Three of every ten bullying incidents reported in Florida last year happened in Palm Beach County schools, according to state data. That’s been the case since Florida approved a law in 2008 requiring school districts to report bullying and follow-up with parents — or face penalties. Palm Beach County schools reported one incident of bullying […]
Florida is one of three states scoring below average on four measures of school funding fairness, according to a national report card. The report was produced by the New Jersey-based Education Law Center and Rutgers University researchers. The authors argue state funding formulas should send more money to districts with higher poverty rates. The study […]
Students will find out in June if they’ll be required to take an extra hour of reading instruction next school year because of low Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. But we didn’t have to wait long to get your reaction to the new law. Jose likes the idea, citing the benefits of additional class time in […]
Editor’s note: This post was written by WLRN reporter Tasnim Shamma. Earlier this month, Florida Christian College in Kissimmee filed a lawsuit against the state for not being allowed to enroll in the Florida Resident Access Grant (FRAG) program because of a disagreement with the Florida Department of Education about whether the college has a […]
State law allows schools in Florida to punish students by spanking them with a paddle, which is often a wooden or plexiglass board. The administrators at most schools with corporal punishment policies ask parents for permission to paddle their children. Many principals say they will not paddle a kid against the parent’s wishes. But schools […]
An Ohio state agency is suing Columbus public schools over the use of “seclusion rooms often used to isolate special needs students, according to our colleagues at StateImpact Ohio. Florida also allows schools to seclude and restrain students with disabilities. The state places a few limits on schools: Students can not be choked or their […]
Students with the activist group We Are Florida have staged a quiet sit-in at Rep. Carlos Lopez Cantera’s office in Tallahassee today, asking him to support HB 81, a bill that would grant in-state tuition for all youth living in Florida regardless of their immigration status or the immigration status of their parents. As StateImpact Florida […]
A bill that would allow Florida-born U.S. citizens to pay in-state college tuition fees regardless of the immigration status of their parents, died yesterday in the Florida Senate committee on Higher Education. Sen. Steve Oelrich, a Gainesville Republican who chairs the committee, interrupted a 20-year-old Miami Dade College student, Carla Montes, during her emotional testimony. Montes […]
The Supreme Court ruled today that religious employees of a church, including private, religious schools cannot sue for employee discrimination, according to the AP. In the Michigan case, the Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School of Redford, Mich., was sued by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of Cheryl Perich, a teacher at the […]
Last year’s big legislative education debate could also be this year’s big issue, according to the chairman of the Florida House education committee. Rep. Bill Proctor, R-St. Augustine, told the Florida Times-Union that a top priority was to make sure districts were making progress on a law that requires teacher evaluations, implements performance-based pay and […]
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