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Arne Duncan

Pinellas schools need greater flexibility to meet needs of students, Charlie Crist says

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

Former Gov. Charlie Crist heard many messages from Pinellas educators during a roundtable discussion Thursday. But one message stood out: There’s a “disconnect” between schools, upper-level administrators and policymakers. Policymakers and administrators have created a rigid, one-size-fits-all system that prevents teachers and schools from being flexible enough to meet the needs of individual students and the needs of the schools themselves. “There needs to be greater flexibility because, just like all kids are not the same, all schools are not…

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Will ‘Failure Factories’ win the Times another Pulitzer Prize?

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

Readers of the Tampa Bay Times online and print editions read every day that the paper has won 10 Pulitzer Prizes. Will that number increase to 11 later today? “Failure Factories,” the Times’ investigation into Pinellas County public schools, has won a slew of prestigious national awards since its publication last summer, but the Pulitzer is the big one, and it undoubtedly will be given strong consideration. The investigation, researched and reported by Cara Fitzpatrick, Lisa Garter, Michael LaForgia and Nathalie Lash, showed how the…

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Barack Obama promotes online search tool with college-specific data

in 2017/Top Headlines by

President Barack Obama on Saturday debuted a redesigned online tool with college-specific information about student costs, loans and potential earning power, scaling back a planned ratings system that critics derided as too subjective and unworkable. The College Scorecard — at https://collegescorecard.ed.gov — provides a snapshot of what former students of each school might earn, how much debt they leave with, and what percentage can repay their loans. “Everyone should be able to find clear, reliable, open data on college affordability…

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As Common Core results trickle in, initial goals unfulfilled

in 2017/Top Headlines by

Results for some of the states that participated in Common Core-aligned testing for the first time this spring are out, with overall scores higher than expected though still below what many parents may be accustomed to seeing. Full or preliminary scores have been released for Connecticut, Idaho, Missouri, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia. They all participated in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, one of two groups of states awarded $330 million by the U.S. Department of Education in 2010…

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Human Events: Would Charlie Crist Pick Up Where Arlen Specter Left Off?

in Statewide by

A must read article from Human Events editor John Gizzi begins with a provacative statement: “You guys will be wishing you had [Martinez] back after a year of Charlie in the Senate.” That’s what a prominent Florida Republican told me in March, as rumors mounted that the Sunshine State’s Gov. Charlie Crist would run for the seat of fellow Republican and retiring Sen. Mel Martinez. It is well-known that conservatives had a problem with Martinez, whose strong support of “comprehensive…

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