Latest news with #StateBoardofEducation
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Lake-Sumter State College to offer new ESE bachelor's degree
Lake-Sumter State College will launch a Bachelor of Science in Exceptional Student Education (ESE) starting in fall 2026 after the State Board of Education approved it on June 4th. The program aims to meet the high demand for certified ESE teachers in Lake and Sumter Counties. 'This is a big step for LSSC and our excited to train local ESE teachers with the help of Lake and Sumter County Schools.' Dr. Laura Byrd, LSSC's Interim President The program combines online and in-person classes, incorporates Reading and ESOL endorsements, and provides practical training at Lake Hills School. Lake County Schools Superintendent Diane Kornegay said, 'Students will get real classroom experience, and our K-12 kids will benefit from dedicated ESE teachers.' 'With a higher-than-average ESE student population, we need more teachers. This program assists local educators in obtaining certification while they work." Logan Brown, Superintendent of Sumter County Schools This is LSSC's second education bachelor's degree, following its Elementary Education program, which started in 2024. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arizona Gov. Hobbs vetoes antisemitism bill, citing 'attack' on public schools
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill that would have allowed students and their parents to sue K-12 and university teachers and potentially make them pay damages for teaching or promoting antisemitism. Hobbs announced the veto of House Bill 2867 in a letter June 10. In it, she said the bill was "not about antisemitism" but rather, "it's about attacking our teachers. It puts an unacceptable level of personal liability in place for our public school, community college, and university educators and staff, opening them up to threats of personally costly lawsuits." She rebuked the Legislature, writing, "It is disappointing to yet again see this Legislature single out and attack our public education system." The governor said despite the veto, she continues to stand with the Jewish community against hate and remains "committed to fighting antisemitism in all its forms." Students who experience antisemitism in the classroom already can report unprofessional conduct to the State Board of Education, Hobbs said. She said she was "confident that by using those tools, we can fulfill our moral and legal responsibility to eradicate hate and discrimination in our public school system." Hobbs also pointed to several Jewish groups that opposed the bill, including the National Council of Jewish Women Arizona, the Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center and the Rabbi Joseph H. Gumbiner Community Action Project. HB 2867 would have prohibited teachers, administrators, contractors and volunteers at K-12 public schools and public or private universities from: teaching or promoting antisemitism; requiring students to advocate for anti-Semitic points of view; and receiving professional development "in any antisemitism" that creates a "discriminatory" or "hostile" environment. The proposal provoked concern from public-school advocates about exacerbating the teacher shortage and had raised red flags about First Amendment violations due to what the proposed law considered "antisemitism." The Arizona Education Association, the main teachers' union in the state, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona had urged Hobbs, a Democrat, to veto the bill. The teacher's union said the bill "weaponizes legitimate concerns about antisemitism to attack public education" by stripping teachers of professional liability protections. The ACLU said it would "chill the First Amendment rights of students, teachers, speakers and administrators" and target those who criticized Israel. The bill included specific examples of speech the state would have prohibited, which a Federal District Court in Texas said amounted to "viewpoint discrimination that chills speech in violation of the First Amendment" when used to punish university students. Arizona's bill mostly applied to teachers, but one provision targeted university student groups — a fact First Amendment expert Eugene Volokh said was "pretty clearly unconstitutional." Supporters of the bill, such as sponsor Rep. Michael Way, R-Queen Creek, said it was needed because existing anti-discrimination laws "either weren't clear enough or didn't contain the necessary enforcement mechanism to address this problem." Rep. Alma Hernandez, a Democrat from Tucson and co-sponsor of the bill, was another vocal proponent of the legislation. Neither she nor Way immediately responded to requests for comment regarding Hobbs' veto. Could teachers be sued? Under a bill on Hobbs' desk, Ariz. teachers could be sued for what they say in classroom Taylor Seely is a First Amendment Reporting Fellow at The Arizona Republic / Do you have a story about the government infringing on your First Amendment rights? Reach her at tseely@ or by phone at 480-476-6116. Seely's role is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Gov. Hobbs says antisemitism bill an 'attack' on schools
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Florida education officials grill Hillsborough superintendent over LGBTQ+ books in schools
State Board of Education members recently grilled Hillsborough County's public schools superintendent after state officials condemned books in his district's schools that they called "pornographic." Superintendent Van Ayres was called to the June 4 board meeting after receiving a letter from Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. At issue: The books "Call Me By Your Name" and "Jack of Hearts (And Other Parts)," which both involve LGBTQ+ themes. Diaz, who is in line to become the next president of the University of West Florida, said they were "pornographic and inappropriate books." According to the book's publishers, "Call Me by Your Name" is the "story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera," and "Jack of Hearts (And Other Parts)" is "about an unapologetically queer teen working to uncover a blackmailer threatening him back into the closet." "Unfortunately, your lack of leadership regarding the selection, approval and maintenance of library media materials continues to put children at risk and undermines parental rights," Diaz wrote in his May 9 letter to Ayres, who has led the district – the seventh largest in the U.S. – since November 2023. Florida's public schools have seen a significant increase in book removals, driven by legislation that empowers parents to challenge materials they consider inappropriate, leading to the removal of thousands of books that address LGBTQ+ themes, race, or even classic literature. It's sparked a national controversy, with critics arguing that such moves constitute censorship and violate First Amendment rights, prompting lawsuits from authors, publishers, and advocacy groups. In Hillsborough County, more than 600 books were removed from circulation in mid-May, after state officials – including Diaz and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier – pressured school districts. Those books included the two mentioned by Diaz. In heated questioning, board members asked Ayres why these books were not flagged sooner. But Ayres said "inappropriate materials will absolutely not be in our libraries, and it does not take a process for us to do that." Banned book list: Hundreds of books pulled from Florida schools listed in new DOE release. Here are the titles Board member Ryan Petty countered: "These are nasty, disgusting books that have no place in a school in Florida. Please help me understand what your review process is, because it took me less than five minutes to realize these books violate the statute and they should not be in our schools." Ayres said he removed the books specifically named by Uthmeier and Diaz in their letters in "an abundance of caution." Stephana Ferrell with Florida Freedom to Read, a group that advocates for book access, told board members she was troubled with them only reading one-page excerpts about the books instead of trusting media specialists who read and analyze them in their entirety. Ferrell added that her group is OK with a book going through the objection process "so long that it is considered in its entirety for literary, artistic, scientific and political value." She said the problem is when it's considered only by "standards set by the state." From the archives: Which books are allowed? Varied interpretations of Florida law lead to confusion at schools "This is not about parental rights," Ferrell said. "This is about state control and this idea that our libraries are government speech, that they can regulate and decide what's available based on their own viewpoints." In November, the Florida Department of Education released a list of about 700 books that were "removed or discontinued" from public schools in the 2023-2024 school year. The list is in accordance with state law from 2022, which increased regulation of school library books. The state education board approved a rule to publish an annual list in 2023 to provide "transparency" to families. Both "Call Me By Your Name" and "Jack of Hearts (And Other Parts)" are on the list. These actions also follow Florida's record of having the most book bans in the nation, according to PEN America in November. The free speech group's report at that time had more than 4,500 instances of books being removed from classroom libraries, removed pending a review or restricted based on grade or parental permission. This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA Today Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Stephany Matat is based in Tallahassee, Fla. She can be reached at SMatat@ On X: @stephanymatat. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Hillsborough superintendent in hot water over LGBTQ+ titles in schools
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Parents fight dismissal of lawsuit on Florida's book ban policies
Three public school parents in Florida are appealing a federal judge's dismissal of their discrimination lawsuit earlier this year, in which they argued the state violated their First Amendment rights by not allowing them to challenge school board decisions to remove books. The case involves a law approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023 that allows parents to use a state review process to object to when school boards decide not to remove or restrict a book. The parents say this case against the State Board of Education is discriminatory, according to a brief filed with the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals June 4, since they can't use this same process when a school board does decide to remove or restrict books. 