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Back to school: Florida senators preview possible K-12 deregulation bills
Back to school: Florida senators preview possible K-12 deregulation bills
Florida senators previewed possible education deregulation legislation Tuesday, including one bill that would allow students who are at least 16 to test for high school equivalency degrees with only parental permission.“It’s just a simple exemption,” Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, told reporters. “If parents sign off, the student can go get their GED and then enter into the workforce or workforce training … We don’t want to hold those students back who already know what they want to accomplish.” [Source: Tallahassee Democrat]
New College of Florida asks state for almost half a billion dollars over next five years
New College of Florida President Richard Corcoran presented a business plan to Florida's university system Board of Governors on Wednesday that asks for almost half a billion dollars from the state over the next five years — a figure largely unseen by the small Sarasota liberal arts school. The college said it needs a "minimum" of $400 million over that span to achieve the goal it set forward to the Florida Legislature of becoming "a world-class classical liberal arts educational institution," according to the plan. Corcoran's business plan for New College has previously been criticized for not being financially viable, according to business experts from the University of Florida. [Source: Herald Tribune]
‘Frustrating': Judge rejects request to block Florida's new university anti-DEI law
U.S. District Judge Mark Walker has shut down a request to temporarily block Florida's new funding ban on state college and university diversity, equity and inclusion programs. "This Court recognizes that the average person might find the outcome in this case frustrating," Walker wrote in a Friday opinion. "Here we have real professors who teach real subjects at a real school where lawmakers and decisionmakers have demonstrated real hostility toward certain ideas and viewpoints, and there is now a law that could or could not be used to punish them." [Source: Florida Today]
Florida students' ACT scores among nation's worst
Nationally, the class of 2023 had the worst ACT performance in more than three decades, according to newly released data from the nonprofit that administers the college admissions test. The scores are the latest indication of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on education, with academic performance and test scores declining at all levels. The 2023 cohort was in its first year of high school when the pandemic began. [Source: Axios]
New $64M Orlando Orange Technical College campus starts construction
Orange County Public Schools on Nov. 8 kicked off work on its latest technical college campus, which will be more than three times the size of the facilities it will replace. The district started work on a new $64 million, roughly 100,000-square-foot Orange Technical College East on 31 acres next to University High School. The campus will replace its Winter Park campus at 901 W. Webster Ave., which first opened in 1974 with 30,556 square feet of space. [Source: Orlando Business Journal]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› 3 Florida Poly researchers among world's top 2% of scientists
Florida Polytechnic University professors with advanced research in fields such as nanotechnology, rare earth element recovery, and electrical and computer engineering have been named to a prestigious list of the world’s top 2% of scientists.
› Youth flock to UF’s Austin Cary Forest to prepare for annual 4-H Ecology Contest
For more than 25 years, dozens of University of Florida forest and wildlife experts, students and extension agents from the School of Forest, Fisheries and Geomatics Sciences (SFFGS) have spent a Saturday in October volunteering to pass along knowledge to competitors in the annual Florida 4-H Forest Ecology Contest.
› Florida Supreme Court may hear oral arguments on UF lockdown case
A class action lawsuit about whether or not the University of Florida can be sued for charging students for on-campus services during the COVID-19 lockdowns may see oral arguments in the Florida Supreme Court.
› Florida teacher fired for using gender-neutral title Mx. in class materials
A Florida Virtual School physics teacher who identifies as non-binary was fired last month for using a gender-neutral courtesy title in class materials, which the school said violated a new Florida law that prohibits teachers from sharing “personal titles and pronouns” that do not correspond to their sex.
Previous Education Updates:
- FHSAA to potentially sanction esports in Florida schools
- College crime surging back to pre-COVID levels. Here's the crime at Florida colleges, universities
- Florida student aid requests plunge. How many will delay or skip college?
- Florida schools have a teacher shortage. Why are they cutting jobs?
- Florida schools need more nurses. Can they compete with employers who pay more?
- Florida's MBA programs: Mastering the cyber industry
- Florida settles lawsuit over LGBT education bill
- $117.5 billion state budget pumps up education spending
