Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Florida considers changing name, image, likeness law to level the playing field

Florida considers changing name, image, likeness law to level the playing field

Florida schools soon could see a potential competitive disadvantage in name, image and likeness (NIL) wiped away after a legislative subcommittee hearing Tuesday. The issue stems from one part of the state’s current name, image and likeness law: caused compensation. It prohibits schools and their employees from causing compensation to be directed to players. Other states don’t have such provisions or have repealed them. More from the Tampa Bay Times and the News Service of Florida.

Florida school leaders grapple with state opposition to diversity, equity

Florida Department of Education officials have been clear in their opposition to diversity and equity policies within school districts, suggesting such rules advance indoctrination. What exactly they mean has left many school district leaders baffled. The Hillsborough County School Board spent 90 minutes Tuesday trying to decode the state’s message that the district equity policy might result in sanctions. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Commentary: Florida’s teacher shortage - the problem state leaders won’t solve

Florida now has a whopping 5,294 posted vacancies — more than triple the number the state had five years ago, according to Florida Education Association. (Plus another 4,600 openings for teachers’ aides and other school employees.) And as for veterans filling the gap, well, Military.com reported last month that the governor’s plan to “grow Florida’s teaching workforce” had added a total of seven teachers. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Florida sees first graduation rate decline in 16 years

Florida’s annual high school graduation rate decreased in 2022 for the first time in 16 years, as the state re-imposed testing requirements it had waived for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, the levels of seniors earning a diploma hovered near 90%, as schools have taken advantage of several state-approved paths toward successful completion. The statewide rate was 87.3%, down 2.8 percentage points from a year earlier, but also slightly higher than in 2019. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Early results eyed in new testing system

A Senate panel on Tuesday reviewed some of the early results of a new “progress monitoring” system of student assessments in public schools. Lawmakers last year passed a measure (SB 1048) that eliminated what was known as the Florida Standards Assessments and replaced them with the progress monitoring system. The system requires students to take exams at the beginning, middle and end of the school year. The first two tests are to be used for “informational purposes,” while final exams are used for state and federal accountability purposes. [Source: News Service of Florida]

Best Companies to Work For in Florida
Tampa Bay EDC | No. 3 Best Small Company
Tampa Bay Economic Development Council’s CEO Craig Richard says that while remote working has its challenges, his organization has been able to ensure all employees feel engaged, appreciated and part of the overall corporate mission. Find out how your company rates in Best Companies To Work For In Florida.

» Register at BestCompaniesFLA.com through Feb. 17!

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Immigration spike has created an unexpected wave of enrollment at Miami-Dade schools
Since the start of the 2022-23 school year, nearly 10,000 students from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela have enrolled in Miami-Dade County public schools — about 2,500 more students than who arrived in the entire 2021-22 year, reflecting the surge of immigrants coming from those four countries over nearly six months.  

› Seminole teachers push for bigger raises after impasse in negotiations
Seminole County’s teachers union, upset by what its members view as a paltry raise proposal, ended negotiations with the school district in the fall and last week pleaded its case before an arbitrator, arguing the A-rated school district should not pay its teachers a “C-minus salary.” Since 2010, Seminole County Public Schools has been A-rated every year but one — it earned a B from the state in 2016 — yet its teachers make about $655 less than the Florida average, which is $51,598.82, said Dan Smith, president of the Seminole Education Association, the local teachers union.

› Palm Beach County schools considering plan to arm employees on campus
The Palm Beach County School District is taking a closer look at a plan that could allow for staff members to carry guns on campus. During a Thursday meeting of the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation, Palm Beach Schools Superintendent Mike Burke said the district is taking a “fresh look” at the Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program, a statewide initiative which trains school employees to use guns in the event of a school shooting. The program, which began in 2018, is named after a coach and unarmed security monitor who was one of 17 killed in the Parkland shooting.

› Pinellas school board to resume livestream of public comment at meetings
Pinellas County residents who want to know what their neighbors are telling the school board no longer will have to attend meetings to find out. School board members on Tuesday agreed to resume livestreaming public comment on nonagenda items, a practice the district halted in fall 2021 at the height of heavy criticism over the use of masks during the pandemic.