Advertisement
  1. news

The Education Gradebook

60° F, Cloudy60° F, Cloudy
Hillsborough County school district officials urged the Florida Department of Education to suspend consequences of state testing for another year, because high numbers of student and staff absences are setting back academic progress.
Florida school leaders ask state to suspend testing consequences another year
A roundup of Florida education news from around the state.
Florida GOP bill would slash some school board members’ salaries
The Hillsborough School Board during an August 2021 vote on whether to require masks for students and staff.
Members who were elected to serve the state’s five largest school districts — including Hillsborough — could see their salaries cut by roughly $17,000 a year under the proposal.
Hillsborough schools ask state for leniency because of COVID-19 absences
Hillsborough School Board chairperson Nadia Combs, left, and superintendent Addison Davis, right, have asked Florida education officials for leniency on state requirements due to COVID-19 absences during the 2021-22 school year.
The number of students and teachers missing 10 or more days has grown 10 percent, and is likely to go higher.
Faculty groups blast Florida bill to make presidential searches more secret
The presidential search committee at the University of South Florida met for the second time on Oct. 22, 2021. From left are member Jose Valiente, chairperson Mike Griffin, search firm leader Alberto Pimentel and member Oscar Horton.
At state colleges and universities, they say, the process to find top leaders should be more open to the public, not less.

Latest

  1. Florida Democrats walk out of Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo confirmation hearing
    3 hours ago• Politics
    Florida Surgeon Gen. Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo, left, speaks at a news conference with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, right, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022, at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
  2. Florida school leaders ask state to suspend testing consequences another year
    Earlier today• Education
    Hillsborough County school district officials urged the Florida Department of Education to suspend consequences of state testing for another year, because high numbers of student and staff absences are setting back academic progress.
  3. Would Hillsborough voters approve a special school tax? The debate begins.
    Earlier today• Education
    Romaneir Johnson, chief financial officer for Hillsborough County schools, addresses the School Board during a board retreat last year. Johnson is drawing up a new financial plan for the district.
  5. Hernando County announces its Teacher of the Year
    Yesterday• Education
    Lt. Cmdr. Christian Cruz, a retired U.S. Navy officer, was announced Tuesday as Hernando County's Teacher of the Year.
  6. 2 Florida universities share top ranking for online bachelor’s programs
    Yesterday• Education
    Three Florida universities landed top-10 spots in U.S. News & World Report's annual rankings of online programs.
  7. Florida GOP bill would slash some school board members’ salaries
    Yesterday• Politics
    The Hillsborough School Board during an August 2021 vote on whether to require masks for students and staff.
  8. Faculty groups blast Florida bill to make presidential searches more secret
    Yesterday• Education
    The presidential search committee at the University of South Florida met for the second time on Oct. 22, 2021. From left are member Jose Valiente, chairperson Mike Griffin, search firm leader Alberto Pimentel and member Oscar Horton.
  9. Hillsborough schools ask state for leniency because of COVID-19 absences
    Yesterday• Education
    Hillsborough School Board chairperson Nadia Combs, left, and superintendent Addison Davis, right, have asked Florida education officials for leniency on state requirements due to COVID-19 absences during the 2021-22 school year.
  10. Review of political connections keeps Florida Education Department in spotlight
    Yesterday• Education
    An algebra class at Somerset Academy Jefferson County's middle/high school building in January 2018. [JESSICA BAKEMAN | WLRN]
  11. Pinellas plans to choose a new school superintendent soon, but not too soon
    Yesterday• Education
    Pinellas County Schools superintendent Michael Grego is retiring on July 1. The School Board expects to spend three or four months seeking his replacement.
  12. DeSantis’ inspector general is reviewing Florida education bid-rigging case
    Yesterday• Politics
    Melinda Miguel, Florida's chief inspector general, will review the handling of a bid-rigging probe at the Florida Department of Education.
  13. Florida school district cancels civil rights seminar over race theory concerns
    Yesterday• Education
    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to supporters and members of the media after a bill signing on Nov. 18, 2021, in Brandon. School administrators in a central Florida county canceled a seminar for history teachers on the U.S. civil rights movement, in part, because it had not been screened to make sure it was free of critical race theory, which the college professor planning the presentation says it didn't have. A bill being pushed by DeSantis would prohibit public schools and private businesses from making people feel “discomfort” when they teach students or train employees about discrimination in the nation’s past.
  14. Pinellas announces its Teacher of the Year this week. Meet the finalists.
    Jan. 24• Education
    Visual arts teacher Eileen Iacobucci was cheered by students at East Lake High in November after she was named one of 10 finalists for 2021-22 Pinellas Teacher of the Year. A winner will be announced Wednesday in a ceremony at Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg.
  15. Graduation rates dip across U.S. as pandemic stalls progress
    Jan. 24• Health
    Red mortarboards fly into the evening sky at Heritage High School's commencement ceremony in 2020, in Maryville Tenn. High school graduation rates dipped in at least 20 states after the first full school year disrupted by the pandemic.
  16. Justices to hear challenge to race considerations in college admissions
    Jan. 24• Nation & World
    The conservative-dominated Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a challenge to the consideration of race in college admissions.
  17. Another Florida university needs a president. Should the searches be private?
    Jan. 24• Education
    Florida International University South Campus in Miami.
  18. FIU president resigned after causing ‘discomfort’ for colleague
    Jan. 23• Education
    Florida International University South Campus in Miami.
  19. Tampa Bay schools report more than 6,100 COVID cases for the week
    Jan. 22• Education
    COVID-19 is an issue at Newsome High in east Hillsborough, which reported 79 cases of COVID-19 this past week and 438 for the 2021-22 school year. This photo, posted on Twitter, is from 2020.
  20. FIU announces resignation of its president, becoming latest university in leadership hunt
    Jan. 21• Education
    Florida International University South Campus in Miami.
  21. Federal judge orders injunction to UF’s conflict of interest policy
    Jan. 21• Education
    A look at the University Auditorium at the center of the University of Florida campus is Gainesville.
  22. Florida debates parents’ rights in schools
    Jan. 21• Education
    State Rep. Joe Harding, R-Williston, introduces a bill to extend parental rights in public schools to the Florida House Education & Employment Committee on Jan. 20, 2022.
  23. Armwood High educator named Hillsborough Teacher of the Year
    Jan. 21• Education
    Winners of the 2022 Excellence in Education awards for Hillsborough County. From left: Temple Terrace Elementary parent liaison aide Faith Smith, support employee of the year; Armwood High biology teacher Laura Widerberg, Teacher of the Year; Shields Middle School success coach Benigno Lopez, Diversity Educator of the Year.
  24. LGBTQ advocates fight measure to ban gender identity talk in schools
    Jan. 20• Education
    Gov. Ron DeSantis has supported increasing parents' rights in schools, including at this July news conference regarding school masks. Florida lawmakers have focused on the issue with several bills in the first weeks of their 2022 legislative session.
Advertisement

Most Read

Advertisement
Today's Featured Advertisers
Advertisement
Follow what’s happening in Tampa Bay schools

Follow what’s happening in Tampa Bay schools

Subscribe to our free Gradebook newsletter

We’ll break down the local and state education developments you need to know every Thursday.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options
Advertisement