Education
As the nation’s body count continues to mount, the NRA and its acolytes party on
Despite what the braying anti-Roe Right wants you to think, America is not pro-life. This country is pro-death. Fetuses and firearms: that’s what makes America America — that and the ability of an 18 year-old to buy military grade weapons. At least 21 shot dead in Uvalde, Texas; 10 shot dead in Buffalo, N.Y.; a […]
FL First Lady attempts to arm students with ‘the facts’ in anti-drug initiative, but will it work?
At a high school in Central Florida Thursday, First Lady Casey DeSantis’ spoke at the first iteration of a set of school assemblies statewide aimed at encouraging kids not to use drugs and why, as a part of her ongoing anti-drug initiative. Keep in mind that there have been other anti-drug campaigns in the past, […]
Freedom of speech is under attack in public schools, U.S. House panel told
Students and teachers told U.S. House members during a Thursday hearing that their right to talk about race and LGBTQ+ issues in public schools is being silenced due to an onslaught of new state laws as well as pressure on school boards from right-wing advocates. “To be crystal clear, this is about disrupting and destroying […]
Feds and FL officials try to tackle mental health crisis facing K-12 and college students
As some students continue to struggle with ongoing mental health concerns, state and federal officials are trying to focus on how to get children and teens to bounce back from the trauma and stress exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law that makes some changes to current statewide […]
Can FL schools, workplaces discuss Saturday’s ‘racially motivated’ shooting in Buffalo under HB 7?
On Saturday at a Buffalo supermarket, a white 18-year-old gunman killed 10 Black people, and the shootings are being looked at as a racist hate crime, according to The Buffalo News in New York. The alleged killer was identified in the News as Payton Gendron, 18, near Binghamton in the southern part of the state. […]
Congress explores creation of truth commission for U.S. Indian Boarding Schools
WASHINGTON — Survivors of a U.S. policy that forced Indigenous children to attend boarding schools where they were abused, or went missing, detailed to members of a U.S. House Natural Resources panel during a Thursday hearing the need for Congress to establish a truth commission dedicated to unveiling the traumas Indigenous children experienced at the […]
Taxpayers help pay bill for State Board of Ed meeting in Key West: Would a Zoom call have sufficed?
Florida’s State Board of Education, stationed in Tallahassee, traveled all the way down to Key West for a meeting Wednesday, partly at taxpayer expense for transportation and lodging in a tourist destination known for stray cats and chickens, flip-flops, and dive bars. The seven-member board asked several local school district leaders to join them at […]
DeSantis signs K-12 ‘Victims of Communism’ bill while railing against college-campus communists
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Monday a measure creating a “Victims of Communism Day” at Florida’s public schools, though much of the discussion centered around what state officials believe to be a rise in communist sympathies at Florida’s college campuses. The bill in question, HB 395, establishes ‘Victims of Communism Day’ in Florida’s public […]
DeSantis: ‘Ideology’ found in rejected math texts; reviewers saw little evidence of CRT
The Florida Department of Education has now posted the complaints that arose during its review of 132 math textbook bids, which resulted in its initial rejection of 54 of those books, some for including prohibited topics such as critical race theory. Out of thousands of pages of responses by people it enlisted to review the […]
Policy changes regarding opioid overdoses and seizures coming to FL schools
New school health procedures are headed to Florida’s districts to address student opioid overdoses or seizures while in school. In a Friday memo, the Florida Department of Education notified school superintendents to inform school boards of “new responsibilities and considerations related to school health” following new laws from 2022 legislative session — one dealing with […]
Board of Education approves Sen. Manny Diaz as FL’s education commissioner
Florida’s top education officials unanimously agreed to appoint Sen. Manny Diaz as the state’s next education commissioner, backing the recommendation made by Gov. Ron DeSantis last week. Although the state Board of Education voted unanimously to appoint the Miami-Dade state senator to the post during a board of Education meeting Friday, he won’t take the […]
Report: Florida starting teacher pay is increasing but average pay stagnates
Florida’s ongoing efforts to boost starting salaries for public school teachers are making a difference, as a new report ranks the state at 16th in the nation for starting teacher pay, up from 30th the year before. But national, statewide, and local teacher unions noted that Florida has made little progress toward raising the overall […]