The nation’s first charter school law passed in 1991, the year after an improbably left-right coalition enacted the nation’s first modern school voucher program. Ever since, charters have been the go-to “third way” solution: More regulated than private schools. More flexible than district-run public schools. Accountable to the public in more ways than either. And, crucially, amenable to worldviews of Democrats and Republicans. But that may be starting to change. Support for independently run public schools has eroded among elected Democrats. In a break from his predecessors in both parties, Pr ..read more

  The Stanford Educational Opportunity Project has developed a new data tool called the “Segregation Explorer.” Let’s start with the definition of what is being measured in this data, which stretches from 1991 to 2022: Segregation estimates in the interactive map represent the two-group normalized exposure index, which measures the difference between two groups’ exposure to one of the groups. For example, the White-Hispanic normalized exposure index compares the proportions of White (or Hispanic, equivalently) students in the average White and Hispanic students’ schools. A White-Hispanic ..read more

Around the state: Leon County’s school district and seven others in northwest Florida are closed today because of a threat of severe weather in the area, the building at a Broward high school where 17 students and employees were gunned down in 2018 will be demolished in mid-June, Broward’s superintendent introduces a new plan to save money and reverse declining student enrollment, school board members in Manatee and Hernando counties say they aren’t running for re-election, Newberry city commissioners vote to have city employees help a nonprofit group apply to the state to convert Newberry Ele ..read more

  Ryan graduated from Beacon College as one of five valedictorians. LEESBURG – Ryan Sleboda is a college graduate with a degree in anthrozoology, a 4.0 GPA, and the distinction of being one of five valedictorians for Beacon College’s Class of 2024. He’s sailing off to a future where he expects to own a business – a doggy daycare – and live on his own. “That’s my motivation,” he said. These are significant milestones for Ryan, who is on the autism spectrum. Socially shy for most of his life, Ryan, 23, has cleared hurdle after hurdle thanks in part to the Family Empowerment Schola ..read more

Around the state: Broward’s superintendent says the district is no longer considering closing three schools, among five education-related bills signed into last Friday by Gov. Ron DeSantis are two that are intended to cut regulations for public school districts, plans for a special-needs charter school in Pasco County have been derailed by escalating costs, Martin County teachers reach a contract agreement with the district that calls for pay raises tied to experience, two Leon County schools remain closed today and all others are opening 30 minutes late after a severe storm hit the area Frida ..read more

    Imagine the major metro area near you if students were free to attend the fanciest school district in the leafiest local suburb. Can Dallas kids enroll in Highland Park? Can Columbus students transfer through open enrollment into Grandview Heights? Will Smith portrayed a kid from a tough background who got to go to school in Bel Air, but how often does this happen in real life? If you mentally put the over/under on the number of students getting the chance to do this at 1, take the under. Thousands of Phoenix students however attend school in Scottsdale. Sadly, a recent report f ..read more

Around the state: Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters rallied Wednesday at the University of Florida as Gov. Ron DeSantis praised the school’s response to what he called “nonsense” on campus, teachers from Marion and Hernando are chosen as finalists for the state’s teacher of the year award, two Duval school board members oppose the appointment of a new district police chief, Lee County teachers and the school district reach a tentative contract agreement, and the FHSAA will consider a policy change at Tuesday’s meeting that would open the door for high school athletes to be paid for the use ..read more

Around the state: Duval’s school board selects two finalists for the superintendent’s job, Alachua school officials are questioning the claim of victory made by proponents of turning an elementary school into a charter school, a Leon County educator is selected as a finalist for the state’s teacher of the year award, Broward’s former superintendent reaches a separation agreement, Pinellas school board members throw their support behind the renewal of an expanded property tax initiative in November, and Sarasota school board members approve a resolution rejecting new federal protections against ..read more

Around the state: State officials rule that a tie vote on converting an Alachua public elementary school into a charter school means the measure was approved, a Walton County science teacher is the first of five finalists chosen for the state teacher of the year award, another high-ranking Broward school administrator is retiring, 284 Volusia teachers have been reassigned since the district announced budget cuts because of the end of federal pandemic funding, Duval school board members are expected to narrow the list of finalists for the superintendent’s job at today’s meeting, and a Christian ..read more

Medieval serfdom in Europe involved landed aristocrats exploiting serfs who were bound to the land. Aristocrats owned the land and their serfs worked land which they did not own, attempting to scratch out an existence after the aristocrats took their cut of the harvest. Life was nasty, brutish and short for the serfs, who lacked anything in the way of rights, as Britannica explains: The essential additional mark of serfdom was the lack of many of the personal liberties that were held by freedmen. Chief among these was the serf’s lack of freedom of movement; he could not permanently leave his ..read more