Florida religious schools face no change after high court voucher ruling

The big story: Florida has offered tax credit scholarship and voucher programs to help students attend private schools for more than 20 years.

Its programs are among the largest in the nation.

But when the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in this week on a case about whether such state-sponsored models must include religious schools, Florida school choice advocates were paying little attention. Read on for their rationale.

And it’s not just Florida. The ruling has minimal effect in other states including Georgia, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Hot topics

Race lessons: Florida’s new law limiting how race is taught at schools and universities could force changes in schools’ anti-bias training, the News Service of Florida reports.

Title IX: Florida education commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. accused the Biden Administration of weaponizing the federal gender equity law, which is marking its 50th anniversary, Politico Florida reports. President Biden has proposed changes to have the law protect transgender students, the Washington Post reports.

College loan forgiveness: As the program comes to an end, graduates with remaining debts in Florida and beyond wonder how they’ll handle the change, WUSF reports.

Other school news

A highly regarded Flagler County teacher was “non-reappointed” on a 3-1 vote. She got caught up in what one School Board member called the “social media trap,” Flagler Live reports.

The Bay County school district is looking into buying more land. It’s making plans to build schools as its communities grow, WMBB reports.

Eckerd College’s president announced he would step down. Damián Fernández said he had accomplished his goals after two years on the job, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reports.

Don’t miss a story. Here’s the link to yesterday’s roundup.

Attention, pet lovers. This isn’t an education story. Just a PSA that the Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center, 440 N Falkenburg Road, is well above capacity on cats and dogs, and is holding a free adoption party from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday with all fees waived. Here’s more details.

Before you go ... More Thor? Yes, please.

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