Breaking down the costly class-size debacle BRADENTON HERAL");
document.write("D EDITORIAL | Voters left to pick up Legislature's mess on education
\n(Bradenton Herald © 09/01/2010)
As public schools head into October’s official classroom head count, districts throughout Florida are standing on edge. The burning issue for each is how many");
document.write(" classrooms will be out of compliance with the 2002 class-size amendment. And how much money will each district be forced to pay the state in penalties.\r\n\r\nThe Legislature hopes voters approve Amendment 8 in November, easing the stringe\n
");
document.write("More public schools use uniforms
\n(Bradenton Herald © 09/01/2010)
ORLANDO — More pub");
document.write("lic schools are asking their students to wear uniforms.\r\n\r\nChildren at Rosemont Elementary School in Orlando and at least 10 other central Florida schools have changed or put new emphasis on their uniform dress code policy for the new school year.\r\n\r\nThat’s a trend growing around the state and");
document.write(" nationwide: According to the U.S. Department of Education, the percentage o\n
Three initiatives cut from Florida's November ballot
\n(Bradenton Herald © 09/01/2010)
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau\n \r\n\r\nTALLAHASSEE — The November ballot just got less crowded. \r\n\r\nThe state Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed lower court r");
document.write("ulings to strike three ballot amendments proposed by the Legislature concerning redistricting, the new federal health care law and property taxes.\r\n\r\nThe rulings, all decided by a 5-2 majority, mean voters will have their say on only si\n
");
document.write("Levy schools eligible for federal funding
\n(Chiefland Citizen © 09/01/2010)
Florida was aw");
document.write("arded about $700 million for education from the federal government’s Race to the Top program on Tuesday.\n\n The School Board of Levy County is eligible to receive $1.1 million over four years from the program, despite not receiving all three required signatures during the application process. ");
document.write("The funds are to be used for school improvement and education innovation.\n\n The award\n
Attending virtual school can have it's benefits
\n(Florida A&M Famuan © 09/01/2010)
This year Leon County Schools introduced Leon County Virtual School for local middle and high school students. Although online classes have been available th");
document.write("rough Florida Virtual School, the localization makes online classes more specific and practical for users. According to the Tallahassee Democrat (Wednesday August 31), there are already more than 1,000 students registered. This is a step in th\n
Amendments 3, 7, 9 stricken from November ballot
\n(Florida Today © 09/01/2010) (Registration Required)\n
The Florida Supreme Court has upheld lower-court decisions and tossed off November's ballot three proposed constitutional amendments. \n \n\nThe three stricken amendments were all proposed by the Legislature. The court voted 5-2 in each case, with C");
document.write("hief Justice Charles Canaday and Justice Ricky Polston dissenting from the majority three times.\n\nAmendment 3 would have offered expanded property\n
Fellsmere, school officials work together on elementary school crowding
\n(Jupiter Courier © 09/01/2010)
FELLSMERE -- City Manager Jason Nunemaker may have solved a pricey problem o");
document.write("f expanding Fellsmere Elementary School by offering some city property across the street for parking.\n\n“That’s the best plan we’ve had to date,” School Board Vice Chairman Matt McCain said Tuesday night.\n\nThe School Board met in a joint workshop with the Fellsmere City Council to discuss common goal");
document.write("s.\n\nOne was getting rid \n
Calif. votes to reject Texas textboo");
document.write("k changes
\n(Lakeland Ledger © 09/01/2010) (Registration Required)\n
The state Senate on Tuesday voted 21-13 to send SB1451 to the governor. It requires the California Board of Education to look out for any of the Texas content as part of its ");
document.write("standard practice of reviewing public school textbooks.\n\nThe Texas school board adopted standards in May asserting that the country's Founding Fathers were guided by Christian principles. They also minimize Thomas Jefferson's \n
School district develops social networking guidelines for staff
\n(Lehigh Acres Citizen © 09/01/2010) <");
document.write("br>The School District of Lee County has established some guidelines to help employees avoid pitfalls associated with social networking sites.\r\nDistrict guidelines include:\r\n* Employees using sites should be honest about who they are \r\n* An employee may identify themselves as a district employee as ");
document.write("long as they express they are stating their own opinion and not that of the district \r\n* Employees shou\n
Good riddance to sprawl-promoting law
\n(Miami Herald © 09/01/2010) (Registration Required)\n
Local governments -- and the taxpayers who pay for them -- got a fair shake when a judge struck down a co");
