As lawmakers left Tallahassee in mid-March without a budget deal, school officials across Florida held out hope that they’d have some clear direction soon.

Their fiscal year begins July 1, with hiring decisions due in April, so knowing what the financial picture looks like makes a big difference.

There had been some speculation that the Legislature might hold a budget special session next week. But leaders nixed that idea Wednesday afternoon, saying they have no agreements in place..Read More

The University of Florida is leading a project to shape how artificial intelligence will be used in the state’s K-12 classrooms, the Florida Gator Magazine reported last week.

The state’s K-12 AI Education Task Force will be organized and chaired by the university. The task force, which also includes educators from around the state, is tasked with developing the state as a national leader for AI literacy, education and innovation.

The work was funded by a $5 million gift from the Griffin Catalyst, a civic engagement initiative of the philanthropist Kenneth C. Griffin.

The task force reportedly convenes 250 members across 39 school districts, five charter schools, eight private industry firms and 14 education associations. There are also four other higher education institutions in Florida involved in developing the project.

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'Florida continues to set the pace for the nation in education choice.'

A rising number of students are seeking the taxpayer-funded school choice vouchers, with 500,000 already applying for next school year since the window opened Feb. 1, Step Up For Students said this week.

Voucher popularity continues to rise even as lawmakers have raised concerns about transparency and missing money in the state’s booming voucher program. Despite concerns, the Legislature failed to pass any major reforms in the 2026 Session.

A record-breaking 200,000 applications were submitted during the first three days of the application period, according to Step Up For Students, the nonprofit in charge of administering the majority of the vouchers.

By March 30, 500,000 applications had been submitted. Last year, it took 22 more days to reach that milestone, the organization said.

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The state stepped in last week to help manage the distressed finances of two rural school districts, and that could be just an inkling of what’s to come, state leaders say, as enrollment continues to decline.

“Union and Glades (counties) are the canary in the coal mine,” said Sen. Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island, who represents Union County.

Last week, the Florida Department of Education appointed a financial board to both Union and Glades counties’ school districts to help with “operations, management and finances and to make recommendations for financial recovery,” because their projected fund balances were below 2 percent.

State law requires school districts to maintain a 3 percent fund balance.

According to Union County School Board meeting records from February, the district has a $1.4 million deficit caused by the reduction of students, based on the third calculation of the Florida Education Finance Program.

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