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Florida legislators agree to small boost for schools

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Florida’s public schools will get only a small increase in money for day-to-day operations under an agreement worked out by state legislators. House and Senate budget negotiators on Friday agreed to increase regular public school spending by $241 million. That amounts to about a 1.2 percent increase in money for each student. Republicans have defended the small increase by pointing out that they are setting aside money in other education programs, such as one aimed at helping students in failing…

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Florida Education Association calls for proper funding for public schools in new ads

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The Florida Education Association is taking to the airwaves to call on lawmakers to better fund public schools. The statewide education association released two advertisements Thursday in response to several measures being advanced by the Legislature. The proposals, education officials said, would under fund public schools and harm public school students. “Students are at the center of everything we do. That’s why we are fighting for students and for better public schools,” said Joanne McCall, the president of the Florida…

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‘Religion in school’ bill moves past House education committee

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The Florida House advanced a bill that would allow school administrators to pray in public schools throughout the state if students initiate those prayers. HB 303 unanimously passed the House Education Committee Thursday. The measure would violate the decades-old federal provision separating church and state, and may likely be challenged at some point. However, at the committee meeting in Tallahassee, there were no oppositional voices as the bill moved passed its second hurdle. The bill’s next stop is a vote on…

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Rick Scott, Legislature set for an old-fashioned ‘T’ word throwdown

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If there was any uncertainty what the main event will be in the 2017 Florida Legislature, that has been answered. It’s the throw down over the “T” word. In one corner, Gov. Rick Scott is seeking an $815 million increase in public school funding. To help pay for that, the governor wants to use the ongoing spike in property values that is expected to bring in an additional $558 million. In the other corner, House Speaker Richard Corcoran said no…

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Tom Jackson: Appeal puts poor students under FEA’s boot

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

Now that the Florida Education Association has chosen to appeal its legal double-drubbing over the state’s scholarship program for students from low-income families, the question that leaps immediately to mind is this: Why does the teachers’ union hate poor kids? Seriously. About 92,000 students from modest circumstances are attending private schools through the 15-year-old Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, but the FEA wants to cut them off and haul them back into a system that, for far too many, is…

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Failing grade? Trial over Florida’s schools finally starts

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A potentially far-reaching trial that will determine whether the Florida Legislature is shortchanging public schools is starting in a Tallahassee courtroom. In the lawsuit filed six years ago, education groups and parents from Duval and Pasco counties contend the Legislature and state officials have not provided enough money to the state’s schools as required under a constitutional amendment passed in 1998. They cite the academic performance of minorities and students from poor families as proof that the state is failing…

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Jeff Eakins: School grades just one part of whole education picture

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

What do school grades really mean this year? It’s a question I’ve been asked whenever I meet parents, employees, and attend community events. The way the state is calculating school grades for the 2014-2015 school year only, is very different than it has been in years past, or will be in future years. The state has always touted its accountability system as a system with integrity that has kept a balance between student proficiency and student growth. However, that is not the case for the…

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