Yesterday, I interviewed a parent who pulled his son out of Escambia County Public School District because he felt all the teachers had been doing since December was teach the FCAT (Florida…
Category: Education
Bright Futures may be cut again
Bright Futures, the merit-based college scholarship program for Florida high school graduates, may be cut yet again from $3,750 a year to $2,900. This scholarship program was born out of the Florida…
Student challenges new District drug policy
I received this email from a Washington High student who questions, as I have, the School District’s decision to drug test its best students rather than spend those dollars on the classrooms….
Breakdown of School District costs for records
What is now called “Public Records Request #97” – documents regarding the internal investigations into Warrington Middle School- will cost the IN $374.40 because of the cost of redacting the volume of…
Escambia Student Expulsions declining
The Escambia County Public School District has slowed down on its student expulsions. In January and February 2010, the District expelled 46 students. During the first two months of 2011, only 25…
Escambia Student Councils to be drug tested
If a middle or high school student wants to participate in extracurricular activities in Escambia County public schools, their parents must agree to let them be randomly drug tested. Key Clubs, Student…
Ain’t No Sunshine at the District
In the days of Sheriff Ron McNesby (2001-2008), Public Records Request by IN were an adventure. It all began when we requested the flight logs of his helicopters because we had heard…
Race to the Top for Student Success Act
Florida Tribune reports This year’s version of a teacher merit pay bill sailed through the Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee last week. The bill has been retooled since last year. SB 736 will…
School Drug Dogs: Hit or Bust?
Escambia County School Board Jeff Bergosh has posted the latest statistics on the daily drug dog searches of middle and high schools in the county. There have been 228 sweeps and 17…
Whatever happened to…
Last February, Superintendent of Schools Malcolm Thomas told the IN he had another buyer for Brownsville Middle School. Whatever happened to that buyer? Diversity Program Advisors wasn’t established until December 2009. DPA…
States with Smartest Kids
Every year, 4th and 8th graders are tested in reading and math, and some states produce far more top achievers than others. The Daily Beast ranks which states are acing, and which…
YouTube: Fight after Escambia High v. PHS game
This happened last weekend: