Monday, April 27, 2009

Legislative Update

Dear colleagues,

 

Here's a run-down of this week's news in education policy and program development.

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

FLORIDA LEGISLATURE FAILS TO REACH BUDGET AGREEMENT

 

The biggest news of the week, of course, is that there isn't any state budget news. Five days after the first joint conference was scheduled, no such meeting has yet taken place. The House and Senate leadership are in deadlock as the last days of the session approach. If no agreement is reached by Tuesday, then Legislative rules will prevent a budget from being passed during the regular session and special session will have to be convened. Efforts to reconcile major differences that had been scheduled over the weekend were cancelled late Friday afternoon.

 

Tallahassee Democrat http://floridacapitalnews.com/article/20090424/CAPITOLNEWS/904240327

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

FLORIDA'S WAIVER REQUEST STILL PENDING

 

Florida is one of a handful of states that is currently ineligible to receive federal stimulus funding because its support for public schools has declined so much in recent years. In a disastrous budget year, both houses of the Legislature have relied heavily on these expected federal funds, but those funds cannot flow without a waiver from the U.S. Secretary of Education. However, the Florida Department of Education has not yet filed for the waiver.

 

The Florida Department of Education says it has completed the request package, but has "strategically waited" for further guidance. The topic was not mentioned in the Commissioner's weekly memorandum to school superintendents.

 

Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1013138.html

 

 

* * * * *

 

NEW BLACKJACK DEAL OFFERED BY SEMINOLE TRIBE

 

In a twist on the Seminole Tribe's proposed gambling compact, a new offer would provide up-front payments of $600 million and $500 million over the next two years in exchange for exclusive rights to blackjack games. These up-front payments would be offset by minimal payments in years 3 and 4 of the 25-year compact. However, the offer did not appear to entice legislators concerned that this infusion of funds would come to an end at the same time as the federal stimulus funding ended.

 

Orlando Sentinel http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2009/04/crists-new-seminole-deal.html

 

Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1015049.html

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

FLORIDA SCHOOL VOUCHER PROGRAM MAY EXPAND

 

Florida currently provides dollar-for-dollar tax credits to businesses the provide vouchers for low-income students to attend private schools. HB 453 was approved by the House in a 94-23 vote this week. If approved by the Senate, this bill would expand this tax credit to insurance companies, thereby providing even more money for the program, perhaps as much as $118 million.

 

Lakeland Ledger http://www.theledger.com/article/20090423/NEWS/904235098/1003/NEWS00?Title=Bill-Would-Strengthen-Voucher-Program

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

NEW FAITH-BASED EDUCATION LICENSE PLATE PROPOSED

 

A new "I believe" vehicle license plate was proposed in an amendment to SB 642 by a Senate panel. If approved by the Legislature, proceeds from the new plates would be provided to an Orlando firm that promotes faith-based education. A number of other plates are proposed in the bill, including a "Trinity" design to promote natural science, and designs related to autism, surfing, and biodiversity.

 

St. Petersburg Times http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2009/04/of-god-the-devil-and-license-plates.html#more

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

TURNITIT.COM WINS LANDMARK COPYRIGHT CASE

 

Turnitin.com is an online anti-plagiarism service in which students upload term papers and reports to the site, which then checks them for passages that appear to have been previously published elsewhere. If such passages are found, a report of potential plagiarism is then provided to the teacher, who can then conduct their own investigation. Two years ago, however, students in Arizona and Virginia sued Turnitin for copyright violation.

In a landmark decision similar to the Google Image Search thumbnail case, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Turnitin does not violate the students' copyrights in their own work, even though the service stores and uses their work to check future papers. The decision includes a carefully-constructed review of how each of the components of copyright law apply in the online era, and concludes that the service is essential "transformative" in nature, and thereby must be regarded as fair use.

