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Obama pushes science, math education (an area where Florida is weak)
Catching up on some news from last week (when schools were closed and some of us were being slothful...)....
President Barack Obama last week used a national address to tout the need for improved math and science education. Yup, he (like everyone else, it seems) is pushing STEM education as the key to America's future prosperity.
The president said he wants to see America's school children move from the middle to the top of the pack" in the next decade when it comes to international math and science benchmarks.
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Struggling students add to free-lunch rolls
Poor economy pushes record number of students into school-lunch program
By Dave Weber, Orlando Sentinel
You don't have to look any further than school lunchrooms to see how badly the recession has battered Central Florida families.
More than half of the students in public schools in the region qualify for free or reduced-price lunches this year, up sharply across the region.
Even Seminole County, the most affluent district in the area, is hungrier. Four out of every 10 students there are getting the federally subsidized meals.
Ten years ago a quarter of Seminole students qualified for the subsidized lunches. With the exception of high poverty Sanford-area schools, participation was modest in many schools.
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Jeb Bush's foundation honors top teachers based on FCAT scores
The Foundation for Excellence in Education today announced the winners of its 2009 Excel Award -- which honors instructors whose students made the most progress in reading and math, based on FCAT scores.
The winners will be honored at an event Saturday, featuring the former governor and his lieutenant, Toni Jennings, and will be given "a package of prizes" that includes money and a cruise, according to the foundation (which was started by Jeb Bush).
The foundation used four years worth of test data to find the top teachers, whose students made gains at least 1.5 times more than the average student, the foundation said.
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