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Several students from Lee and Sarasota county schools were among those scored winning entries in the annual Florida History Day contest administered by the Museum of Florida History. This year’s state contest was held at Tallahassee Community College on May 6 with the top student entries from the 32 Florida counties participating. Winners were announced today.
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The Curriculum Advisory Committee for Lee County public schools had their final meeting of this school year last evening, to vote on a contentious issue.
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Flanked by veterans who served in the Bay of Pigs invasion, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed a measure that will lead to the history of communism being taught in grades as low as kindergarten.The governor, standing behind a placard that read “anti-communism education,” touted lessons that will be required under the bill.
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Christopher S. Bernier has lead the 9th largest school district in the state since May 2022. Ken Savage is expected to take over as interim superintendent — again.
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The Florida Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to a proposed constitutional amendment that seeks to shift to holding partisan school-board elections.The proposal (HJR 31) will go on the 2024 ballot and, if approved by voters, would do away with a requirement that school-board candidates run without party labels. Partisan elections could begin in 2026.
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The Immokalee Foundation is refurnishing its classrooms with over $20,000 of new furniture thanks to the generous donation from the Community Trust Fund of The League Club.
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During a forum moderated by the Florida Gulf Coast faculty senate, Mack described himself as an “innovator, a disruptor and a relationship builder.” Mack also pointed to his knowledge of the Legislature as a factor that would separate him from three other finalists.
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A proposal that would require school districts to share local property-tax revenue with charter schools is teed up for consideration by the full House, after a committee debate Monday about whether it could bring “parity.”Property taxes collected through discretionary 1.5-mill local levies go toward such things as constructing and renovating traditional public schools and buying land. Meanwhile, charter schools largely receive such money through the state budget.
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For the 2022-23 academic year, Lee County high schools transitioned from block scheduling to period scheduling. Oasis High School, an area charter school, was not subject to this district change, but is now discussing the idea.
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A measure that would expand 2022’s controversial “Parental Rights in Education” law — known to critics as “don’t say gay” — is primed for consideration by the full Florida Senate.The proposal (SB 1320) would broaden the 2022 law’s prohibition on instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through third grade to pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.
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Harlem Heights Charter Community School is a tuition-free public school off Gladiolus Drive in Lee County. The school is in its seventh year, with classes ranging from kindergarten through fifth grade. The school addresses challenges faced by kids who are growing up in poverty, who are growing up in families with limited educational exposure, and who are not native speakers of English.
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The Republican-controlled House voted 79-34 along straight party lines to approve a proposed constitutional amendment (HJR 31) that seeks to hold partisan school-board elections. If ultimately approved by voters, the amendment would scrap a current requirement that the races be non-partisan.
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Dr. Clay Motley is a native Kentuckian who lived for 10 years in South Carolina before coming to Southwest Florida.
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Florida’s Senate voted 23-17 to pass legislation that will affect public-sector unions, especially teachers’ unions across the state. The bill would increase the required percentage of union members who pay dues from 50% to 60% for all public unions except police, firefighters and correctional officers. As many as two-thirds of Florida’s teachers’ unions would be decertified, preventing them from negotiating for salary and benefits for teachers, guidance counselors and media specialists. The Senate is controlled by Republicans. Teachers’ unions have traditionally supported Democratic policies and candidates in Florida. The same lawmaker who proposed the bill also sponsored another bill this year – which has not been taken seriously and is stalled in a Senate committee – that would effectively shut down the Democratic Party in Florida.
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Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz said the proposed rule is aimed at providing greater clarity for teachers. “This rule basically says that we’re sticking to the standards and when you’re talking about K-12 instruction all the way through 12th grade, these standards don’t incorporate gender ideology or any of these theories in math, social studies, reading or anything else," Diaz said.