See the full opinion at http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/081424.P.pdf

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

RUNNING THE NUMBERS

1. Number of Americans primarily employed as CEOs: 299,160

2. Number primarily employed as lawyers: 555,770

3. Number primarily employed as bloggers: 452,000

4. Days of suspension from school proposed by the Florida Senate for a fourth offense of droopy drawers: 10

 

 

SOURCES

 

1-3. Business Insider http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-us-now-has-more-paid-bloggers-than-lawyers-2009-4

4. Tallahassee Democrat http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20090420/CAPITOLNEWS/90420013/1067/

 

 

* * * * *

 

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Legislative Update

* * * * *

 

 

HIGHER GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS APPROVED BY SENATE COMMITTEE

 

A Florida Senate committee approved SB 2654 this morning, which would have the effect of requiring credit in Algebra I, Algebra II, Biology, Chemistry, and Geometry for high school graduation. The bill would also raise the graduation requirement for FCAT reading and mathematics. Three House committees have already approved HB 1293,  the House version of the bill.

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

CLASS SIZE PROPOSAL APPROVED BY FLORIDA HOUSE

 

The Florida House voted 78-41 to approve HJR 919 this morning. If approved by the Senate, this will place a proposed constitutional amendment before voters. The amendment would limit class size compliance at the school level instead of the classroom level, and would slightly raise the class size limits. If approved, the PK-3 classroom maximum would be 21, with a school average of 18. For grades 4-8, the classroom limit would be 27 with a school average of 22. For grades 9-12, the classroom maximum would be 30 with a school average of 25. A final Senate committee will consider its version (SB 1828) on Monday.

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

SENATE UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES CIGARETTE TAX HIKE

 

The Florida Senate unanimously approved SB 1840 yesterday, which would implement a $1-per-pack tax on cigarettes. The Senate budget proposal includes nearly $1 billion in tobacco tax revenues to offset healthcare costs, although the House budget does not. The bill has now gone to the House in messages.

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

QUICK NOTES

 

Escambia says no to merit pay.

 

http://pnj.com/article/20090414/NEWS01/904140308/1058/EDUCATION

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

RUNNING THE NUMBERS

 

1. Millions of dollars Broward believes could be saved by taking a week-long furlough at Thanksgiving: 20

 

2. Estimated decrease in student enrollment in Florida K-12 schools next year: 9,999

 

3. Number of vendors Hernando asked to voluntarily cut their fees by ten percent next year: 170

 

 

 

Sources

 

1. Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/999029.html

 

2. Florida Legislature Estimating Conference http://edr.state.fl.us/conferences/publicschools/publicschools.htm

 

3. St. Petersburg Times http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article991428.ece

 

 

* * * * *

 

Monday, April 13, 2009

Legislative update: Budget and Appropriations

Congress adjourned for a two-week recess on April 3 after a contentious week of long debates in both the House and Senate regarding a fiscal year 2010 budget resolution. At the end of the week, the resolutions adopted were similar but not identical. The House expressed a willingness to spend approximately $8 billion more on domestic discretionary programs in FY 2010 than the Senate. The House also appeared more willing to set bi-partisanship aside to enact health care and student loan reform legislation via the budget process. Final details of the FY 2010 budget resolution will be decided during the week of April 20, when members return to Capitol Hill.

The adoption of a budget resolution clears the way for the appropriations committees to meet and distribute what are called the "302 B allocations" to each subcommittee. It is anticipated that the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee will receive a relatively generous allocation, perhaps as much as an 8 percent increase over FY 2009. Once allocations are decided, the hard work of dividing up funding among programs at the departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services begins. Congress will wait for budget details from the administration before those details are made public or finalized. That information should reach Capitol Hill by mid May.

Congressional leaders have made it clear that the goal is to finish the budget and appropriations process by Sept. 30, the last day of the current fiscal year. That means mark-ups and floor debates will be held during June and July, and final conferencing and adoption of spending bills will take place in the early fall. It is an ambitious schedule given all the other legislative priorities that have been announced, such as reforming the health care system, reinventing the student loan program, enacting climate change and other energy-related policies, plus a long list of tax considerations. The backdrop to all this activity is the effort from government agencies to distribute, and states to spend, the funding made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The next recess period comes at the end of May, and for many that won't be soon enough.
Send

PROCEDURAL PLAN FOR CERTIFICATION OF DISTRICT POLICIES AGAINST BULLYING AND HARASSMENT

The Department of Education has issued the following memorandum regarding the PROCEDURAL PLAN FOR CERTIFICATION OF DISTRICT POLICIES AGAINST BULLYING AND HARASSMENT (SECTION 1006.147, FLORIDA STATUTES).  The memorandum may be viewed at:

http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-5360/dps-2009-048.pdf

 

Thursday, April 09, 2009

State Fiscal Stabilization Fund

Yesterday, the Department of Education released modifications to the previously released guidance for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Guidance Modifications can be accessed at http://www.ed.gov/programs/statestabilization/applicant.html.