document.write("ntroversial 2009 growth-management bill that put an undue financial burden on cities and counties. The bill, SB 360, was touted by its supporters as a way to jump-start Florida's faltering economy by providing more incentives for new construction. We all have seen how well that worked out -- \n
Sink unveils plan for school changes
\n(Miam");
document.write("i Herald © 09/01/2010) (Registration Required)\n
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink envisions an education system in Florida where at-risk students have incentives to stay in school, better-trained teachers get performance-based raises and school buildi");
document.write("ngs become community centers. She also wants to use technology to enhance school curriculum and wants FCAT scores to not be the only measure of a school's success. Those are the core\n
School districts scramble to meet class-size requirements that take effect Oct. 1 (DOCUMENTS)
\n(Northwest Florida Daily News © 09/01/2010)
");
document.write("With just one month left until strict class size limits kick in, local school districts are scrambling to ensure they comply with the new law.\n\nThe class-size amendment, approved by Florida voters in 2002, requires all school districts not to exceed designated class sizes in core subjects by even on");
document.write("e student during the week of Oct. 1. Districts could face fines if they do not comply.\n\n“We ar\n
City may let developers pay less for school impact
\n(Ocala Star Banner © 09/01/2010)
Without objection, a consensus was reached to accept the Marion County School Board's recommendation to reduce the level of service standard");
document.write("s, which is the ration of enrollment compared with the number of seats available, for elementary and middle schools from 105 percent to 100 percent, the rate currently adopted for high schools.\n\n\"If growth ramps up again, then schools could keep up because the\n
Formula to Grade Teachers’ Skill Gains in Use, and Critics
\n(Ocala Star");
document.write(" Banner © 09/01/2010)
A growing number of school districts have adopted a system called value-added modeling to answer that question, provoking battles from Washington to Los Angeles — with some saying it is an effective method for increasing teacher accountability, and others ar");
document.write("guing that it can give an inaccurate picture of teachers’ work.\n\nThe system calculates the value teachers add to their students&\n
School engineering program gets infusion of cash
\n(Panama City News Herald © 09/01/2010)
PANAMA CITY BEACH — A top executive for a defense and engineering company took an early morning");
document.write(" flight into Panama City to present a check Tuesday for $17,000 to support engineering and science programs in local schools.\n\nAmy Alving, chief technology officer for Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), flew in from Washington, D.C., to present checks to Surfside Middle School and Cov\n");
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VIEWPOINT: School officials grateful for passage of half-cen");
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\n(Panama City News Herald © 09/01/2010)
By BILL HUSFELT\n\nPANAMA CITY\nOn behalf of Bay District Schools, our students, teachers, staff, support teams and our board members, I would like to extend a sincere thank you to the citizens of Bay County for your support an");
document.write("d vote on the half-cent sales tax referendum last Tuesday.\n\nThis was not an easy campaign, not because of any “dirty politics” or controversial tactics, but because\n
District hosts crash course on class sizes
\n(Pensacola News Journal © 09/01/2010)
The Escambia County School District hosted a town hall meeting at W");
document.write("oodham Middle School on Tuesday night about a proposed constitutional amendment to the state's class-size reduction mandate. \n \n\nAccording to the mandate, core classes this school year can have no more than 18 students in grades K-3, 22 in grades 4-8 and 25 in grades 9-12. Previously, class");
document.write(" size averages were calculated at\n
Opinions divided on value<");
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\n(Sarasota Herald-Tribune © 09/01/2010) (Registration Required)\n
The system calculates the value that teachers add to their students' achievement, based on changes in test scores from year to year and how the students perform compared with o");
document.write("thers in their grade.\n\nPeople who analyze the data produce a list ranking teachers from best to worst. Hundreds of school systems are using value-added modeling to measure the performance of schools or teachers. Many more ar\n
Race to the Top grant money gets Pasco district, union talking
\n(St. Petersburg Times © 09/01/2010)
Supreme Court Strikes Amendments From Ballot
\n(Sunshine State News © 09/01/2010)
In a striking rebuke to the Legislature, the state's highest court on Tuesday whacked three law");
document.write("maker-orchestrated amendments from the November ballot, including proposals asking voters to block parts of the federal health-care law and to preserve legislators’ ability to draw legislative districts in a certain way.\r\n\r\nAnother rejected amendment dealt with new property tax exemptions.\r\n\r\nIn thr");
document.write("ee le\n