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Administration pushes to rework No Child Left Behind lawBy Nick Anderson Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, January 28, 2010 The Obama administration launched an effort Wednesday to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law, with a proposed increase in federal spending, a pledge to make the Bush-era school reform program more flexible and an appeal to Republicans for bipartisan cooperation.
To grease the legislative wheels, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, the administration will reserve $1 billion to fund programs that may emerge through a revision of the 2002 law. In addition, he said, President Obama is proposing to raise elementary and secondary education spending by $3 billion in the fiscal year that begins in October.
Overall, Duncan said, the education budget would increase by 6 percent. That would be the most significant annual increase since 2003, not counting the large infusion of funds made last year through the economic stimulus law to prevent teacher layoffs.Read more
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Florida can transform economy with big investment in higher education, university chancellor Frank Brogan says
By Richard Danielson, Times Staff Writer
TAMPA - Florida can transform its economy by doubling spending on higher education, university system chancellor Frank Brogan said Wednesday.
To an economy based on agriculture, tourism and growth, Brogan wants to add a fourth leg, knowledge and innovation.
In what promises to be his first big legislative test as chancellor, the former lieutenant governor said he plans to ask the Legislature to add about $100 million to next year's proposed $3 billion core budget for the state university system.
That, he said, should be the first installment in a long-term commitment of investment.
Over five years, Brogan proposes to add $1.75 billion in recurring state funding to Florida's 11 public universities.
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More schools require financial education for students
MIAMI - Each day after school, 17-year-old Phyllis Quach goes to a warehouse filled with silk flowers, stuffed animals and other gift items her parents sell through their South Florida wholesale business.
The recession hit the family hard and they can no longer afford the building. Quach helps pack the goods for a move to a cheaper location. On weekends, her mother often goes door to door, hoping to find new retail customers.
"I never want to go through what they go through," Quach said, tears gathering in her eyes.
So Quach is taking a a personal finance course at her Miami high school - getting early lessons on managing credit, balancing a budget and buying a first home. Experts say the recession's length and severity means it could affect the students' lifelong financial behavior, as the Great Depression affected their grandparents' frugal generation.
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Republicans want voters to reconsider smaller classes
By Shannon Colavecchio and Jeffrey S. Solochek, Times Staff Writers
TALLAHASSEE - Having already spent $16 billion to reduce class sizes - and facing a multibillion-dollar budget deficit - leading Republicans including Gov. Charlie Crist want voters to reconsider their 2002 vote in favor of smaller classes.
Crist, who in the past has opposed tinkering with the class size amendment, on Monday said he now supports essentially freezing it where it is now - with mandated caps calculated as school-wide averages.
Sen. Don Gaetz, a former Panhandle superintendent, and Rep. Will Weatherford plan to unveil such a proposal in the coming days: a constitutional amendment that would be put before voters in November if the Legislature approves it.
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State lawmakers back plans to replace high school FCAT
By Jeffrey S. Solochek and Ron Matus, Times Staff Writers
In Print: Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The FCAT in Florida high schools might soon become a thing of the past.
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers is pressing ahead with a plan to replace the test with a series of standardized end-of-course exams.
The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test did its job for a while, they say. But the state needs more sophisticated testing.
"End-of-course exams are more in line with what we're measuring," said Rep. John Legg, the Republican chairman of the House Pre-K-12 Policy Committee. "It's the next level of accountability that is more reflective of the student learning."
It was Republican former Gov. Jeb Bush who made the FCAT the high-stakes test that it is, with nearly unwavering support from GOP lawmakers. But now GOP lawmakers are leading the charge to end the FCAT in high school. And Bush himself is giving it a big thumbs-up.
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