Education

Florida school systems have eased up on the "zero tolerance" behavior policies that sent so many students to jail for minor misconduct.

But vestiges of the old policies are still sending thousand of students to jail for conduct that once would have meant nothing more than a trip to the principal's office.

The other day I got an e-mail that was signed “Brgrds.” Brgrds?? What does that mean? Oh. Right. “Best Regards.” So, why on earth the author didn't just take the extra three (?) seconds and five key strokes to actually write the words “Best Regards,” I have no idea, but it was a big “aha!” moment for me. 

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Rick Scott's push to keep tuition low includes a new twist: tuition should be the same when students graduate as when they start.

Scott has offered legislation that would hold tuition steady for four years for students entering a state university this fall or afterward. The proposal is in the package he's sending to the Legislature.

And it sticks closely to something that Scott has pounded on for months: his belief that an era of nearly-annual tuition increases needs to end.

Florida voters may be asked to raise the salary of a rookie teacher by $10,000 starting two years from now. If they approve, the pay increase would be part of a constitutional amendment that ties Florida teacher pay scales at all career levels to national averages.

The average Florida teacher salary now is $46,000, about $10,000 less than the national average.

Governor Rick Scott was at Miami-Dade College's North campus today to announce that eleven more state colleges have accepted his challenge to create bachelor’s degree programs costing $10,000 or less.

That means all 23 Florida state colleges offering four-year degrees have signed on. 

Broward College is developing a bachelor's degree program in teacher education and business. President David Armstrong told the News Service of Florida that the goal is to open doors for more students.

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Rick Scott will unveil a proposal for an across-the-board teacher pay increase today, a spokeswoman for the governor confirms.

Scott is to formally announce his proposal at an event at an Orlando-area school, Scott spokeswoman Jackie Schutz told the News Service of Florida, though she said his office won't disclose details until then.

The proposal was being met a day ahead with cautious optimism by public education stakeholders who said the governor's education push dovetails neatly with his mantra of economic development and job growth.

TALLAHASSEE -- Lawyers for a group of teachers asked a Leon County judge on Wednesday to throw out a nearly two-year-old state law aimed at tying teacher's pay and evaluations more closely to student performance.

The number of charter schools operating in the United States has surpassed 6,000 for the first time, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

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.

Tony Bennett drove from Indiana over the weekend to start his first day as schools chief in Florida on Monday.

Last month the State Board of Education hired Bennett, a Republican who served as Indiana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction for one term.

He lost his re-election bid there after Democrat Glenda Ritz organized a grassroots campaign with help from the teachers union.

Bennett was viewed by some as being too aggressive towards teachers and not showing enough compassion when he pushed new policies, such as merit pay. 

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.

So, teachers are creating their own lesson plans as they begin to implement the standards.

They’re not doing it alone.