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[...]Florida's graduation rate climbed to a record-high 76.3 percent this year despite the exclusion of GED recipients, according to Department of Education data released this morning.
The Pinellas and Hillsborough school districts also continued to improve despite GEDs being removed from the mix. The official Pinellas rate climbed [...]
Florida education commissioner Eric J. Smith and K-12 chancellor Frances Haithcock positively effused over Pasco schools during a Thursday visit to Oakstead Elementary and Sunlake High.
They listened to students, parents and educators talk about how they're implementing Response to Intervention strategies and learned that some' [...]
FSU's presidential search committee is wrapping up the final of three candidate interviews. This morning it's Steve Leath, vice provost for research at UNC. A few highlights:
Why he wants the job: I like fundraising and I’m pretty good at it. I'm a little bit competitive,…and the importance of that here [...]
KIDS TEACHING KIDS: Students in Hillsborough High's Urban Teaching Academy take over their first classrooms to see what it's really like to be an educator. (Times photo, Stephen J. Coddington)
IN THE TRENCHES: Florida education commissioner Eric J. Smith visits Pasco schools to get a first-hand [...]
The US Department of Education may have removed funding for the creation of end-of-course exams from the Race to the Top, but that doesn't mean Florida isn't trying to get some federal cash for its future testing plans.
Speaking to Pasco County educators today, Florida education commissioner Eric J. Smith said [...]
The national media is all but AWOL when it comes to covering education news, especially when it comes to "school reform, teacher quality, or other matters thought to be crucial for educational attainment," the Brookings Institute says in this new study.
During the first nine months of [...]
The Florida Department of Education told us late Wednesday what pretty much everyone expected to be the case: The vast majority of Florida's schools are meeting the state's class-size reduction rules — as a school average.
That's not the issue at hand. All sorts of state education groups (with the [...]
The head plant operator who has been written up by his bosses 28 times in 20 years - and whose disciplinary case goes before the Pinellas school board next week - tells the Gradebook he is the victim of a racially motivated principal and a "crooked" district.
"I basically got" [...]
Longtime Tallahassee Community College president Bill Law has put his name in the hat to run St. Petersburg College after Carl Kuttler leaves.
TCC officials hope he doesn't get the job.
"We obviously would like to have Dr. Law as long as he is able to'" [...]
Eric Barron, director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, returned to his alma mater this morning to interview for the president's job. He follows Kevin Bedell of Boston College, who was on campus yesterday.
Barron, formerly a dean at Penn State and at the University [...]
NEXT TIME, BE CAREFUL: As St. Petersburg College trustees ponder outgoing president Carl Kuttler's large financial demands, perhaps they should learn a lesson about how to set up the next president's contract, columnist Howard Troxler writes. (Image from life123.com)
CHOOSING CHARTERS: A Hillsborough charter review [...]
That's according to the latest calculations, which the Florida Department of Education released just a little bit ago. And that's of course based on school-wide averages, not the classroom-by-classroom caps that must be in place next year. You can see every school in the state here.
Steinbrenner High School in Hillsborough is [...]
Boston College vice provost for research Kevin Bedell just wrapped up his interview with the search committee seeking a new president for Florida State University. He is the first of three applicants to be interviewed between today and Friday for the job now held by T.K. Wetherell, who is [...]
TAMPA -- A Hillsborough charter school committee is strongly opposing applications by the national Imagine Schools chain and Fort Lauderdale-based Mavericks in Education to open schools in the district.
Those applications are coming before the Hillsborough County School Board on Tuesday, and superintendent MaryEllen Elia could make an independent recommendation. [...]
The weather forecast is looking bad enough that Hernando and Pasco school districts have announced the cancellation of all after-school sporting events tonight.
So if you were planning to go to that hot Wiregrass Ranch-Nature Coast Technical girls basketball game -- or any other event, for that matter -- make new [...]
The half-mill property tax hike that Pinellas voters approved in 2004 and again in 2008 brought the district nearly $38 million last year. And this new report from the Independent Citizens Referendum Oversight Committee details how that money was spent. (It begins on Page 12 of the School Board's latest agenda packet.)
