SCHOOL ACCUSED OF DISCRIMINATION: Parents charge the high-performing Sanibel School in Lee of turning away low-performing students, the Naples Daily News reports.
CLASS-SIZE THOUGHTS: Brevard schools find compliance with Florida's class-size amendment vexing and look for alternatives, Florida Today reports. • The Florida Senate is [...]
Monday-Friday: Thanksgiving break, Hillsborough and Pinellas schools
Wednesday-Friday: Thanksgiving break, Hernando and Pasco schools
Dec. 1: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.
Dec. 2: Commission for Independent Education, 10 a.m., Howey-in-the-Hills
Dec. 3: USF Board of Trustees
Dec. 3-4: The State Advisory Committee for the Education of Exceptional Students, Tallahassee
Dec. 8: Pinellas [...]
'WE ARE HUDSON': Hudson High in Pasco has endured its share of detractors, but the school's reality differs quite a bit from the rumors. (Times photo, Keri Wiginton)
A SECOND CHANCE? Hernando should offer teacher Michael Provost another opportunity to teach at the STAR Center, [...]
On Wednesday, a group of parents and parents advocacy groups filed suit against the state, charging that it had not lived up to a constitutional mandate to provide high quality schools. On Tuesday, several members of the group and several of their attorneys met with [...]
WHO SAYS CAREER ACADEMIES ARE NEW? The Veterinary Sciences Academy at Tarpon Springs High has been around since 1995, this year serving 220 students. (Times photo, Demorris Lee)
CONGRATS: Parrott Middle School ESE paraprofessional Yvette Hart is Hernando's school-related employee of the year.
FREE DEGREE: UF [...]
When psychologist Steven Kanakis had trouble finding child care for his son with autism, he pushed for a seat on the Pasco-Hernando Early Learning Coalition to help improve the choices for families like his.
His son now attends third grade at Longleaf Elementary School, and Kanakis [...]
John Shafchuk, who first joined the Pasco County school district in 1975, is about to serve his final day here.
Shafchuk, principal of Deer Park Elementary on Trouble Creek Road since 2003, caught folks off guard this past week by filing his retirement papers. He leaves at [...]
If the new high-quality-schools lawsuit hinged on Florida science scores alone, it'd probably be a slam dunk.
"Florida students are pretty much last in the nation for science," says a power point presentation that Todd Clark, the Department of Education bureau chief for curriculum and instruction, gave to a statewide education group' [...]
A Panama City high schooler decided he didn't want to attend his regular school, Mosley High, on Tuesday. But apparently he didn't want to miss out on the experience, either.
So he took a seat in nearby Bay High instead.
Transfers like this aren't allowed, it turns out. So the boy, whose' [...]
The $100 million, seven-year grant that Hillsborough schools received from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Thursday has the potential to significantly alter the teaching landscape, both in Hillsborough County and nationally.
Its focus on reforming pay structures, evaluation procedures and other matters related to teaching promises to bring [...]
IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY: Hillsborough celebrates winning a $100 million grant to reform teacher evaluations, pay, preparation and other aspects of the job from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (Times photo, Edmund Fountain)
SPEAKING OF TEACHER QUALITY: Someone has to prepare them, and the Florida Department of [...]
FSU's presidential search committee just released a timeline for choosing longtime President T.K. Wetherell's successor, with the aim of sending a list of finalists to the Board of Trustees by early December.
The search consultant, John Hicks of Academic Search Inc., said the schedule is "expedited" because several other universities nationwide [...]
It's official: the Hillsborough County School District has won a $100 million teacher effectiveness grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The news, announced in a midday press release Thursday, caps a 9-month application effort by the district, and puts it squarely on the cutting edge of national education [...]
The Florida Department of Education is looking at FCAT scores to help gauge the effectiveness of the state’s teacher preparation programs. And according to its first analysis, the University of South Florida College of Education doesn’t look so good by comparison.
A Largo man who says he was struck by Pinellas school buses in two separate incidents three months apart is suing the Pinellas County School Board.
Matthew Magness, 24, was a passenger in a car in Clearwater when it was struck by a bus in October 2008, says a lawsuit filed in [...]
Florida's application for a share of the $4.35 billion federal Race to the Top fund could become a $1 billion request, Florida Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith told reporters in a conference call yesterday. Federal guidelines say big states like Florida should aim for changes in the $350 million to $700 range, but' [...]
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE? Gator hunters, soldiers, financial planners and a host of professionals talk to students all around the Tampa area for the Great American Teach-In. More story, plus a photo gallery. (Times photo, Atoyia Deans)
GETTING DAD INVOLVED: Brooker Elementary [...]
BROOKSVILLE -- A short list of superintendent candidates is now headed for the Hernando County School Board.
A search committee Wednesday night trimmed a list of 15 candidates down to nine. Among them are the two internal hopefuls, current interim superintendent Sonya Jackson and Ken Pritz, a former executive director of [...]
Florida Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith, a defendant in the education lawsuit filed this morning, tonight issued this statement in response:
“It’s unfortunate that this lawsuit diminishes the significant progress that has been made by our children over the last decade and simply ignores the performance of a state that [...]
The way state Sen. Mike Bennett sees Florida's class-size reduction amendment, it's a good idea in theory but not in practice.
"All of the studies show it's not working out the way we thought it would," Bennett, a Bradenton Republican, told the Gradebook. "The costs are out" [...]
Florida Democrats can't get enough of the new lawsuit.
From House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands: "Not only are Florida schools inadequately funded, but the state's school accountability system is in need of serious repair. It's high time for Florida's education accountability system to be updated so that it no longer'" [...]
We've heard Floridians complain for years that the state's school grading system does little more than commemorate which schools have wealthy, involved families and which do not.
The same concern has emerged in New York City, where the school system employs a grading program similar to Florida's.
The N.Y. Times reports today [...]
TAMPA -- It all comes down to a phone call.
At 1:45 pm. Thursday, officials from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have scheduled a news conference to announce which school districts will spearhead a national education reform effort.
Yesterday the Hillsborough County School Board approved a $100 million grant agreement [...]
Despite pressure from the United School Employee of Pasco, including dozens of e-mails to board members, the Pasco School Board unanimously approved bonuses for all district administrators and other nonnegotiating employees late Tuesday.
The bonuses at one time were to be more than $900 — higher than the supplements that [...]
FINANCING FAILURE: Several Florida families, backed by a phalanx of lawyers, plan to sue the state over its failure to adequately fund a high-quality public education system as required by the state Constitution. (Image from mylegaladvance.com)
GOING FOR IT: The Hillsborough School Board unanimously backs [...]
BROOKSVILLE – Pat Fagan is back in the chairman’s seat for the Hernando School Board, though the process to pick him got a little awkward Tuesday night.
Dianne Bonfield, who had been chairwoman until giving up the position in September because she refused to sign interim superintendent Sonya Jackson’s contract, nominated [...]
BROOKSVILLE – Citing his gripes about his new assignment, the Hernando School Board has rejected an agreement to reinstate a teacher who’d been suspended for drug use.
All five board members during Tuesday’s regular meeting expressed disgust for Michael Provost’s comments published Saturday in a regional edition of the St. Petersburg [...]
Parents from three Land O'Lakes communities urged the Pasco County School Board tonight to reject proposed attendance zones that would send their children to schools they didn't want to attend.
They walked away unhappy.
The School Board approved new boundaries for high schools in the Hudson area, to accommodate the [...]
Allen Altman, who has served as vice chairman of the Pasco School Board for the past year, rose to the chairmanship this evening on a 4-1 vote.
When asked if anyone opposed the nomination, Altman voted against himself.
"I think that can be stricken from the record," superintendent [...]
By a 6-1 vote, Janet Clark was elected the new chairwoman of the Pinellas County School Board this morning, replacing Peggy O'Shea. Mary Brown cast the dissenting vote.
Carol Cook was elected vice chairwoman.
The positions are largely ceremonial, with the chair essentially running board meetings.
"I'm okay with it," [...]
Across Florida, school districts are hard at work crafting their academic calendars for 2010-11.
And across Florida, nonacademic pressures are again at play.
In Lee County, for instance, the district's calendar committee is sparring over whether to give students a day off for Rosh Hashana, the Fort Myers [...]
TAMPA -- The Hillsborough County School Board is expected to vote this afternoon on a final agreement to accept a $100 million teacher effectiveness grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Follow the link to read more.
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[...]It's not so much of a threat as a reality check. But the United School Employees of Pasco and the school district are making sure that everyone knows they might have to pay more for health insurance if they don't approve their tentative contract agreement this' [...]
SMALL VICTORY: Hernando teachers reach a tentative deal on health benefits with the district.
TALKING CLIMATE CHANGE: USF will host a workshop to discuss how to prepare Tampa for rising waters.
POOR PUNISHMENT: A Miami-Dade teacher who's considered one of the best faces a lengthy suspension [...]
Pasco schools superintendent Heather Fiorentino has recommended one-time across-the-board bonuses for all district administrators and nonunion staff, and the United School Employees of Pasco doesn't like it.
In an advisory this afternoon, the USEP is urging members to ask the School Board to reject the administrator bonuses, saying the' [...]
The Pinellas school district wants the 2010 Legislature to restore per-pupil funding to May 2007 levels, according to a draft legislative program the School Board will discuss at Tuesday's workshop. Per-pupil funding for Pinellas was at $7,396 back then. It's at $6,908 now.
The district also wants lawmakers to provide more money [...]
School funding looked so bad for Hawaii last month that the government announced it would shorten its academic year to 163 days, furloughing teachers and closing most Fridays. The move garnered criticism from parents, teachers and even the Obama administration.
Now Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle is [...]
GOOD, AND BAD: Hillsborough teacher Todd Setter gets glowing reviews for his teaching, but sometimes finds himself in trouble for his behavior. He remains in his classroom, with hopes he won't repeat the bad. (Photo from buddhism101.blogspot.com)
FULL UP: Palm Beach Community College is
Wednesday: Great American Teach-In
Thursday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Mary
Nov. 23: Higher Education Facilities Financing Authority, noon, Tallahassee
Nov. 23-27: Thanksgiving break, Hillsborough and Pinellas [...]
FOR THE LOVE OF READING: Students in River Ridge High's musical theater class create a musical to encourage elementary children to read. (Times photo, Brendan Fitterer)
ANOTHER ACCUSATION: The family of another Walker Middle School student claims their child was repeatedly molested at the school.
ZONING [...]
About one third of McDonald Elementary School in Seffner suffered heavy smoke damage from a fire this morning and another third has moderate smoke damage, the St. Petersburg Times is reporting.
A district press release says "plans are being made to relocate primary grade students to the cafeteria and media center next" [...]
OOPS: Thousands of Pinellas parents and school district employees receive two automated messages from the school district that weren't intended for them.
THAT'S HIS CHOICE: A Hernando teacher who was nearly fired for his off-campus drug use complains about his new teaching assignment.
HELPING HAND: Stetson [...]
Oops. Double oops.
An employee at the Pinellas school district sent an automated phone message today to thousands of parents and staff, reminding them about a fingerprinting appointment. But there was one big problem: They don't have a fingerprinting appointment. The message, at 11:12 a.m., was only supposed to go to employees' [...]
Disney World has a special event just for you?
The attraction has just advertised January as Home School Month, with special lessons planned for Jan. 25-26.
Of course, they cost extra. But still ...
Students can get a behind the scenes look at the theme park's inner workings with Disney engineers. The [...]
Jeff Solochek, Ron Matus, Times education, Times Editor, Shannon Colavecchio, Karen McAllister
