Monday, August 30, 2010

Senate Bill 4- Relating to Education Accountability

Senate Bill 4– Relating to Education Accountability

 

SB 4 addresses numerous areas including middle grades promotion, high school graduation requirements, acceleration courses, student assessment, school grading systems, school improvement ratings for alternative schools, and the Florida School Recognition Program. To assist districts with implementation FDOE announces a dedicated web page, Senate Bill 4 Implementation, available at: http://www.fldoe.org/BII/sb4i.asp. An Implementation memorandum is planned for release. It provides an FAQ by topic area and resources. In the coming months, FDOE will continue to provide assistance for implementing these provisions of the bill.

 

For more information contact Helen Lancashire, School Counseling Consultant.

2010 Florida Legislature passed SB 166, Pancreatic Enzyme Supplements and House Bill (HB) 747, Treatment of Diabetes

The 2010 Florida Legislature passed SB 166, Pancreatic Enzyme Supplements and House Bill (HB) 747, Treatment of Diabetes. The 2010 Legislative Implementation Overview is available at: http://www.fldoe.org/GR/Word/2010Legislative OverviewChart.doc

Senate Bill 434- Suicide Prevention Education

Source: August 2010 Student Support Services Newsletter, available online at http://sss.usf.edu

 

Many legislative bills that have an impact on the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) and school districts passed. The Legislative Review Book provides bill summaries of education related bills that were approved by the Governor.

 

Senate Bill 434– Suicide Prevention Education

 

The 2010 Florida Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 434, Suicide Prevention Education, amending section 1006.07, Florida Statutes. The passage of SB 434 provides student services professionals an opportunity to expand suicide prevention and training activities to a broader audience and strengthen efforts to reduce the frequency of youth suicide. SB 434 requires districts to provide instructional and administrative personnel access to suicide prevention resources that have been approved by the Statewide Office for Suicide Prevention. This legislation also adds suicide prevention education to district In-Service Master Development Plans as an option for which school personnel participating may receive in-service credit. The Office of Suicide Prevention’s website has a page dedicated to connecting school districts with free, online educational resources as well as information on how to receive in-person training at: http://www.helppromotehope.com/events/school.php.  The Student Support Services Project website provides links to suicide prevention and intervention resources at: http://sss.usf.edu/resources/topic/mentalhealth/index.html

 

For more information contact the Student Support Services Office.

Jobs Bill Signed!

News from ASCA

President Signs Education Jobs Bill!

161,000! That is the estimated number of jobs, according to the House Education and Labor Committee, that will be saved this fall due to the passage of the much-anticipated Education Jobs Fund, which cleared the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon and was signed into law Tuesday evening by President Obama.

The US House of Representatives joined Tuesday, Aug. 10 in an emergency session to vote on a package of emergency spending that included $10 billion to save education jobs. The House voted 247-161 to approve the measure. ASCA has been working with a number of education groups and coalitions to get this bill passed in both the House and the Senate. ASCA applauds school counselors and all constituents who called, wrote and visited their members of Congress to seek passage of this measure. The hard work has paid off.

The Ed Jobs portion of this bill will provide $10 billion that will be issued to states relatively quickly - within weeks according to Secretary Duncan - to hire, re-hire and retain educator jobs. Very little of this money is supposed to go to overhead or administrative costs, leaving the vast majority of the money to allow people to keep their jobs as we come upon an even tighter budget year. Without this measure, well over 100,000 educator jobs were expected to be eliminated for the upcoming school year.

The bill also included over $16 billion for Medicaid funding to states. This is another, albeit indirect, victory for education. Simply put, if Medicaid funding weren't restored, state budgets would be forced to make drastic cuts. Typically, education is the hardest hit when state-level cuts are made.

Click here for an estimate of how many jobs this will save in your state and how the money is expected to trickle down.

Sincerely,


ASCA Staff
phone: 703-683-ASCA


Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Updated: Race to Top Round 2: Announcing the Winners

Updated: Race to Top Round 2: Announcing the Winners

Alyson Klein| 3 Comments | 3 Recommendations

Posted by guest blogger Sean Cavanagh

UPDATE: Here's the final, confirmed list of winners. The department has also released the dollar amount each state is slated to receive, and their point score:

  • District of Columbia: $75 million. Score: 450.0
  • Florida: $700 million. Score: 452.4
  • Georgia: $400 million. Score: 446.4
  • Hawaii: $75 million. Score: 462.4
  • Maryland: $250 million. Score: 450.0
  • Massachusetts: $250 million. Score: 471.0
  • New York: $700 million. Score: 464.8
  • North Carolina: $400 million. Score: 441.6
  • Ohio: $400 million. Score: 440.8
  • Rhode Island: $75 million. Score: 451.2

 

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Update on Ed Jobs - ACTION NEEDED!

From the American School Counselor Association

There is a current amendment expected to be voted on by the Senate TOMORROW (Wed., Aug. 4) that would allocate an emergency $10 billion to save education jobs. The country is facing the elimination of over 100,000 educator jobs this Fall and this money would help stop the bleeding. The House has already passed a bill that would approve this spending and the President is committed to getting this passed as well. The money has been completely offset (meaning it is being taken from other programs that has not yet spent the money and isn't brand new money contributing to the national debt). The following Senators need some prodding - if you are from one of the following states, please call and/or email your Senator and urge them to vote YES on the Harkin/Murray amendment and help save educator jobs. Also, please blast this out to your memberships and other educators to help spread the word!

To send an email, just click on the hyperlink, it should take you directly to a contact form - please state that you are an educator and you desperately seek your senator's support for the $10 billion in Ed Jobs money. To call and leave a message please call the capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121 ask to be connected to your senator's office and then ask to speak to the education legislative assistant. If you get a voicemail box, please leave a message! Please act now! This is a very timely message as the vote is likely to take place tomorrow morning. If you have any questions or problems with any of the links, please contact me directly at afitzgerald@schoolcounselor.org

AK - Murkowski - http://murkowski.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=EMailLisa

AL - Shelby - http://shelby.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactSenatorShelby.EmailSenatorShelby

IN - Lugar - http://www.lugar.senate.gov/contact/contactform.cfm

MA - Scott Brown - http://scottbrown.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactme

ME - Snowe & Collins http://snowe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactSenatorSnowe.Email

www.collins.senate.gov  

MO - Bond - http://bond.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs.ContactForm

NE - Ben Nelson - http://www.bennelson.senate.gov/email-issues.cfm

OH - Voinovich - http://voinovich.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm