The board that oversees Florida’s public schools and colleges held its first meeting since the conclusion of the legislative session. Lynn Hatter reports the group applauded the inclusion of extra money for public schools and say they’ll try again next year on agenda items that came up short.
The State Board of Education says its pleased with state lawmakers for steering more than $850 million dollars extra into the education budget. Much of that money goes to support extra students the state anticipates will come into its public school system. The allocation still falls short of the $1.5 billion the legislature cut from public schools last year. But State Board of Education Chairwoman Kathleen Shanahan says, it’s a start.
“I want to thank the legislature’s leadership and the Governor’s leadership in terms of the advocacy for the billion-dollar increase which barely gets us back to where we were, but it’s a start and I know we have other programs and other areas of interest.”
The board came up short on its bid to get more money for technology enhancements and also failed to get matching grant funds. The group says it will resubmit those issues for consideration next year.
