New Florida Senate president eyes education funding amid budget woes

Facing a $5 billion reduction in estimates of state revenue, Senate President Wilton Simpson warned Tuesday that austerity measures --- including potentially the first public university tuition increases in a decade --- are on the horizon. State economists in August lowered an estimate of general revenue for this fiscal year by $3.42 billion and an estimate for the 2021-2022 fiscal year by nearly $2 billion. General revenue, which includes such money as sales taxes and corporate income taxes, play a vital role in funding schools, health care and prisons. [Source: WJXT]

See also:
» Pinellas Rep. Chris Latvala is state House’s new leader on education

Florida Trend Exclusive
The pandemic hasn't slowed down Florida dorm-building by private companies

Developers and investors have poured into the private dorm market around Florida campuses. Since 2011, the state has added 40,000 privately owned, off-campus beds, second only to Texas nationally, according to RealPage, a property management software company. Florida universities have been “a popular choice” for developers, says Carl Whitaker, market analyst at Texas-based RealPage. “That’s not a terribly surprising trend though, as many Florida-based universities are among the nation’s fastest-growing,” he says. [Source: Florida Trend]

Corcoran: 'Full parental choice’ for online or on campus education expected for next semester

Florida’s public schools will continue to offer online options for students next semester, even as the state’s school leaders remain convinced in-person classes on campus are best for most students, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said this morning. “We will have full parental choice,” Corcoran said, speaking at the State Board of Education meeting in Tallahassee. “The governor will take nothing less than full parental choice.” [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

FIU, first four-year research university in Florida to offer Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Program

The Florida Department of Education has approved Florida International University’s Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Program (Cyber-CAP). The program combines technical skills, industry credentials, and on-the-job training to prepare learners to work in cybersecurity. Funded by a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, FIU’s Cyber-CAP program is aimed at addressing cybersecurity workforce shortages. According to a 2017 Global Information Security Workforce Study, the industry is expected to have approximately 1.8 million unfilled positions by 2022. [Source: Florida Trend]

Pandemic pushes steep drop in foreign college students

Complications and new policies brought on by the coronavirus pandemic have stopped thousands of international students from attending universities in the U.S. this fall, raising concerns that the steep decline could foretell a long-lasting shift for universities that have come to rely on attracting international students. At risk are millions of dollars in tuition for the universities and some of the world’s brightest minds for U.S. employers. [Source: Citrus County Chronicle]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Florida State recognizes International Education Month [WCTV]
Despite changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida State Seminoles are recognizing international education throughout the month of November. This week kicks off International Education Week, a joint effort by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education. At FSU, these programs are celebrated all month long.

› UNF offering graduate business degrees Downtown [Jacksonville Daily Record]
The University of North Florida’s Coggin College of Business will offer Master of Business Administration classes and Master of Science in Management courses in the spring term at its Downtown location. A news release states that students will have access to the classroom space and other study areas at the UNF Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in The Barnett Building at 112 W. Adams St., making it convenient for people working in the urban core.

› Sarasota schools test scores better than anticipated [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
The first round of diagnostic testing is complete, and Sarasota County School District officials found glimmers of optimism as they reviewed test scores with the School Board during a workshop on Tuesday. For months, school leaders have worried about how much worse students will perform on state tests after testing was canceled last spring and school ended abruptly in March because of COVID-19.

› Orange’s teachers union, OCPS reach agreement on $47,500 minimum pay for teachers [Orlando Sentinel]
Orange County Public Schools and its teachers union reached an agreement Tuesday that will hike all teachers' salaries to at least $47,500 and give small raises to those already earning that new minimum. The new agreement includes pre-K teachers, whose absence from previous school district proposals led to a breakdown in negotiations and prompted the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association to declare impasse on Oct. 29. But Tuesday, the union and district announced they’d resolved those differences.