 

Monday, April 06, 2009

Guidance Counselors and Excellent Teaching Program

Per Bob Serra, our CEES contact, HB 5005, which is the conforming bill to the education budget would insert the words “classroom teacher” into the section which limits who can get bonuses from the NBPTS certification.  Effectively, this would eliminate guidance counselors, library media specialists and reading coaches from receiving bonuses as part of the program.

 

If we want to undo this position, we should contact Rep. Flores, Rep. Stargel and Rep. Kair to make sure that each understands what is being proposed.  The Senate version of the conforming bill does not include this position at this time.”

 

 

 

FSCA Legislative Update

HOUSE MOVES CLOSER TO SENATE BUDGET

 

Early versions of Senate and House budgets are coming together in various forms. Both approaches appear to hold FY10 allocations at a level more or less comparable to the current (and oft-reduced) per-student allocation. Closer investigation, however, reveals that these figures include budget items not previously counted in per-student funding formulae. Many other programs and activities normally outside of such formulas are cut sharply in both proposals. As reported last week, while there is some proposed budget flexibility in some areas, there also many new restrictions on spending in other areas. Both budget approaches assume that federal stimulus funding will be available, and both budgets make generous assumptions about proceeds from massive increases in gambling compact, and increased revenues from "user fees." The Senate seems ready to approve considerable increases in taxes on tobacco, but the House seems less so.

 

Two primary documents related to the budget proposals are provided below, but keep in mind that several other bills will eventually be incorporated, so expect changes in the near term. Analysis of these budget proposals in their current disaggregated form is extremely complicated, so take your time going over them, and take a grain of salt as well.

 

House Education Appropriations Committee Staff Analysis of PCB PAC 09-01

http://myfloridahouse.com/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=pcb01a.PAC.doc&DocumentType=Analysis&CommitteeId=2447&Session=2009

 

Senate Education Appropriations Committee Staff Analysis of CS/SB 1676

http://www.flsenate.gov/data/session/2009/Senate/bills/analysis/pdf/2009s1676.ea.pdf

 


* * * * *

 

 

EDUCATION LEADERS SUPPORT GOVERNOR'S GAMBLING COMPACT WITH SEMINOLE TRIBE

 

Both the Florida Schools Boards Association and the Florida Association of District School Superintendents affirmed their support this morning for the Governor's proposed gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The House and the Senate have each included estimated revenues from a compact in their budget proposals, but there are varying estimates about how much revenue could be generated and differences in specifics about what games might be permitted in the tribe's Hard Rock casinos.

 

St. Petersburg Times http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2009/04/education-leaders-endorse-compact.html#more

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

TOUGHER GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS APPROVED AGAIN

 

After three solid hours of debate, the House Full Appropriations Council on Education & Economic Development approved HB 1293 on Monday. This was the third and final critical committee vote in support of the measure, so it now will go the House floor for a vote.

 

The bill would require college-preparatory courses for all high school graduates, including one credit each in Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II; Biology 1, Chemistry 1, and one other higher-level science course. The bill would also require a score of Level 3 or higher in 10th Grade FCAT mathematics and 10th Grade FCAT reading.

 

Although the increase from the current FCAT cut-off score to the proposed Level 3 is not numerically large, it will cause an immediate and significant increase in students at risk of not graduating. The House Committee staff noted that 58% of students statewide failed on their first attempt to achieve the current cutoff level in 10th Grade FCAT reading last year. If these same students had been held to the proposed new Level 3 cutoff, the failure rate would have instead been 89%.

 

This bill was supported heavily by the Foundation for Florida's Future (headed by former governor Jeb Bush), the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and Associated Industries of Florida.

