lost his reelection bid to remain Indiana’s education chief, says he has applied to become Florida’s education commissioner. Bennett is a close ally of former Gov. Jeb Bush. Bennett has led Chiefs for Change, an education advocacy group tied to Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education. “After careful consideration, I have decided […]
The State Board of Education will hold an emergency conference call next week to consider extending the deadline to accept applications for a Commissioner of Education. The current application deadline is Thursday, September 27, but the Iowa search firm Ray and Associates recommended an extension because of a lack of highly qualified applicants. The firm, […]
The Florida Board of Education meets Friday to discuss the search for a new Education Commissioner. Education advocates and community groups sent a letter to Gov. Rick Scott today asking him to consider search criteria offered by people other than state board members. The coalition, led by Fund Education Now, says the Board of Education […]
Hillsborough County schools superintendent MaryEllen Elia says she’s committed to staying in the county. Elia has been suggested as a replacement for state Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson, who has resigned his post and will leave at the end of the month. Elia didn’t rule out the job, but says she has other priorities. “I have […]
The president of the Florida School Boards Association says the state’s next education commissioner must be willing to work with school boards, parents and educators to improve Florida’s testing and school and district report card system. Orange County school board member Joie Cadle also told the Orlando Sentinel that school boards should have more control […]
University of South Florida education professor Sherman Dorn literally wrote (well, edited) the book on Florida’s education reform policies. So we grabbed him for a few minutes to ask what Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson’s resignation might mean long-term. Dorn says Robinson was put in a particularly difficult position and that Florida’s education chief is a […]
A group that’s glad to see Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson go hopes you’ll inundate Gov. Rick Scott with suggestions about choosing his replacement. Robinson submitted his resignation Tuesday. His last day on the job is August 31. Orlando-based Fund Education Now says they want a commissioner that will listen to parents and educators more […]
Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson stunned many yesterday when he announced he was resigning at the end of the month. Robinson has held the post for only a year. His tenure was marked by a growing opposition to Florida’s regimen of standardized tests and complaints about ever-shifting state standards. After the jump, read the letter […]
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