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New class size amendment unveiled
PANAMA CITY - Sen. Don Gaetz and Rep. Will Weatherford on Tuesday unveiled what they are calling the "right size class size" amendment to the Florida constitution.
The proposed amendment would clarify a constitutional amendment passed in 2002 that set caps on class size limits.
Under the original amendment, class size counts this fall would be taken at the classroom level, not the school-wide level, as is currently the case.
"Our proposal does not change the class size targets voters approved in 2002," said Gaetz, who formerly served as superintendent of Okaloosa County Schools.
Proponents of the amendment are calling it the fiscally responsible thing to do, as the state has already spent $16 billion to meet the requirements of the 2002 amendment, and would have to spend more to come in compliance with class room-level counts.
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Obama Would Overhaul No Child Left BehindBy LIBBY QUAID Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON February 1, 2010 (AP)
President Barack Obama is proposing to overhaul the No Child Left Behind education law, replacing the school accountability system that has slapped a failing label on more than a third of schools, including many that made big gains but just missed their annual targets.
No Child Left Behind prods schools to improve test scores each year, so that every student can read and do math on grade level by the year 2014.
In his budget plan, Obama proposed judging schools differently, looking at student growth and schools' progress from one year to the next. Schools that do well would get incentives and rewards; schools that do poorly would face intervention and other consequences.Read more
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Florida schools and working parents could fare well in Obama budget
Republicans would like to see more spending cuts and tax breaks for business
By William E. Gibson, Washington Correspondent
February 1, 2010
Florida's schools, working parents and waterways would fare well in President Barack Obama's proposed budget for the next fiscal year. In what was expected to be a lean budget full of bad news, Obama asked Congress on Monday to spend $263 million to help restore the Everglades and millions more to help Florida parents pay for child care and college tuition.
Local schools would gain from a major boost in education spending while the administration tries to overhaul the No Child Left Behind law. These and other goodies, if approved by Congress, would contribute to a record deficit as the Obama administration struggles to bolster the economy, create jobs and help Americans survive hard times.
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Sharp Drop Is Seen in Gifts to Colleges and Universities
By TAMAR LEWIN
Published: February 2, 2010
Gifts to colleges and universities declined almost 12 percent in the 2009 fiscal year, to $27.85 billion, according to the Council for Aid to Education's annual survey of voluntary support of education. It was the steepest decline in the survey's 53-year history.
"The picture was worse than we thought for the fiscal year that ended on June 30," said John Lippincott, president of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, which sponsors the survey. "We estimated in July that we'd be down 3.9 percent for fiscal 2009. I think the biggest factor in our underestimate appears to be that individual giving was even softer than we thought it would be."
Mr. Lippincott estimated that in the 2010 fiscal year, higher-education giving would be up 2.5 percent.
In the last fiscal year, alumni participation declined to 10 percent from 11 percent, the lowest ever recorded in the survey, and the amount alumni contributed dropped 18 percent.
Corporate support, in contrast, declined by less than 6 percent.
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Pre-K program could be headed for 'train wreck'
By Leslie Postal Orlando Sentinel
February 2, 2010
Florida's pre-kindergarten program is in financial trouble - facing a nearly $29 million budget shortfall this year and a worse deficit next year.
The budget woes are raising fears that a program meant to offer "high quality" preschool classes is on a downward slide.
Some of the coalitions that run pre-K across the state predict they'll run out of money by late spring and be forced to wait until next year to pay back this year's bills.
"I don't think any coalition is really sure that we're going to make it through the end of the year," said Susan Sunka, executive director of the Early Learning Coalition of Osceola County.
"We're hoping the state is going to be able to navigate this," Sunka added. "It could be a train wreck with a capital T."
Already, budget cuts have forced coalitions to reduce services. In Orange County, there is almost no money this year to help struggling pre-K classes.
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