Jay Waagmeester | Florida Phoenix

Aspiring attorneys taking the Florida Bar exam for the first time in February passed at a rate 3% lower than last year’s winter administration of the exam.

The board governing Florida’s universities voted Thursday to remove sociology as a general education offering at the state’s public universities, leaving it available as an elective course.

Florida’s public university leaders are consulting in-house and private-sector artificial intelligence experts to help formulate the state system’s approach to the technology.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, flanked by Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson and Senate President Ben Albritton, signed the 2026 Florida Farm bill in Highlands County Monday.

Legislators added a provision eliminating zoning requirements for small private schools into a Democratic-led bill in the waning hours of the 2026 legislative session. Both GOP-led chambers of the Florida Legislature on Thursday passed SB 182, allowing private schools with 150 or fewer students to operate in commercially zoned buildings.

Both chambers of the Legislature, following negotiations, have agreed about what to include in the proposed School Board Members’ Bill of Rights.

However, the bill would allow farming on conservation land.

In November, the Florida Board of Education adopted standards for teaching middle and high school students about communism. After that, President Donald Trump directed the U.S. military to invade Venezuela and capture Maduro.

During a news conference celebrating national School Choice Week in Valrico, DeSantis and Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas announced Florida’s participation in the federal tax credit program established by the One Big Beautiful Bill last summer.

HB 127 would put in state law a requirement to test elementary students on their ability to write and read cursive. Existing state law does not require cursive writing, but State Board of Education curricula do. The board, however, does not require students to prove proficiency.

A bill filed Monday by state Rep. Tom Fabricio would require teachers to take an oath to the Constitution and nonpartisanship. The bill, HB 147, would require teachers to, “before entering upon the duties of a classroom teacher,” take the oath. The language is similar to oaths taken by lawyers, doctors, and public officials.

It’s the Florida House’s turn to address school voucher accounting shortfalls. The Senate unanimously approved its package to fix problems uncovered by a state audit that created major consternation among lawmakers.