The big story: In signing Florida’s fiscal 2027 budget, Gov. Ron DeSantis touted the state’s rising investment in education.
He spoke of putting $200 million toward raises for veteran teachers, for instance, and raising per-student funding to $9,338 — a record high when not adjusted for inflation.
Several school projects in the Tampa Bay area benefited from the growing education budget, which rose to $30 billion with much of the increase going toward vouchers. Among the local winners were:
• Pasco County charter school Academy at the Farm, which will get $14 million to support a new middle school;
• Pasco High School in Dade City, which will get $5.5 million for a renovated athletic complex, and
• The Pinellas County school district, which will get $1 million toward a “disruptive technology” innovation center.
DeSantis also left in $50 million tied to an effort that would bring a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium to Hillsborough College.
But not everything survived DeSantis’s veto pen. Hillsborough County schools lost a nearly $900,000 pilot project for Bright Futures eligibility and readiness, while the Pasco district saw its proposed $1 million STEM career pilot cut.
During a press conference in Tampa, DeSantis singled out a $15 million allocation for security at Catholic schools in Miami to explain his rationale on vetoes.
“Nice to have is fine,” he said. “What I want to fund is what we need to have.”
When the state put millions toward security measures at Jewish day schools across Florida, those sites faced a real threat, DeSantis said. It was needed, but it also became an ongoing expense that keeps growing.
The Catholic schools, by contrast, have no known threat, DeSantis said, and they’re getting plenty of new money through Florida’s growing voucher program.
“What I don’t want is for the state to have an entitlement that it has to pay all the time,” he said — an argument that went toward the Catholic school security and several other items on his $810 million line item veto list.
Hot topics
What’s in a name? The Hillsborough County school district is seeking recommendations for naming its new middle school set to open next next year.
School grades: A lawsuit questions whether it’s fair to parents for Florida to give private schools billions of dollars without holding them accountable with annual grading, the Palm Beach Post reports.
Referendum funds: Manatee County school officials are considering new tactics in their fight to stop the local tax collector from charging a fee for collecting revenue from a school district property tax referendum, Suncoast Searchlight reports.
High school sports: The Alachua County school board rejected a proposed purchase of the football stadium where three of its high school football teams play, WUFT reports.
Free speech: A Sarasota County teacher is showing other teachers how to defend their First Amendment rights, after fending off punishment for making social media comments about federal immigration enforcement tactics, WUSF reports.
Campus closures: Duval County parents want the school district to be more transparent as it debates which schools it might close, Jacksonville Today reports.
From the court docket ... A Broward County school board member is suing a local political consultant, saying the consultant defamed him in a partisan advertisement, Florida Politics reports.
Today in Tallahassee ... The State Board of Education is to hold a telephone conference call at 10 a.m., where it will discuss a rule regarding who is allowed to attend state colleges. It also will consider naming an interim commissioner to replace departing Anastasios Kamoutsas.
Quick quiz
Florida International University’s law school has a new leader. Why is he drawing so much attention?
a) The school grabbed him from the nation’s top law school.
b) He’s tight with President Donald Trump.
c) He’s not a lawyer.
Find the answer in this story from the Miami Herald.
Don’t miss a story. Here’s a link to yesterday’s roundup.
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