The Foundation for Florida’s Future isn’t giving up on the parent trigger bill. They’re asking people to announce their support on Twitter and other social media with ready-made post to cut and paste.
The bill — officially titled Parent Empowerment in Education — would give parents more power in choosing how to change a chronically failing school.
The standards set benchmarks for each grade level. And instead of learning a little bit about a lot of things, students will be expected to absorb a lot of information about fewer subjects.
Education Commissioner Tony Bennett says Florida’s transition to Common Core is on schedule.
Originally published on Tue March 26, 2013 2:17 pm
Supporters of the parent trigger bill held a briefing with reporters today near the Capitol.
The briefing was hosted by Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Florida’s Future. The foundation was created by former Gov. Jeb Bush.
Originally published on Fri February 15, 2013 12:43 pm
Supporters say the charter school bill that has a good chance of passing Florida’s Republican controlled Legislature this year will better regulate charters and expand choices for parents.
“It’s great public policy. It empowers families. It empowers parents, gives them the choices that they need,” Weatherford told StateImpact Florida. “It engages them in the education of their children.”
Charters are now serving a record 2.3 million students based on estimates from the current school year. But a pro-choice non-profit says Florida school districts are preventing more charters from opening.
As states start phasing in Common Core standards in public school classrooms, no Common Core textbooks have been written yet, and new assessments are still being developed.
But there's a split in the way states will measure what students have learned. Two different testing systems are on the table.
One test will average a series of test results to determine a student’s score. The other is a single, adaptive test which tailors questions based on a student’s past answers.
The tests are being designed now for use by 2014-15.
The proposal to build mega-casinos in South Florida never made it to a final vote in the last session of the Florida Legislature. Now it looks like the issue may not be coming up again for at least another year.
Senate President Don Gaetz is setting up a new committee to examine Florida gambling which he says is both over- and under-regulated. But Gaetz is considered an opponent of gambling and he's in no hurry to pass a casino gambling bill.
Gov. Rick Scott wants the State Board of Education to change its plan to set passing scores based on a student’s race. But he isn’t saying what the board should do to alter the plan.
Every child should be performing on grade level in subjects like math and reading, Scott says. “I mean, I learn differently than other people learn, but I do know that all children can learn,” Scott says, “and we should expect we should have high standards for everybody.”
They didn’t like it when he chopped $1.3 billion in education funding from the state budget.
They liked it even less when he called for an expansion of charter schools and other alternatives to traditional public schools.
So, while most people are focused on the November ballot, USF Political Scientist Seth McKee says Scott appears to be ramping up his 2014 reelection campaign by extending an olive branch to teachers.
Putnam told the Economic Club of Florida he is concerned the U.S. is losing business to developing countries that have different standards for hiring farm workers.
Mugshot of former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer. A judge in Tallahassee ruled Greer can continue his lawsuit against two state senators.
A civil lawsuit filed by former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer against two state lawmakers can proceed.
A judge in Tallahassee on Monday refused to toss out the suit against Senate President Mike Haridopolos and Sen. John Thrasher. Greer is suing them as well as the state Republican party over severance pay he says they promised him.
Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 6:55 pm
It's the closest these Floridians will ever get to an actual snow day.
The threat of Isaac canceled most official business at the Republican National Convention Monday. But the storm went west, sending a little wind and rain to Tampa. The typical summer afternoon thunderstorm is worse.
So members of Florida's delegation were free to engage in a political snowball fight — they ate, partied and trashed a political traitor: former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist.
Even as events were cancelled because of the weather, Florida’s delegates to the Republican National Convention managed to stay busy Monday.
The Florida delegation started the party Sunday night with a convention kickoff at Tropicana Field. Then, buses brought them back to their hotel for another reception.
Steve Zieman from Gulf Breeze in the Panhandle drank a beer and smiled after getting an update on Isaac. He almost didn’t make it.
“I had to decide whether or not the storm was really going to go on that course,” Zieman said. “But I wanted to support America.”
The murder of Trayvon Martin turned a spotlight on Florida's law that authorizes the use of deadly force in self-defense. The law has been widely cited as the reason why shooter George Zimmerman has not been arrested.
Marion Hammer helped craft the law. She’s the powerful lobbyist for the National Rifle Association in Florida. She’s also a grandmother who stands all of 4-feet-11-inches tall.
“Thank you very much and I apologize that this has happened,” Governor Rick Scott told William Dillon as he signed a bill giving Dillon more than a million dollars.
Dillon spent 27 years in prison for a murder in Brevard County. He was set free in 2008 after DNA testing showed he wasn’t the killer.
It took more than three and a half years for the Legislature to pass a bill compensating Dillon.
Florida’s no-fault insurance requirement is set to undergo major changes this legislative session.
Right now, Florida drivers are required to have $10,000 worth of personal injury protection, or PIP, for payout in a crash regardless of who is at fault.
But fraudsters have taken advantage of this system, and auto insurance rates are skyrocketing.
Florida is one of the most expensive states for car insurance, according to the Insurance Information Institute. A fender bender can cost an insurance company tens of thousands of dollars.