 

House Education Committee Staff Analysis

http://myfloridahouse.com/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=h1293e.CEED.doc&DocumentType=Analysis&BillNumber=1293&Session=2009

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

DOING THE WAIVE

 

Florida remains ineligible to receive the first wave of stimulus funding under ARRA because of the sharp decline in education funding over the past several years, but has been ready to apply for a waiver that would allow the state to receive an anticipated $2.7 billion in state fiscal stabilzation funds. These ARRA funds are separate from other increases in Title I, IDEA, and Pell grants. The Governor has repeatedly expressed his belief that Florida's waiver will be approved, and both the House and the Senate have included anticipated stimulus funds in their budget proposals for next year.

 

However, the actual mechanism for requesting the waiver is still not available. Although the application itself has been released, the necessary guidelines for completing it won't be available for about two more weeks. The Secretary has promised a "quick turnaround" when the waiver request is eventually submitted.

 

Orlando Sentinel http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/orl-stimulus-money-florida-education-040109,0,6965374.story

 

News-Press http://www.news-press.com/article/20090402/NEWS0104/90402105/1006

 

On Tuesday, the Secretary sent a "Dear Governor" letter to all 50 states outlining the basic data collection, analysis, and reporting requirements for the second wave of funding that will be made available under ARRA. The general consensus seems to be that Florida is probably better situated to meet these requirements than some other states, since its existing data system is quite extensive.

 

U.S. Department of Education http://www.ed.gov/programs/statestabilization/2009-394-cover.pdf

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

SECRETARY REVERSES RECENT CHANGES TO TITLE I REGULATIONS.

 

In a detailed letter to chief state school superintendents, the Secretary reversed some critical Title I regulations implemented late last year. This will reduce the need to make changes in most state and local programs during difficult economic times. Notably, the Secretary will repeal of the requirement that a State revise its Accountability Workbook provisions regarding AYP. He also intends to amend or repeal a 2002 regulatory provision prohibiting a State from approving districts and schools identified for improvement to be SES providers.

 

U.S. Department of Education http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/secletter/090401.html

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

STATE WINS GRANT TO EXPAND ONLINE DATA TOOLS

 

For the second time, Florida was awarded a multimillion dollar data system development grant. The state will use the 2.45 million award to expand a data governance structures to enhance Federal reporting and reliable research. An innovative new research and analysis tool will allows researchers with approved proposals to intuitively navigate the site and pull data fields appropriate to their research proposals.

 

NCES http://nces.ed.gov/Programs/SLDS/state.asp?stateabbr=FL

 

 

* * * * *

 

Secretary Duncan Discusses Stimulus, Budget and Obama's Agenda

Secretary Duncan Discusses Stimulus, Budget and Obama's Agenda: On March 24, Education Week interviewed U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on the stimulus package, the 2010 budget and the Department of Education's plans for implementing President Obama's education agenda. Duncan vowed to work closely with states to make sure the stimulus money for education is used for the right purposes. "We are holding back billions of dollars, and if we see states doing things that don't make sense and aren't in the spirit of what this is about, they would put themselves at jeopardy in receiving that second set of money," Duncan said. The secretary stressed, however, that he is much more interested in getting things right the first time. Duncan said that one of the best parts of the administration's FY 2010 budget is the increased access to higher education. "There's more money coming into higher education than any time since the GI bill. It's a staggering resource," he said. Regarding teacher quality, the secretary argued we should do everything in our power to provide incentives, reward and help them. "But, at the end of the day if a teacher is just not making it, and, despite help, despite support, despite mentoring, is not improving, I think we owe it to our children to make a change there." Lastly, Duncan emphasized the importance of comprehensive data systems that track students throughout their educational career and enable us to "shine a spotlight on those teachers that are doing a phenomenal job of driving student achievement."

Legislative Update

On April 2, the House and Senate, on strong party line votes, adopted FY 2010 budget resolutions. Although the bills differ modestly in spending authority, they both offer President Obama an endorsement of much of his spending and policy plan for the year. In the compromise measure that will be worked out over the next two weeks the increase in domestic spending will fall at around 8 percent. The focus of this increased spending will be education, health care and energy. This is good news for education advocates who are already overwhelmed by the flow of unanticipated stimulus dollars. The challenge might actually become how to spend all this new funding in an effective and timely manner -- a challenge few ever thought they would face.

