Staying up-to-date on the latest in education news is easier than ever.
Week of April 7th
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Florida officials watching for 'vile, sanctionable' behavior from teachers after Kirk killing
State officials said they are keeping a close eye on how Florida teachers react to the killing of Charlie Kirk by pledging to investigate and punish any “vile, sanctionable” behavior from educators.
The warning, contained in a Thursday memo from Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas, comes as at least one Florida teacher was suspended over a social media post that Kamoutsas said “despicably celebrated” Kirk’s death. Florida’s top education official told school leaders that teachers could face state discipline for how they respond, cautioning that free speech rights “do not extend without limit to their professional duties.”
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Florida Ranks #1 in Education Freedom for the Fourth Consecutive Year
Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the Heritage Foundation ranked Florida number one in Education Freedom for the fourth consecutive year. Florida’s expansion of school choice and support of parental rights directly led to this top ranking.
“In Florida, we are committed to ensuring parents have the power to make the education decisions that are best for their child,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Florida offers a robust array of educational choices, which has solidified our state as a national leader in education freedom, parental power, and overall K-12 education.”
“Earning the #1 ranking for Education Freedom for the fourth consecutive year affirms a simple principle: education decisions belong to families,” said Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas. “Under Governor DeSantis’ leadership, Florida will continue honoring parents’ right to choose the best educational option for their child’s individualized needs. I am proud that Florida offers so many educational options that parents can have confidence in.”
The Education Freedom Report Card began in 2022, and Florida has earned the top ranking every year since its inception. The report card uses five categories: school choice, transparency, regulatory freedom, civic education and spending to rank states.
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How Florida’s new education chief is rattling schools with public threats
Tuesday was final budget approval day for school districts across Florida, including those in the Tampa Bay region.
Officials in several districts, such as Leon County, explained that although their budgets are balanced this year, they’re on tenderhooks looking ahead, as the Tallahassee Democrat reports. Brevard County leaders had similar concerns, Florida Today reports, as did those in Orange County, as reported by WESH.
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Florida’s plan to drop school vaccine rule won’t start for 90 days, won’t cover all diseases
Florida’s plan to drop school vaccine mandates likely won’t take effect for 90 days and would include only chickenpox and a few other illnesses unless lawmakers decide to extend it to other diseases, like polio and measles, the health department said Sunday.
The department responded to a request for details, four days after Florida’s surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, said the state would become the first to make vaccinations voluntary and let families decide whether to inoculate their children.
It’s a retreat from decades of public policy and research that has shown vaccines to be safe and the most effective way to stop the spread of communicable diseases, especially among children. Despite that evidence, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has expressed deep skepticism about vaccines.