'The DeSantis administration's board of education is stealing important decisions away from parents and allowing those with the most extreme positions to decide what information our kids have access to,' Stephana Ferrell, one of the plaintiffs, said in a statement. Ferrell also is with the Florida Freedom to Read Project, an organization advocating for book access. The two other plaintiffs are Anne Watts Tressler and Nancy Tray of St. Johns County. The initial lawsuit: New federal lawsuit says state of Florida discriminates against book ban-opposed parents They're represented by advocacy groups Democracy Forward, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and the Southern Poverty Law Center. A request for comment is pending with a State Board of Education spokesperson. U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor, appointed by President Donald Trump in 2018, dismissed the initial lawsuit that was filed last year. He ruled that the law "serves only parents with a particular status," that is, those whose objections were rejected by local school boards. "Access does not depend on the ideology of the individual," Winsor wrote, dismissing the case in January. The main issue highlighted in the brief was that allowing a review process excluding parents with an "opposite viewpoint" violates their First Amendment rights. Viewpoint discrimination occurs when the government favors or suppresses speech based on the speaker's specific opinion or perspective. Courts have generally viewed it to violate the First Amendment, according to the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University. "The First Amendment does not tolerate viewpoint-based discrimination. Accordingly, this Court should reverse the district court's judgment," the June 4 brief read. Other book ban cases: Are Florida's book removals in schools protected government speech? Judge is not convinced Florida is known nationally for its laws on removing and restricting books in school districts. The state has been listed in multiple reports, including through national free speech group PEN America, as leading the nation in book bans. In accordance with state law, the Florida Department of Education released a list of about 700 books "removed or discontinued" from public schools from the 2023-2024 school year. These books were added to the list in response to objections raised by parents or county residents of a school district. This process of annual book review has been lauded by DeSantis, who signed a "curriculum transparency" bill that allowed for procedures for "regular removal or discontinuance" of books to target "indoctrination" in schools. Florida at the forefront: Florida is the nation's book banning leader, according to national free speech group This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA Today Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Stephany Matat is based in Tallahassee, Fla. She can be reached at SMatat@ On X: @stephanymatat. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida parents appeal dismissal of lawsuit on school book removals
Chicago Tribune
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Indiana weighs new academic accountability rules; test results less important
Indiana education officials are laying the groundwork for a new A-F accountability system they said is aligned with what Hoosiers agree are the characteristics important to lifelong success. The State Board of Education welcomed the first draft Wednesday on the K-12 measure that will go into effect next year to better prepare students for the future, they said. It dovetails with the state's newly revised diploma that becomes effective with the Class of 2029. It focuses on three areas – students preparing for college, the military or direct employment after high school. 'To best prepare students for the future – whether their next steps include college, a career or military service – we know that both knowledge and real-world skills are essential to their success,' said Gov. Mike Braun in a release. The new characteristics that indicators will measure are academic mastery, career and postsecondary readiness, credentials, experiences and work ethic. The process, built upon multiple rounds of public comment and feedback, is likely to consume most of the year. Its main change, however, is testing assessment scores will no longer be the sole letter grade criteria for school evaluations. A state law, authored by House Education Chairman Robert Behning, R-Indianapolis, calls for two drafts, each with a 30-day public comment period. The first public comment period opens later this summer, but officials said the public can provide immediate feedback via Jotform, an online feedback/survey tool. The state also requires the State Board of Education to adopt a final draft of the A-F grading scale by Dec. 31. Democrats argued its results could still be punitive on schools with lower poverty rates. Schools have not received letter grades since 2018 when the DOE moved from the ISTEP exam to a new accountability test called ILEARN. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted testing, and no grades were assigned. Presently, the state's assessment system rates students in grades 3-8 based on academic performance and growth on ILEARN. High school grades are based on SAT scores, graduation rates and college and career readiness. The new grading system is expected to focus on math, English and literacy mastery in the lower grades and a shift toward skill development and work-based opportunities and credentials in high school. To offer feedback, see