One complicated, yet unresolved aspect of the budget debate is reconciliation. Although the Senate specifically prohibited this process, which is used to avoid filibusters, for energy reform, it remains a possibility in the student loan and health care debates. Republicans are crying foul as the limitation on the requirement of a 60-vote majority greatly diminishes minority party influence. Given the importance of the health care proposals in particular, some Republicans are already saying that any attempts at bipartisanship will be undone. Most Democrats respond by reminding their colleagues how often this procedure has been used in the past.

Once a conference committee reaches agreement on the budget resolution, appropriators will meet to divide up the cash, in the neighborhood of $3.6 trillion overall when both mandatory and discretionary spending are taken into account, among all the subcommittees. Hearings are already underway in spite of the absence of any spending details from the Obama administration. Plans for spending at all federal agencies are expected on Capitol Hill by mid-May. Overall, Congress is off to a quick start on this year's budget. The hope is it will meet the Sept. 30 deadline for the first time in many years.

Friday, April 03, 2009

FSCA Legislative Update

 

 

HOUSE MOVES CLOSER TO SENATE BUDGET (BUT READ THE FINE PRINT)

 

Early versions of Senate and House budgets are coming together in various forms. Both approaches appear to hold FY10 allocations at a level more or less comparable to the current (and oft-reduced) per-student allocation. Closer investigation, however, reveals that these figures include budget items not previously counted in per-student funding formulae. Many other programs and activities normally outside of such formulas are cut sharply in both proposals. As reported last week, while there is some proposed budget flexibility in some areas, there also many new restrictions on spending in other areas. Both budget approaches assume that federal stimulus funding will be available, and both budgets make generous assumptions about proceeds from massive increases in gambling compact, and increased revenues from "user fees." The Senate seems ready to approve considerable increases in taxes on tobacco, but the House seems less so.

 

Two primary documents related to the budget proposals are provided below, but keep in mind that several other bills will eventually be incorporated, so expect changes in the near term. Analysis of these budget proposals in their current disaggregated form is extremely complicated, so take your time going over them, and take a grain of salt as well.

 

House Education Appropriations Committee Staff Analysis of PCB PAC 09-01

http://myfloridahouse.com/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=pcb01a.PAC.doc&DocumentType=Analysis&CommitteeId=2447&Session=2009

 

Senate Education Appropriations Committee Staff Analysis of CS/SB 1676

http://www.flsenate.gov/data/session/2009/Senate/bills/analysis/pdf/2009s1676.ea.pdf

 


* * * * *

 

 

EDUCATION LEADERS SUPPORT GOVERNOR'S GAMBLING COMPACT WITH SEMINOLE TRIBE

 

Both the Florida Schools Boards Association and the Florida Association of District School Superintendents affirmed their support this morning for the Governor's proposed gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The House and the Senate have each included estimated revenues from a compact in their budget proposals, but there are varying estimates about how much revenue could be generated and differences in specifics about what games might be permitted in the tribe's Hard Rock casinos.

 

St. Petersburg Times http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2009/04/education-leaders-endorse-compact.html#more

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

TOUGHER GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS APPROVED AGAIN

 

After three solid hours of debate, the House Full Appropriations Council on Education & Economic Development approved HB 1293 on Monday. This was the third and final critical committee vote in support of the measure, so it now will go the House floor for a vote.

 

The bill would require college-preparatory courses for all high school graduates, including one credit each in Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II; Biology 1, Chemistry 1, and one other higher-level science course. The bill would also require a score of Level 3 or higher in 10th Grade FCAT mathematics and 10th Grade FCAT reading.

 

Although the increase from the current FCAT cut-off score to the proposed Level 3 is not numerically large, it will cause an immediate and significant increase in students at risk of not graduating. The House Committee staff noted that 58% of students statewide failed on their first attempt to achieve the current cutoff level in 10th Grade FCAT reading last year. If these same students had been held to the proposed new Level 3 cutoff, the failure rate would have instead been 89%.

