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Florida Legislature sees third push for civics education
By Akilah Johnson, Sun Sentinel
Question: How many times does the Legislature have to take up the cause of civics education?
Answer: Three. Maybe.
The "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor Civics Education Act" bills require students starting middle school in the 2012-2013 school year to take a semester-long civics class. Then they must pass a statewide standardized test to make it into high school.
The Florida Department of Education will pick up the approximate $1.5 million cost to give the new test. Test scores will factor into the school's grade from the state.
The bills also call for civics-related content in the language arts curriculum of all grades beginning with the 2011-2012 school year.
Lawmakers say many Floridians don't know that the three branches of government are legislative, executive and judicial. Furthermore, they can't tell you anything about the act's namesake: the first woman justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
This is the third attempt to make civics education a requirement in Florida. Twice before, the bills died in session of undetermined causes.
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Governor hopefuls on opposite sides of education fight
McCollum supported Senate Bill 6, while Sink opposed the controversial reform plan.
By Ron Word
Capitol Correspondent
TALLAHASSEE - Next January, Alex Sink or Bill McCollum likely will be taking the oath of office as Florida's 45th governor, and recent polls show it could be a close race, with the Democrat gaining ground on the Republican.
The two front-runners in each of their parties bring impressive credentials to the race and were on opposite sides of the controversial and contentious fight over Senate Bill 6, the educational reform plan vetoed by Gov. Charlie Crist.
Sink, 61, the state's chief financial officer, was president of Bank of America Florida and is the only woman and only Democrat on the Florida Cabinet. She is married to Bill McBride, who challenged Jeb Bush in the 2002 governor's race and lost.
McCollum, 65, the state's attorney general, is also on the Cabinet and is a Republican. He served in Congress for eight years before returning to Florida to take on Bill Nelson in a losing effort for the U.S. Senate.
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Class-size law poses dilemma for schools
By CARA FITZPATRICK
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Eight years after voters put class-size limits into the state constitution, Florida's public schools will finally be forced this fall to restrict the number of students in every class.
At least for a few months, that is.
The Republican-led legislature, facing another tight budget year, will ask voters to ease the limits to allow for schoolwide averages rather than class-by-class limits. But voters won't decide on that proposal (SJR 2) until November, three months after the school year starts.
That leaves cash-strapped school districts with an unenviable choice: Hire enough teachers to meet the stricter class-size requirements, possibly cutting back in other areas to pay for it, or break the law, pay possibly a multimillion-dollar fine and hope voters step in.
Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Destin, one of the legislators to propose the changes, has acknowledged that the amendment could cause problems for schools and should have been addressed last year.
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Last Teacher In, First Out? City Has Another Idea
Younger teachers in New York like Marisa Raff, 28, are at risk in a last-in-first-out layoff system.
By JENNIFER MEDINA
Published: April 24, 2010
Facing the likelihood of the largest number of layoffs in more than a generation, Mr. Klein and his counterparts around the country say that the rules, which require that the most recently hired teachers be the first to lose their jobs, are anachronistic. In an era of accountability, they say, the rules will upend their efforts of the last few years to recruit new teachers, improve teacher performance and reward those who do best.
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