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‘Above-normal’ Atlantic hurricane season expected, with a tax holiday to stock up on supplies
The first day of hurricane season begins Monday, with experts projecting a busy Atlantic hurricane season. Meanwhile, Floridians can take advantage of the state’s hurricane sales tax holiday to stock up on supplies. The tax holiday began on May 29 and will continue to June 4. The Florida Department of Revenue released a list of disaster […]
The traditional opening of public schools in FL may no longer mean August
Educators and other key officials working on how to safely reopen K-12 schools in Florida considered the possibility on Friday that it may not be safe to reopen schools right away. “We need to be able to consider alternative calendars. It might not be possible for students to begin in August,” said Carol Cleaver, an […]
Lawmakers get A through F grades — from a progressive point of view — and many GOP members flunked
No surprise: Republican Florida House Speaker José Oliva, who has pushed a conservative to libertarian agenda through the state House, got one of the lowest grades of all in an analysis by the Progress Florida organization. Oliva got a 37 percent — an F. The more moderate Republican Senate President — Bill Galvano — got […]
FL officials hold closed meetings on logistics of opening schools, leaving the press and public in the dark
Ten groups discussing how to best reopen Florida’s K-12 schools and colleges were closed to the press and public on Tuesday, raising questions about transparency as families try to manage a new academic year during the coronavirus pandemic. The Florida Phoenix got a notice from the Florida Education Association, collaborating with the United Faculty of […]
Lawmakers deregulated parts of FL’s beauty industry. Should clients, and the governor, be concerned?
Kristin Dariotis Klawinski is a Tallahassee-based cosmetologist and hair stylist. Like many hairdressers, barbers and other salon professionals, she reopened her doors recently, using safety precautions and social distancing. The biggest change to her day-to-day life? A heightened focus on sanitation and disinfecting between clients, said Klawinski. “I clean my whole room down,” Klawinski said. […]
Parents, professors, and nonprofits join to petition against new civic literacy test
Families, college educators and nonprofit organizations filed an appeal Tuesday against the recent ruling by the State Board of Education to allow a 100-question multiple choice test to fulfill the state’s college-level civic literacy requirement. According to the new rule, students taking the Florida Civic Literacy Test will only need to answer 60% percent of […]
Talks begin in earnest on how to get students back into brick-and-mortar classrooms
As talks of reopening Florida public schools begin in earnest, state and local officials will need to communicate with each other in order to safely bring students back into classrooms amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The effort will involve “flexibility, compassion, grace, and patience” to safely open schools, said Rocky Hanna, Superintendent of Schools for Leon […]
The challenges of opening school in the fall — in Florida and other states
Teachers, administrators and families want to get kids back in the classroom when it’s safe, but shortages of custodians, bus drivers, and personal protective equipment concern educators as the coronavirus pandemic continues. As Florida’s State Board of Education begins to set goals for reopening schools, the National Education Association (NEA) and the National Parent Teacher […]
FL State Board of Ed approves controversial civics test for college grads; critics call it dumbed down
The State Board of Education unanimously approved a new rule that allows Florida community colleges to accept a new and controversial test to fulfill the civic literacy requirement to graduate. Kathryn Hebda, Florida College System Chancellor at the Department of Education, assured the board that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Naturalization Test – Civics […]
Is the FL State Board of Education dumbing down college civics requirements?
From the principles of democracy to the history of our nation and the building blocks of government, civic literacy is important – so important that it’s a graduation requirement for first-time college students entering Florida’s public community colleges. Those kids have to “demonstrate competency” in the subject to graduate, but controversy is brewing on what […]
Dealing with “losses of learning” during the coronavirus pandemic
With thousands of students likely to fall behind in their studies during the coronavirus pandemic, former Gov. Jeb Bush Tuesday discussed ways to get kids caught up. “There needs to be a focus on using some of the money coming from the federal government to deal with the losses of learning that have taken place,” […]
FL and other states could lose teaching positions as recession looms and pandemic continues
While states across the nation are attempting to reopen and boost the economy, researchers are trying to predict the potential impacts of a looming recession due to the coronavirus pandemic. In the arena of education, a new analysis predicts just under 319,000 teaching positions could be at risk if states cut funding for education by […]