Gov. DeSantis signs controversial bill arming teachers in Florida public schools

| 5/9/2019

Gov. DeSantis signs controversial bill arming teachers in Florida public schools

With little fanfare, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Wednesday that allows teachers to be armed in classrooms of public schools. Although the 54-page Senate Bill 7030 sparked days of debate and was one of the most contentious bills of the 2019 legislative session, DeSantis drew as little attention as possible in making it law, holding no news conference or ceremony. More from the Times/Herald, the Orlando Sentinel, and the AP.

Florida Trend Exclusive
FSU ditches gas-powered buses

FSU's electric buses

Florida State’s campus-wide transportation system is going all electric. Earlier this year, the university signed a 10-year contract with StarMetro, Tallahassee’s public transit system, to operate an electric-powered bus fleet. Scheduled to begin rolling this fall, the electric buses will replace 15 diesel-powered vehicles and are projected to transport more than 700,000 passengers throughout FSU’s Tallahassee campus each year. [Source: Florida Trend]

UF promises to bring college graduations indoors

A year to the day after a University of Florida graduation event stirred allegations of racism and prompted changes including moving festivities outdoors, a commencement ceremony Sunday was rained out, causing more backlash on social media from angry parents and students. That backlash led to the university releasing a statement Monday afternoon, announcing its commitment to bringing all college graduation ceremonies, other than the university-wide commencement, indoors. [Source: Gainesville Sun ]

See also:
» UF college to redo canceled graduation

Legislature dismantles Florida Virtual School board

The state would take direct control of the Florida Virtual School for the rest of this year, eliminating its board of trustees and auditing its operations and finances, and then decide how the online public school should be run, under the budget passed this weekend by the Florida Legislature. [Source: Orlando Sentinel ]

UCF students to host first collegiate drone racing competition

Two University of Central Florida engineering students have launched a drone racing league, with the goal being to eventually host intercollegiate competitions in the region. Derek Saltzman and Mason Mincey’s first competition was scheduled for Saturday, with the plan being to pit teams of local pilots against one another at RCACF Tangerine Field in Apopka, which frequently hosts radio-controlled airplane exhibits and events. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› A fed-up Florida teacher called his profession ‘toxic.’ Here’s why he’s walking away [Miami Herald]
When a Florida social studies teacher compiled a list of “Things I did not sign up for” on social media it added up to one inescapable observation. Teaching, Jonathan Carroll wrote, “has become a toxic profession.” Carroll, 46, cited a number of reasons for his decision to leave a profession he’d enjoyed for 20 years in both private and public schools.

› USF abandons unpopular new logo, adopts 'Bull U' design used by athletic department [Tampa Bay Times]
The University of South Florida's search for a new academic logo has ended with a familiar look. Last fall, the university unveiled a new logo featuring a full-bodied, lime-green bull — the school mascot — on a dark-green background with "USF” spelled out in lime green. Some students and alumni pushed back, saying the drawing too closely resembles the logo of Wall Street’s Merrill Lynch.

› Double dream come true for student — U.S. citizenship and Rollins College valedictorian [Orlando Sentinel]
For Gabbie Buendia, graduating from Rollins College as a valedictorian and becoming the first person in her family to gain U.S. citizenship is the fulfillment of a dream her parents had when they emigrated from the Philippines in 1999.

› Broward teachers getting raises, but they say it’s not enough [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
After months of tense negotiations and controversy, Broward teachers will get their raises. The raises are retroactive to January under a contract approved Tuesday by all nine School Board members. “I feel relieved it was passed,” Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco said after the vote. “It was a struggle.”

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