Florida lawmakers approve sweeping school changes, including teacher pay measure
By Michael C. Bender/Palm Beach Post
Florida lawmakers, starting Thursday afternoon and not finishing until nearly 2:30 this morning, approved a sweeping package of public school changes that could eventually reach every student and teacher in the state. The divided House ultimately approved a quartet of bills that could prove to be the most significant education changes passed out of the state legislature in a decade. The proposals would change the way teachers' contracts and raises are negotiated, make class sizes larger, high school graduation tougher and send more state money to private schools. "This is transformational," House Republican Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton said of the package. "For Florida to be economically and educationally competitive in the twenty-first century, then the status quo is unacceptable." (more...)