Florida Education Articles
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FCAT Writing Scores Show Improvement - 06/04/2013
As FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) results are released, they show that Florida students wrote better essays on this year's assessment than in last year and third-graders only posted slightly higher marks on the state's key reading exams.
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Fla. Parent Trigger Bill Fails, Again - 05/02/2013
In a dramatic 20-20 vote, the Florida state senate defeated a parent trigger bill for the second straight year. The bill would have given parents more say in how to handle failing schools.
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Lawmakers Reject FL Teacher Pay Raises - 04/24/2013
Florida legislators have decided that while Gov. Rick Scott will be getting nearly $500 million for education, teachers won’t be receiving the across-the-board pay raises the governor had originally requested.
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Bills to Expand Virtual Ed Options - 04/10/2013
Bills moving through the legislature are seeking to expand virtual education in Florida public schools, allowing students greater access to courses from online providers.
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Charters Outperforming Public Schools? - 03/14/2013
Students in Florida charter schools are outperforming their traditional public school peers on state tests, according to the Florida Department of Education’s annual report on charter achievement released last week.
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Sequestration Could Cut Millions from Ed - 02/28/2013
If the $85 billion automatic “sequestration” federal budget cuts go through Congress tomorrow, Florida could see a loss of more than $54 million in funding this year for primary education, putting around 750 teaching jobs at risk. The cuts would also eliminate services for approximately 2,700 children in Head Start and Early Head Start.
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Florida Schools Must Go Digital by 2015 - 02/06/2013
In an effort to curb the rising costs of paper textbooks, Florida schools are required to go digital by 2015.
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Tuition May Be Lowered for STEM Majors - 01/08/2013
Gov. Rick Scott and his Blue Ribbon Task Force on State Higher Education are championing a plan for Fla. universities to charge less tuition for students who choose STEM majors.
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Jeb Bush and Others on Education Reform - 12/11/2012
Former Gov. Jeb Bush opened the annual Florida-based Foundation for Excellence in Education national summit – an education-reform summit Bush himself founded in 2009 – with a bipartisan speech calling for aggressive reforms in education.
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Union Questions New Teacher Eval. System - 11/26/2012
The state's largest teachers union, the Florida Education Association (FEA), says that Fla’s new evaluation system is so flawed it should be delayed until it can be overhauled.
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FL Gov. Unveils New Education Plan - 10/25/2012
At an education summit, Florida Governor Rick Scott announced new educational initiatives that focus on issues educators have been seeking to focus on over the past few years. The new plan looks to increase flexibility and support for teachers, as well as place a new emphasis on accountability in transition.
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Writing Opportunity for Master Educators - 10/17/2012
Fall marks the season when schools, faculties, and students get quite involved in all things educational. Brightly inspired holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving remind those involved in education to remember how to get creative once again, for a fresh start of another school term. It may serve as a time for teachers to reflect on past experiences, to get better at their craft. And what better way to do that, than by writing about it?
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Fla. Sets Race Based Achievement Goals - 10/16/2012
A new plan from the Florida Board of Education designed to close the achievement gap has garnered a firestorm of criticism. The new plan sets different academic goals for students based on race with the hope of catching Hispanic and African-American students up to their White and Asian counterparts.
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New Fla. Pre-K Testing Raises Concerns - 10/04/2012
Controversy is surrounding Florida’s new mandate to administer standardized assessments to pre-schoolers in order to determine whether they are ready for kindergarten. Many are questioning the focus of the test, and whether it is really determining school readiness.
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Teachers Flipping Classrooms in Orlando - 10/01/2012
At South Lake High School in Orlando, Florida, history teacher Kevin Franklin has been experimenting with flipping his classroom this year, a recent trend among several Central Florida teachers. He believes it has made his class more interactive.
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Palm Scanning as a New Addition to Lunch - 08/20/2012
Students planning on using a meal plan for school lunches at Moss Bluff Elementary in Louisiana may soon be faced with a unique way of scrambling through the dreaded cafeteria line, with a newly introduced palm scanner.