As intended, the [...]
It's well documented that some school district employees are able to hang on to their jobs despite persistent problems. But a case coming before the Pinellas School Board on Tuesday may take the cake.
Since he began working for the Pinellas school district 20 years ago, Scott Long, the head plant operator [...]
Florida's new high school grading system took the pressure off FCAT as a sole measure of success. Lawmakers added such criteria as Advanced Placement participation and graduation rates, hoping to apply a broader definition of school success.
Some worried that the arts would take a hit as [...]
WASTED FUNDS? Florida state Sen. Mike Fasano wants to cut state support to a USF transportation think tank.
HONORED: Former governor Jeb Bush's education foundation recognizes 81 Florida teachers for their success with student performance on the FCAT over three years.
WHO TO HIRE? The Manatee School [...]
The list of candidates for FSU's presidential search is now at 25 and includes applicants from Kent State and the University of North Carolina. The search technically remains open until the trustees pick a new president, but the search committee will meet from 2 to 4 p.m. tomorrow at the Alumni [...]
About that Tuesday morning workshop to discuss a new culinary arts academy at Land O'Lakes High. Forget it.
The Pasco School Board instead has called a closed-door session to discuss bargaining strategy for matters related to the Race to the Top. Things like differential pay and performance pay that the feds' [...]
Nine Tampa Bay area teachers are among the best in Florida, according to a new analysis of FCAT scores conducted for one of Jeb Bush’s education foundations.
Last year, Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education put out lists of top teachers based on a single year’s worth of data [...]
For nearly three decades, June Clarke — Gov. Charlie Crist's fourth-grade teacher — taught in Florida school classrooms, most recently in Palm Beach County.
Clarke recently retired unexpectedly, the Palm Beach Post reports, blaming Palm Beach superintendent Art Johnson's new academic program for sucking the joy out of teaching.
The Post [...]
OVERCHARGED: The former manager of St. Petersburg College's Clearwater campus book store claims the store's owner systematically overcharged SPC students, an accusation the college and the company deny. (Times photo, Douglas Clifford)
FINISHING UP: The University of South Florida aims to improve its six-year graduation [...]
Wednesday: Commission for Independent Education, 10 a.m., Howey-in-the-Hills
Thursday: USF Board of Trustees, 12:30 p.m.
Dec. 3-4: The State Advisory Committee for the Education of Exceptional Students, Tallahassee
Dec. 8: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m. • Hernando School Board, 7 p.m.
Dec. 9: Charter School Appeal Commission, 10 a.m., Tallahassee
Dec. 10: Florida Board [...]
TAKE A HIKE: More than 40 children trek from their neighborhood to nearby Trinity Elementary in Pasco as part of a walking school bus. It gets them some exercise, while also easing school traffic. (Times photo, Keri Wiginton)
DO THE RIGHT THING: Across the nation (starting [...]
It's holiday time, when everyone is eating what they want and then talking about watching their weight later. In Hillsborough and Pinellas schools, parents can do their monitoring of their kids' food intake through the online Meal Pay Plus program. The company is making a' [...]
MENDING FENCES: Florida university system chancellor Frank Brogan looks to improve the system's relationship with lawmakers.
HE REALLY WANTS IT: Outgoing St. Petersburg mayor Rick Baker gets friends to mount a letter-writing campaign in support of his candidacy to lead St. Petersburg College.
GETTING TO KNOW [...]
Sorry, applicants. Pasco schools superintendent Heather Fiorentino has decided to go another new direction for the district's communications than the one she initially proposed.
Sort of.
Rather than name a new director of communications from among the dozen applicants, Fiorentino has chosen to freeze the director's job — and its salary [...]
Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas gives voice to the many who want Florida's Republican lawmakers to stop trying to subvert the will of the voters when it comes to smaller class sizes:
"The solution here is to leave the amendment alone and inject a little common sense into its implementation. Its" [...]
THANKS: Children at Pine Grove Elementary in Brooksville remind their parents and teachers what they're thankful for. (Times photo, Will Vragovic)
STILL SEWING: Fox Chapel Middle School in Hernando keeps its home ec classes alive thanks to donated sewing machines.
