Monthly Archives: April 2011

In an utterly surreal display of bipartisan cheer, the Florida Senate today passed SB 1466 by a 38-1 vote.  The bill will eliminate class size limits on Precalculus and all AP/IB courses, including those in science and calculus.  The resistance … Continue reading →

Quoted in a New York Times article titled “Jeb Bush Leads Broad Push for Education Change with ‘Florida Formula’”: If kids graduated from fourth grade, I think he would have been an unqualified success. Sherman is a blogger and member … Continue reading →

The full Senate just replaced SB 1996 with HB 7087.  It now looks like the high school students who took Algebra 1 in middle school are safe from the inaugural EOC.  The Senate will vote on HB 7087 tomorrow and … Continue reading →

Dear Senator Montford: I am writing to address the elimination of class size limits for Precalculus and Advanced Placement courses in science and math in SB 2120.  As a Physics Professor at FSU, the Vice Chair-elect of the Forum on … Continue reading →

Florida Senate Mike Haridopolos and House Speaker Dean Cannon have finally reached agreement on broad budget allocations, and the budget conference is beginning. If you have concerns about PreK-12 budgeting on issues like class size, then consider contacting a conferee, … Continue reading →

It’s as if they are caught in a real-life version of that classic bad dream, the one where you must sit for a final exam in a course you didn’t take. So begins Leslie Postal’s Orlando Sentinel article on the … Continue reading →

The Senate leadership appears to have publicly dissed the House’s education leaders by assigning HB 7087 to the PreK-12 and Budget Committees.  PreK-12 has not met since April 14, and there are no more meetings scheduled this session.  That should … Continue reading →

Big news for the Algebra 1 EOC aficionados out there:  SB 1996, which started life as a simple repeal of the provision requiring students who took Algebra 1 in middle school to take the inaugural Algebra 1 end-of-course exam starting … Continue reading →

Like a stock car coming on to win from a starting position way back in the pack, SB 1696 blew through the Senate Budget Committee on a 20-0 vote late yesterday from its #39 position on the committee’s agenda.  The … Continue reading →

The 20% of Florida’s 9th graders who took Algebra 1 in middle school are in a bit of a bind with respect to the inaugural Algebra 1 end of course exam, which begins May 9. The US Department of Education … Continue reading →