Florida public schools

Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. told his staff Wednesday to "pull" LGBTQ support documents at all school districts, after a State Board of Education member asserted that some could violate a controversial new law.

Florida students began returning to classrooms this week amid a teacher and support-staff shortage, with some counties still advertising positions and exploring "creative options" to fill vacancies. Bay County is facing particularly strong headwinds as the area still works to recover from Hurricane Michael.

Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr. says federal guidelines aimed at preventing discrimination against students based on such things as gender identity would “vastly expand the application” of Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational institutions. He told school districts to ignore the new guidelines.

Gov. Ron DeSantis was the keynote speaker at the three-day Moms For Liberty conference in Tampa.

With Thursday marking 50 years since the federal law known as Title IX was enacted to bar sex-based discrimination in educational institutions, a new Florida law is set to change the way schools can train employees to comply with Title IX.

The book release comes as new data reveals just 53 percent of Florida's third-graders passed the state’s reading test.

Lawyers are fighting an attempt to block a state law and regulations that limit the way race-related issues can be taught in public schools and in workplace training.

A federal judge has scheduled a trial for early next year in a legal battle over a new state law that restricts teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida schools.

A new law seeks to rectify a lack of financial literacy in the state, as well as prepare students for the difficult economic challenges in the future.

Ratcheting up a fight with Disney, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday expanded a special legislative session to consider eliminating a decades-old governing district set up for Disney World and nearby properties.