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Rep. Erik Fresen, FL House Florida symbolizes the unbearable ridiculousness of school reform. The “Best & Brightest” is a $10,000 bonus that new hires can earn immediately if their high school SAT or ACT scores were above the 80th percentile. Veteran teachers can’t get the cash until they earn a “highly effective” rating…
BY JEREMY WALLACE AND MARY ELLEN KLAS Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau July 28, 2015 | TALLAHASSEE After spending nearly three years and millions of dollars defending its redistricting map, the Florida Senate gave up the fight Tuesday as it conceded for the first time that the courts were going to find it violated the state constitution. Lawyers…
Tampa Bay Times| July 21, 2015 By: Michael Auslen Conservative legislators from around the country are flocking to San Diego this week for an annual gathering focused on states’ rights, shrinking government and free-market policies. Among the attendees at the annual meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council, more commonly called ALEC, are seven members…
Tampa Bay Times| July 25, 2015 by: Caitlin Johnston| Photo: Douglas R. Clifford/Times Nearly 1 million Florida children were living in poverty in 2013. Ashley Corbett is a single mother raising one of those kids, Jayden, 3. Soon she will have two. The 29-year-old is seven months pregnant with her second child. When things get…
MIAMI HERALD | by Christina Veiga July 24, 2015 Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho likes to say the county doesn’t lay off teachers to balance its budget. But that doesn’t mean the teaching ranks haven’t thinned in Miami-Dade’s public schools. The district estimates it will hire 425 less instructional staff next year, according to its…
Orlando Sentinel |Opinion printed July 19, 2015 It’s a solution that would have pleased Henry David Thoreau, who urged, “Simplify, simplify.” Seminole County Public Schools had fits this spring administering Florida’s new standardized test. So Superintendent Walt Griffin wrote state Education Commissioner Pam Stewart on Monday to request her support for a simple, economical alternative…
July 15, 2015 This is the season when the Foundation for Florida’s Future, the Florida Chamber and Associated Industries of Florida release their 2015 Legislative Report Cards. In particular, the Foundation assigns grades to legislators’ based on their willingness to pass the Jeb Bush/ALEC-driveneducation reform/privatization policy agenda. These grades are a road map for voters.…
The Florida House and Senate finally agreed on an Education budget early Tuesday, June 16th at 12:30 am. The budget is expected to pass this Friday, June 19th following the required 72 hour cooling off period. Despite promises of an historic funding increase, lawmakers fell short of making public education their “paramount duty” as required…
Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Barbara Jenkins reacted to yesterday’s decision by the Florida Department of Education to suspend the consequences of Algebra I, II and Geometry, by holding all students harmless from the numerous “common finals” (district developed end of course exams) mandated by the state to determine teacher effectiveness. Orange County is the…
With just days left in the 2015 Florida legislative session, legislators are locked in a messy health care battle that has led to epic gridlock. Progress has ground to a halt and bills are dying on the vine. Politicians, who were assigned education reform bills, are in a panic. They know full well that these…