Thousands of Florida high school seniors might not graduate

| 4/27/2023

Thousands of Florida high school seniors might not graduate

Pinellas County high schools have about 7,400 seniors in the Class of 2023. If someone doesn’t change the state’s new, higher test score graduation requirements, which take effect this year, almost 1,100 of them won’t be eligible to walk across the stage in three weeks, superintendent Kevin Hendrick recently told lawmakers. Officials anticipate similar results across the state. More from the Tampa Bay Times, Politico, and the Miami Herald.

Will the TikTok ban on Florida Universities affect athletes' NIL deals?

In March, the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state’s universities, issued an emergency regulation banning TikTok and WeChat. This move came about two years after the NCAA started allowing athletes to profit off of their name, image, and likeness, or NIL. William Glass, CEO of Ostrich, which is a financial health app for college students with a primary focus on student athletes. He said these things could be related and affect students here in Florida. [Source: WMFE]

Florida lawmakers push alternatives to SAT tests, AP courses with millions in budget

Using their budget proposal and a bill (HB 1537) that’s viewed as the Florida Department of Education’s legislation, the House is looking to pivot from the College Board’s Advanced Placement courses and SAT exam to other alternatives. For the SAT, the state is considering a “classical and Christian” exam alternative called Classic Learning Test. For AP, the House wants to spend millions creating Florida-based alternative courses and tests, asking state universities and colleges to help establish the materials. More from the Tampa Bay Times and the Miami Herald.

Florida teachers remain nation's worst paid, per National Education Association report

A new report from the National Education Association (NEA) shows teacher pay in Florida continues to rank among the bottom of the nation's average. According to the NEA report, Florida ranks 48th in the nation for average teacher pay. That is one spot lower than 2018-2019, the year Governor DeSantis took office when the state ranked 47th. [Source: WPEC]

Few complained of ‘woke’ classes at universities

In the four and a half months that the law was enforced at public universities — before it was blocked by a preliminary injunction last November — only seven people reported potential violations of Stop Woke across the 12 campuses, according to records obtained by the Herald through public records requests. All of the complaints were dismissed as unfounded, records show. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› UFC owner Endeavor Group to sell Florida sports school IMG Academy [Wall Street Journal]
Sports and media conglomerate Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. is selling one of its more unusual assets: IMG Academy, a for-profit boarding school in central Florida that trains the world’s most promising adolescent athletes. Endeavor is selling the school to the private equity group BPEA EQT for an enterprise value of $1.25 billion, the company said. EQT plans to partner the school with its Nord Anglia Education portfolio company, which already operates several private schools.

› Formal introduction of School Guardian Act made in Naples [WGCU]
Legislation that could potentially place full-time security in every elementary, middle and high school in the U.S. was formally introduced in Naples by its sponsor, Florida Sen. Rick Scott. In a special ceremony at the Collier County Sheriff's Office, Scott formally introduced his School Guardian Act, initially outlined last month following a shooting at a Nashville school.

› Miami-Dade becomes nation’s third-largest school district, surpassing Chicago [Miami Herald]
Miami-Dade County Public Schools is the third-largest school district in the country, according to numbers released this month by the National Center for Education Statistics. Chicago Public Schools has long held the third rank, but according to the agency, housed within the federal Department of Education, Miami-Dade Public Schools enrollment this year reached a total of 319,612 students, about 4,800 more students than Chicago’s 314,784. The total number includes charter school students, which account for about 25% of the district’s overall student enrollment.

› FSU graduate programs among nation's best according to U.S. News & World Report [FSU News]
Graduate programs at Florida State University are among the nation’s best, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2023-2024 edition of “Best Graduate Schools” released April 25. Programs in education, public affairs, business, nursing and engineering saw improvements in the rankings, highlighted by the College of Education’s five-spot jump to No. 21 among all public and private universities.

Tags: Education eNews

Previous Education Updates:

Florida hospitals: Building boom

College crime surging back to pre-COVID levels. Here's the crime at Florida colleges, universities

Florida insurance market full of ‘low quality' companies, study finds

Commercial rent tax cut coming sooner than expected