WRONG TARGET: The latest lawsuit against' [...]
The school children are with their families celebrating the holiday, and so are we. Have a great Thanksgiving.
(Times photo, Brendan Fitterer)
The plaintiffs and lawyers in the high-quality-schools lawsuit say their effort is non-partisan, but there are a lot of big-name Democrats with close ties to it.
Co-counsel Jon Mills is a former Democratic House speaker, and some of the other lawyers on board work for Southern Legal Counsel, a public interest law firm [...]
From today's editorial in the Orlando Sentinel:
Voters have realized the goal of shrinking class sizes. But at the cost of punching school bus-sized holes in the state budget - and without enough evidence that lower class sizes led to improved scholastic performance. Lawmakers must act to loosen the financial [...]
Florida's efforts to begin rating teacher preparation programs based on FCAT scores - which The Gradebook reported first last week - is turning some heads nationally.
The Flypaper blog gives partial credit to Obama's education secretary because of his support for such rating systems. Meanwhile, education researcher Greg [...]
TURKEY TIME: Prekindergartners at Anclote Elementary in Pasco make apple turkeys for Thanksgiving, learning some key basic lessons along the way. (Times photo, Brendan Fitterer)
APPROVED: United School Employees of Pasco ratify their 2009-10 contract with one-time bonuses.
TOP OF THE CLASS: At Gulf Highlands [...]
This story from Collier County made the Naples Daily News yesterday and detentionslip.org today - a sure sign that it's nationally embarrassing. All in all, 10 middle school students were given 1-day, in-school suspensions. We couldn't help but think of yesterday's development in the Islam-is-of-the-devil story in Alachua.
Just stupid pranks in Collier?' [...]
Message today from Patricia Levesque, executive director of Jeb Bush's Foundation for Florida's Future. Some excerpts:
As we gather with family and friends this week to give thanksgiving and usher in the 2009 holiday season, let us take a moment to thank the educators who make a difference in the' [...]
For the past few years, state representatives John Legg and Will Weatherford have spent one afternoon sharing their thoughts about education policy with Pasco County principals, and asking for opinions to bring back to Tallahassee.
This year, the two lawmakers -- each of whom chairs a key [...]
A revised draft of the Pinellas school district's 2010 legislative agenda includes a few interesting changes - all suggested by school board members at last week's workshop.
It now begins with an excerpt from Article IX of the Florida Constitution - the excerpt that says it's a "paramount duty" of the state to make [...]
The ACLU has filed a federal suit in favor of allowing kids to wear T-shirts with anti-Islam messages to school. It's about freedom of speech, the group says, and not about disrupting school, as the Alachua district claims.
Earlier this year, some children attending Alachua public schools [...]
Florida is one of only 11 states that have all the right pieces in place to track student progress from kindergarten through college, the Data Quality Campaign says in a new report.
[...]EARLY START: Palm Beach schools will take advantage of their high-performing status to begin classes a week earlier than otherwise allowed in 2010-11, the Sun-Sentinel reports. (Image from bubblecalendar.com)
FORGET IT: Angry Brevard parents say they'll never accept the district's plans to rezone their' [...]
The United School Employees of Pasco has just reported that its membership has approved contracts for 2009-10.
In voting Thursday, 66 percent of members cast ballots. Of those, 88 percent of teachers and 93 percent of SRPs voted in support of the agreement, which provides one-time supplements to all [...]
Florida Attorney General (and Republican gubernatorial candidate) Bill McCollum issued this statement a few minutes ago about the high-quality schools lawsuit:
These lawsuits appear to be driven by political and financial motives with little or no regard to educating our children. Florida's focus must be on making progress [...]
That's according to the Center for Education Reform, a group that likes charter schools a whole bunch and keeps good tabs on the numbers.
According to its latest stats, released today, Florida has 413 charters and they enroll 131,183 students - which is about 5 percent of all students.
Florida ranks No. 3 in [...]
Jeff Solochek, Ron Matus, Times education, Times Editor, Shannon Colavecchio, Karen McAllister
