Many educators spend the summer searching for some kind of balance between restoration and productivity. Over the years, we both have learned that the more intentionally we spend our free time, the more likely we are to return to school refreshed and energized. We recommend the following three practices to reconnect, reflect, and restore this summer.

Reconnect: Plan Your Own Dinner Party

During the school year, endless social media posts, podcasts, articles, and videos beckon for our attention, yet we don’t have the time or the energy to engage. As each school year winds down, we jot down the names of people and topics we’d like to revisit during summer break, so we have a curated list of conversations to explore, rather than starting each day with the same scroll.

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Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed legislation weakening public employee unions as he took aim at Florida’s teacher union.

At a news conference, DeSantis said he was signing SB 1296 to “provide once and for all for the decertification of partisan teacher unions.”

“This is something people have been wanting to see for a long time,” DeSantis said. “You should not have these entities operating if they do not have support from the people they purport to represent.”

Critics accused DeSantis of being anti-worker and not doing enough to support Florida public school teachers.

“Gov. Ron DeSantis and anti-union, anti-worker legislators have focused on chipping away at the constitutionally enshrined rights of thousands of workers in the state,” said the Florida Education Association (FEA), which represents about 120,000 members.

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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. [Source: News Service of Florida]

Citing their importance in young peoples’ lives, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed two laws designed to provide more support to Florida’s high school sports coaches.

One of the measures (SB 538) paves the way for schools to better pay coaches, who often put in long hours for minimal stipends. The second (SB 178) protects coaches who use their own money to help student-athletes with expenses such as food, transportation and recovery services.

The latter, known as the Teddy Bridgewater Act, arose after Bridgewater, an NFL quarterback, was suspended for supporting the needs of players on the Miami Northwestern football team that he guided to a state championship in 2024.

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