Jeffrey S. Solochek

Florida Department of Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas, shown in a file photo from July, told school board members and superintendents from around the state on Thursday to get over their complaints about Schools of Hope seeking to co-locate in underused district buildings. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)

Florida education commissioner booed at Tampa school board conference

December 4, 2025 at 5:29 p.m.

Florida's education commissioner told school board members and superintendents to get over their complaints about Schools of Hope seeking to co-locate in underused district buildings.

Florida Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, is aiming to introduce legislation bolstering accountability in the school voucher system. (AP Photo/Steve Cannon, File)

Key Florida lawmakers float plan to add accountability to school vouchers

November 20, 2025 at 9:42 a.m.

Last school year, demand outstripped funding, a result of the state’s 2023 decision to drastically expand voucher eligibility. That led Legislature to OK more than $60 million to cover unmade...

Florida State Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, has filed a bill that would eliminate the ability of certain charter schools to "co-locate" in public schools that do not use all their space. (Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times/TNS)

Florida senator seeks to reverse Schools of Hope campus sharing law

November 10, 2025 at 2:44 p.m.

State Sen. Darryl Rouson wants to dial back the “chaos” caused by a charter school bill that Florida lawmakers slipped into law in the the final hours of their spring...

An increasing number of students are using vouchers to attend private schools like St Luke’s Lutheran School in Oviedo, Fla, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

Florida releases nearly $60M to cover missing, frozen voucher funds

November 6, 2025 at 1:38 p.m.

Florida government officials hope nearly $60 million in payments to families and schools will put to bed the financial troubles the state faced last year in its education voucher program.

A digital sign stating you must be over age 21 to purchase tobacco products is seen on display at a smoke shop in Brandon on Aug. 23. Tobacco incidents in Florida schools has largely risen over the past decade, with a particular explosion in the use of electronic cigarettes, or vaping.

Tobacco use in Florida schools spiked this decade. The culprit? Vaping

August 28, 2025 at 7:32 a.m.

It’s become so widespread, said Pasco Superintendent John Legg, that vaping has become a “big problem — believe it or not — in our elementary schools.”

Florida's Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas, seen in a file photo, is using his posts on X, the social media platform, to pressure school districts into compliance. (D.A. Varela / Miami Herald / TNS)

How Florida’s new education chief is rattling schools with public threats

August 13, 2025 at 12:32 p.m.

Florida’s education commissioner is using posts on X, the social media platform, to pressure districts into compliance. At the same time, he has heaped praise on groups and individuals who...

Letterboards like these, used by an occupational therapist in New Port Richey, Florida, are among the tools given to students with autism who have difficulty communicating. Medicaid funding, billions of dollars of which Florida has missed out on over the past decade-plus, can be used for programs and materials like these. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/TNS)

How Florida missed out on $2.2 billion in Medicaid funding for schools

July 31, 2025 at 5:19 p.m.

Florida schools have missed out on about $200 million a year in Medicaid funding — a total of $2.2 billion since 2014 — to support children’s mental health counseling, physical...

Anastasios Kamoutsas reacts to being selected as the next commissioner of education during a Florida State Board of Education meeting at Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus park on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Miami, Fla. (D.A. Varela / Miami Herald / TNS)

Top DeSantis aide Kamoutsas named Florida education commissioner

June 4, 2025 at 2:19 p.m.

Acting on the recommendation of Gov. Ron DeSantis, the State Board of Education on Wednesday named Anastasios I. Kamoutsas Florida’s 32nd education commissioner.

Florida lawmakers unanimously reversed a 2023 law that would have required middle and high schools to have later start times. The bill now heads to Gov. Ron DeSantis. (Douglas R. Clifford / Tampa Bay Times / TNS)

Florida lawmakers reverse law to require later school start times

April 29, 2025 at 4:36 p.m.

Mandatory later start times for Florida’s middle and high schools appear on their way out before they ever took effect.

Kindergarten teacher Denise Wagner holds up a math problem on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, as she instructs three students in a kindergarten math class at New River Elementary school in Wesley Chapel. (Dirk Shadd / Tampa Bay Times / TNS)

With scores down, Florida schools are paying more attention to math

April 21, 2025 at 12:16 p.m.

The state needs to place as much focus on math as it has on reading, experts say.

All Stories