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The DREAM Act Launch - 08/16/2012
A hot topic of debate, immigration, is recently buzzing in with news reports from the nation's capital. The presidential administration is in the works to help illegal immigrants by granting the right to live and work within the U.S., without fear of deportation. If they were brought into the country at a young age, immigrants will be allowed to apply for the right to stay this Wednesday
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Costs Rising for Higher Education - 08/07/2012
Not only is it stressful enough to achieve a higher education, but these days the cost is going up by alarming rates in this tight economy. South Florida's public universities, Florida Atlantic and Florida International, are requiring requiring students to pay 15 percent more in tuition this fall.
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Florida DOE Recalculates School Grades - 08/06/2012
After finding an error in the calculating student learning gains, the Florida Department of Education raised school grades in 40 of the state's 67 school districts, raising questions about the newly implemented accountability system.
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Fla. and Tenn. Struggle With Teacher Evals - 07/23/2012
The recently implemented merit-based teacher evaluation system adopted by the state of Florida is coming under fire from teachers as many highly regarded teachers are getting modest to bad evaluations. This issue is mirrored in a new report out of Tennessee examining a similar program.
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FCAT Scores Become Source of Controversy - 05/16/2012
Months after announcing that they would toughen up the FCAT standards, Florida education officials are lowering the passing score on the writing portion of the test. The number of students scoring a four or higher out of six fell from 81 percent last year to 27 percent this year.
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Fla. Students Take New, Tougher FCAT - 04/17/2012
Just as they did last year at this time, Florida students in public schools will be taking the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT). However, this year, the FCAT has been altered to uphold a higher standard. Not only has the test been made harder, but students now have to score higher to pass and the test is now being tied to teacher evaluations, adding to the pressure.
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Gov. Scott Signs School Prayer Bill - 04/06/2012
Last week Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a bill, SB 98, that would allow schools to have an 'inspirational message' delivered during school events. However, the language of the bill, and how 'inspirational message' is defined, has critics worried that the law will open up the state for new lawsuits.
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Florida Trigger Laws Fail to Pass - 03/15/2012
Florida's State Senate narrowly defeated a controversial 'parent trigger' bill, with a tie vote of 20-20 that would have allowed parents to decide on what to do with failing schools.
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Florida Approves School Grading Changes - 03/01/2012
After facing criticism and controversy, the Florida State Board of Education has approved revised changes to the state’s school grading system. Initially the proposed changes to the grading system were deemed too strict by parents, teachers, administrators and business leaders, which forced the board to revise their proposal.
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Florida Releases Achievement Rankings - 01/24/2012
The Florida Department of Education released its new rankings and grades of the 67 Florida school districts. The ranking’s implementation is aimed at providing a “user friendly” way for the public to gauge school progress. However, the list, a first of its kind, has garnered both support and criticism as school officials see the list potentially stigmatizing poor scoring districts.
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FL Gov. Promises $1 Billion to Education - 01/18/2012
Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced that he will be adding $1 billion in new education funding during his State of the State address, saying that education is a key component in bolstering the state’s struggling economy.
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Florida High Schools Post High Scores - 01/11/2012
After implementing a new grading system two years ago, Florida high schools are posting markedly improved grades, with more schools posting A or B scores than ever. A record 78 percent of schools scored either an A or a B and only the number of failing schools dropped from 15 percent to 6 percent.
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FL Gov. is Praised for Ed. Budget Plans - 12/13/2011
After proposing a $1 billion increase in education, Florida Governor Rick Scott has garnered praise for his zeal in replacing the funding that has been recently cut from Florida public schools over the past year.
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Florida Gov. Signs New Education Bills - 07/05/2011
Florida Gov. Rick Scott promoted school choice on Monday during a bill-signing ceremony at Hope Charter School in Winter Garden and proposed to praise programs that present parents more options for their children instead of traditional public schools. The occasion was the first of three where Scott signed five educational bills passed by the Legislature within these past few months. All of the bills intend to increase charter schools, virtual schools, school vouchers and a program that permits students to relocate out of deteriorating public schools.
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Florida Gets New Education Commissioner - 06/20/2011
The Florida Board of Education unanimously voted Gerard Robinson, Virginia's education chief, as Florida’s education commissioner on Tuesday. He was selected amongst five finalists, who were all interviewed by the board on Monday. The entire vote took less than six minutes which included reading an e-mail from chairwoman Kathleen Shanahan, who was unable to attend the meeting but stated in her e-mail, "Florida needs his energy, passion and leadership."
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