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Florida’s new education laws carry less impact than in past years

With little of the attention he’s given to other legislation this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday quietly signed two bills touted for removing “onerous” bureaucracy and red tape from public education.

The measures (SB 7002 and 7004) ended some reporting requirements for school districts but didn’t go as far as some advocates had hoped. Provisions to scale back high-stakes testing, for example, were stripped from the bills before they landed on the governor’s desk.

Still, the intent of the proposals — to ease state regulations on schools — filtered through to the other education-related initiatives that also made their way through the session.

“I would say overall the spirit of deregulation … really shaped the tone and tenor of K-12 education policy — what passed and didn’t pass this legislative session,” lobbyist Megan Fay of Capital City Consulting told the Pinellas County School Board recently.

Compared to the previous five legislative sessions, she said, “the number of bills we’ve had that impact K-12 education, I’d say this is probably an all-time low, and the number of new mandates is certainly, I’d say other than school safety … is almost at zero.”

Emovis and Florida Turnpike Enterprise to Partner on Customer Service Operations

Time is a precious commodity. Emovis, part of Abertis Mobility Services, aims for customers to have more time and less stress through low-effort and high-quality tolling interactions. Florida drivers will soon experience this first-hand as the Florida Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) and Emovis will embark on a five-year customer service operations partnership.

With hundreds of miles of toll roads, Florida’s Turnpike System is used by more than 3,000,000 customers daily. It is operated by FTE, part of the Florida Department of Transportation. It is estimated that some 2.3 billion toll transactions will be processed in fiscal year 2024, with approximately 5% percent annual growth anticipated for the foreseeable future.

Emovis will establish, configure, staff and operate customer service centers throughout Florida supporting FTE customers. Traditional customer service will be upgraded with a robust suite of communication options allowing customers to receive support through their preferred channel. The Emovis team will ensure optimum resource allocation and cutting-edge technology to drive exceptional service to customers. This enhanced solution supports FTE investments in its infrastructure, architecture and personnel.

After brutal storms, Gov. DeSantis declares state of emergency, activates Florida National Guard

Nearly 189,000 properties in the state were without power by 3 p.m.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has activated the Florida National Guard and declared a state of emergency in 15 counties in the aftermath of severe storms that began ripping across the Peninsula Friday morning.

The original counties covered by the order included Baker, Columbia, Gadsden, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Suwannee, Taylor and Wakulla. On Monday, days after the original storm, DeSantis amended the order to also cover Escambia, Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties.

Thousands of households lost power immediately following Friday’s storm, according to the Public Service Commission, which reported at 3 p.m. that nearly 189,000 properties in the state await reconnections.

To deal with the post-storm tumult, DeSantis called on Maj. Gen. John Haas, the state’s Adjutant General, to activate the Florida National Guard.

This is the major factor for Florida's No. 1 ranking in education by U.S. News

Did Florida receive all A's on its latest report from U.S. News & World Report? Kind of.

The U.S. News released its ranking of all 50 states, using 71 metrics across eight categories to determine the best states to live in.

Florida placed within the top ten overall best states to live in, particularly excelling in the "Education" category for the second year in a row. In evaluating the best states for education, the U.S. News examined metrics tied to both higher education and the space from pre-kindergarten through high school.

"The quality of a community’s schools can be central to a family’s aspirations," U.S. News writes. "And though public education has largely been a local matter for school boards and states that allocate most of schools’ funding, the federal government has played a large role for the past several decades."

Out of all 50 states, Florida saw the top spot for education. It was also named the ninth best state to live in overall, going up from last year's placement.