 

This bill was supported heavily by the Foundation for Florida's Future (headed by former governor Jeb Bush), the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and Associated Industries of Florida.

 

House Education Committee Staff Analysis

http://myfloridahouse.com/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=h1293e.CEED.doc&DocumentType=Analysis&BillNumber=1293&Session=2009

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

DOING THE WAIVE

 

Florida remains ineligible to receive the first wave of stimulus funding under ARRA because of the sharp decline in education funding over the past several years, but has been ready to apply for a waiver that would allow the state to receive an anticipated $2.7 billion in state fiscal stabilzation funds. These ARRA funds are separate from other increases in Title I, IDEA, and Pell grants. The Governor has repeatedly expressed his belief that Florida's waiver will be approved, and both the House and the Senate have included anticipated stimulus funds in their budget proposals for next year.

 

However, the actual mechanism for requesting the waiver is still not available. Although the application itself has been released, the necessary guidelines for completing it won't be available for about two more weeks. The Secretary has promised a "quick turnaround" when the waiver request is eventually submitted.

 

Orlando Sentinel http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/orl-stimulus-money-florida-education-040109,0,6965374.story

 

News-Press http://www.news-press.com/article/20090402/NEWS0104/90402105/1006

 

On Tuesday, the Secretary sent a "Dear Governor" letter to all 50 states outlining the basic data collection, analysis, and reporting requirements for the second wave of funding that will be made available under ARRA. The general consensus seems to be that Florida is probably better situated to meet these requirements than some other states, since its existing data system is quite extensive.

 

U.S. Department of Education http://www.ed.gov/programs/statestabilization/2009-394-cover.pdf

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

SECRETARY REVERSES RECENT CHANGES TO TITLE I REGULATIONS.

 

In a detailed letter to chief state school superintendents, the Secretary reversed some critical Title I regulations implemented late last year. This will reduce the need to make changes in most state and local programs during difficult economic times. Notably, the Secretary will repeal of the requirement that a State revise its Accountability Workbook provisions regarding AYP. He also intends to amend or repeal a 2002 regulatory provision prohibiting a State from approving districts and schools identified for improvement to be SES providers.

 

U.S. Department of Education http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/secletter/090401.html

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

STATE WINS GRANT TO EXPAND ONLINE DATA TOOLS

 

For the second time, Florida was awarded a multimillion dollar data system development grant. The state will use the 2.45 million award to expand a data governance structures to enhance Federal reporting and reliable research. An innovative new research and analysis tool will allows researchers with approved proposals to intuitively navigate the site and pull data fields appropriate to their research proposals.

 

NCES http://nces.ed.gov/Programs/SLDS/state.asp?stateabbr=FL

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

Governor Crist Invites Floridians to Review Florida's Use of Federal Stimulus Dollars


Governor Charlie Crist unveiled the Florida Office of Economic Recovery’s Web site this month. The site, FlaRecovery.com, allows the people of Florida to review state and local government use of federal funds coming to the state as a result of the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Launched in the early stages of the federal recovery effort, the FlaRecovery.com Web site will evolve as information flows down from the federal level. The Web site is a clearinghouse of all public records and documents related to the implementation of the federal stimulus dollars, as well as a one-stop resource for citizens interested in learning more about assistance made available by the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Visitors to the site will be able to easily connect to information about education, unemployment compensation, workforce training, food stamps and cash assistance.

 

New Report Provides Blueprint for Education Response to Fiscal Crisis


Despite the current economic crisis, Florida has a unique opportunity to improve its current K-12 education system by protecting policies that provide incentives for higher achievement while cutting back on those that do not contribute to performance, according to a report co-authored by three scholars at Harvard Kennedy School, Stanford University, and Brown University.

In the report, prepared at the request of the Florida State Board of Education, Paul E. Peterson of Harvard, Eric A. Hanushek of Stanford and Martin R. West of Brown say that the fiscal crisis should be seen as an opportunity to enhance school productivity.

To read more on the report, visit http://www.fldoe.org/news/2009/2009_03_16-2.asp.