Education Funding

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis outlined his proposed $117 billion state budget Wednesday, as the term-limited executive prepares to leave the state's top office. His spending plan includes increased spending on law enforcement and corrections officers. He also recommended new investments in campus security for the state's public universities, following a mass shooting at Florida State University in April that killed two and injured six others. DeSantis also continued his call to slash property taxes in the state, and floated $300 million to backfill local government budgets in rural and fiscally constrained counties.The FEA issued a statement harshly critical of the budget plan.

Florida’s expansion of vouchers for families who want to enroll their children in private schools is leading to tighter budgets at public schools across the state. In 2023, the Republican-led Legislature passed a bill that eliminated the income requirement for families to receive the vouchers, called family empowerment scholarships and Florida tax credit scholarships. These vouchers, intended to help families who could not afford private education, allow for public state aid to be redirected to families to cover the costs of the private school.

The same Suncoast lawmakers who voted earlier this year to let charter schools move into underused public campuses have stayed quiet as a Miami-based charter operator’s early push to occupy local schools set off confusion and concern among parents and educators.Mater Academy, one of Florida’s largest charter school networks, filed notices last week to co-locate inside five Sarasota and Manatee county schools — part of a broader wave of early filings across the state that districts say were submitted prematurely. According to officials, charter operators must wait until Nov. 11 to submit a notice.

WGCU reporter and host Sandra Viktorova’s documentary “Dream School: A Journey to Higher Ed” has won a National Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association.“Dream School” explores the struggles that students face as they apply to the most prestigious colleges in the nation. It premiered on Jan. 26, 2024 on WGCU TV and subsequently ran on more than half of the PBS stations in the country. It’s available to stream on pbs.org and WGCU’s YouTube channel.

The 2025-26 school year opens today for most of Southwest and South Florida. A few changes are in store for students, parents, and those driving in and around schools and school buses.

District officials said every classroom will begin the new school year with a certified teacher at the helm.

Cameras will be mounted outside school buses in Lee County. Motorists caught breaking the law will be fined $225.

The Trump administration has frozen more than $6 billion in federal grants for after-school and summer programs, English language instruction, adult literacy and other initiatives as part of a review to ensure the funding aligns with the White House's priorities. States and schools had expected the money to be released on July 1.Summer school and after-school providers are warning that the funding freeze could lead to entire programs shutting down, including summer day camps that are currently running. The freeze could have wide-ranging impacts on students and families, who rely on these programs for child care during the school year and over the summer break, and on staff who rely on these jobs for their incomes. Every state has programs that could be affected.

FGCU on Friday received the largest philanthropic gift in its history — $22 million. The donation came from the Elaine Nicpon Marieb Charitable Foundation to the Marieb College Of Health And Human Sciences.

he Republican-controlled House voted 86-25 along almost straight party lines to pass the bill (HB 443), after it was approved 30-7 on Wednesday by the Senate. It is ready to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis.The bill is one of a series of measures that lawmakers have considered this year that could help charter schools, which are public schools typically run by private operators and generally not bound by the same regulations as traditional schools. The number of students enrolled in charter schools has increased dramatically over the years as the Legislature has expanded school choice.