The City of Jacksonville is launching a citywide Minecraft build challenge, inviting students to reimagine iconic Jacksonville public spaces.

National Republicans are poised to take up a platform next week that includes “universal school choice.”.

About 7 in 10 AAPI adults approve of K-12 public schools teaching about the history of slavery, racism and segregation.

A new survey out of the University of Chicago shows that fewer than one in five Americans would encourage a young person to become a K-12 teacher. And it's no secret that there has been a teacher shortage in Florida for quite some time.

Jill Biden says “enough is enough” on the issue of children being killed by firearms.

The Florida Education Association (FEA), the state’s largest teachers union, said there are more than 7,500 advertised openings for teachers and educational support staff halfway through the school year.

South Carolina Republicans are one step closer to restricting how race gets taught in K-12 classrooms.

St. John’s Stage Offering Broadway Training and more

After results from the Nation’s Report Card showed major declines in reading and math scores across the county, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona is sending a message that the education system needs improvement.

It confirmed the fears that the pandemic had a profound impact on education — particularly math progress — in all 50 states.

An effort to transform how Georgia tests its K-12 public school students is faltering and may not achieve its goals.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp says he wants Georgia to provide grants to school districts to help students catch up on what they didn’t learn because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Florida Department of Health is hosting a free vaccine drive at the Clay County fairgrounds starting Monday.

Georgia lawmakers agreed Monday on a budget with boosts in spending for K-12 education, universities, mental health and public safety, reaping the rewards of a big increase in state revenue as Gov. Brian Kemp and legislators seek reelection this year.

Friday is payday, of a sort, for 270,000 state, public university and K-12 employees in Georgia.

Georgia’s top epidemiologist said Tuesday that 60% of COVID-19 outbreaks in the state over the last several weeks have occurred in K-12 schools.

Starting high school can understandably create nervousness among parents and kids.

Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, other groups call for rollback of Gov. DeSantis administration policy on Instruction Planning and Reporting

Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday signed a 2022 Georgia state budget that restores some money to K-12 education, increases some mental health funding, and pays nursing home operators more.

Utah’s governor says the state has no plans to renew a mask order for K-12 schools next fall.

Georgia lawmakers have agreed to a 2022 budget that restores some money to K-12 education, increases some mental health funding, and pays nursing home operators more.

People line up Sunday at a pop-up vaccination site at Bruce Park. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A one-day COVID-19 vaccination site is opening Monday at the Abyssinia Missionary Baptist Church, News4Jax was told. In addition, Shepherd of the Woods Lutheran Church at 7850 Southside Boulevard hosted a pop-up vaccination clinic from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. News4Jax learned there were 200 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine available. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a single shot and does not require a second dose.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Girls Inc. of Jacksonville has been serving girls in grades K-12 who attend Title 1 Duval County Public Schools for 50 years. The organization is an affiliate of a national organization whose mission is to “inspire all girls to grow up strong, smart and bold” or healthy, educated and independent. News4Jax Morning Show anchor Melanie Lawson spoke Thursday afternoon at the group’s annual Celebration Luncheon, inspiring the young girls in the program to take on the challenges of life with equal amounts of fire and grace. Girls Inc. helps to ensure the girls avoid risky behaviors so they can graduate from high school, are prepared for college and the workplace, and have the tools and resources to break female generational poverty cycles. You can donate to Girls Inc at: https://www.girlsincjax.org/donate/.

Until now, Georgia has restricted vaccinations to people 65 and older, as well as emergency workers, health care workers, and employees and staff of long-term care facilities such as nursing homes. In deciding which teachers could get doses, he chose to allow child care workers and K-12 school employees and teachers to be vaccinated, but said that college teachers wouldn’t be eligible for now. Unlike K-12 employees, child care providers might not be able to directly administer clinics. Although 98% of the state’s 4,500 licensed child care centers are open, a significant number of families are still keeping their children home, Jacobs said. “Families need child care to go to work,” Jacobs said.

Georgia lawmakers approved their changes to the current year’s budget on Thursday, including more money for K-12 schools and public health along with $1,000 bonuses for more than 50,000 state employees. Brian Kemp’s plan to restore $567 million to the state’s K-12 school funding formula, which was cut by $950 million last year when lawmakers feared a steeper drop in revenue. Kemp and legislative leaders have also announced a plan to pay $1,000 bonuses to state employees making less than $80,000 yearly. “The savings we were able to capture there are the dollars we have put back in to say thank you to our state employees,” England said. Lawmakers approved Kemp’s plan to use existing funds to pay for 10% raises for correctional and juvenile detention officers.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A small, private school in Jacksonville moved all of its roughly 280 K-12 students to a distance learning format until Feb. 22 in response to an outbreak of COVID-19. Cedar Creek Christian School notified students’ families Tuesday. “Fortunately, so far, it has only been three people that have tested positive,” CCCS administrator Lisa Pearson told News4Jax. “We are such a small school, we don’t want to take any chances that it spreads.”TRUST INDEX: Does closing a school help slow a COVID-19 outbreak? Ad“We also have hand sanitizing stations in every classroom and all entrances to the school,” Pearson said.

Georgia is moving to accept $2 billion in additional federal coronavirus relief for K-12 schools. The state Board of Education is likely to vote to accept and distribute the aid on Thursday, after discussing the plans Wednesday. School districts will get roughly four times as much money as they got last year under last year’s original Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. Brian Kemp will get another $126 million that he can spend, including $79 million that has to be spent on private schools. Over the summer, districts were forced to share part of their pot with local private schools, although the state board used discretionary money to make up was was given to private schools.

Since then, there have been calls for the state and school districts to publish data that shows how many positive coronavirus tests have infiltrated public schools. Ron DeSantis said the school coronavirus report is still being developed but offered no timetable for its arrival. RELATED: State data show COVID-19 cases spiking among young people in Northeast FloridaOf the 429 new cases in St. Johns County in September, 146 are in the 15-24 age group, 34% of the cases. DeSantis said Friday that the state has seen very few cases compared to the number of K-12 students that have been in session. That’s not the way it’s going.”Last week, DeSantis said he wants to differentiate between asymptomatic and symptomatic COVID-19 students when the state does finally release a breakdown of the virus in schools.

PALM COAST, Fla. – The Flagler County Public Library Palm Coast Branch will extend its hours -- including two evenings -- beginning Monday to assist K-12 students. It reduced its hours because of COVID-19 but is now finding an increase in demand. “With so many students using remote learning or iFlagler, they now need alternative hours at the library for access to resources,” said Library Director Holly Albanese. The Bunnell Branch hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is located at 103 E. Moody Boulevard.

Altogether, 714 people, including students and employees, have tested positive for COVID-19 since Aug. 10, according to the report. On Monday, Duval County Public Schools said that as of Friday, the district was aware of two public schools with confirmed positive COVID-19 cases since it reopened on Thursday. Those schools included:Highlands Middle 1 case (staff)Young Womens/Mens Leadership Academy 1 case (staff)Its one reason why DCPS is in the process of creating its own dashboard to track cases. The district says the dashboard will display confirmed cases on school campuses among students and staff and that it will be updated overnight. Two people or more confirmed positive and one or more with symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Some Florida education groups worry the goal of reopening schools in the fall might be too optimistic after a month of record-setting case numbers. The states commissioner of education on Monday ordered K-12 schools to reopen at full capacity in August. The order says schools must reopen all brick and mortar buildings for five days a week. If we had to open schools today, I would say absolutely not, said Florida Education Association President Fedrick Ingram. Andrea Messina, with the Florida School Board Association, said there is some flexibility to provide innovative learning in the order.

K-12 Chancellor Jacob Oliva told school district officials that they need to submit reopening plans and agree to all of the points in Corcorans emergency order by July 31. For example, school districts need to assure the Florida Department of Education that they agree to reopen next month and that they will offer the full panoply of services required by law. School districts reopening plans need to include the percentage of students in the district who are projected to continue with distance learning, which schools began using following a statewide shutdown in March. Oliva said the reopening plans do not need to be approved by local school officials prior to being submitted to the state education department. The webinar came on the same day that President Donald Trump said he will be pressuring governors to reopen schools in the fall, even as COVID-19 cases spike in Florida and other parts of the country.

House and Senate negotiators signed an agreement Tuesday on a final version of Georgias 2021 budget, for the year beginning Wednesday. The state will spend $25.9 billion of its own revenue, a 10% cut from what was originally expected. Brian Kemp is letting lawmakers spend $250 million out of the states savings account and increased projected tobacco tax revenue by $50 million earlier this week. But none of those measures have passed even one legislative chamber and Republican budget writers said they included none of those plans. Lawmakers are urging school districts to spend savings to avoid cutting teacher pay or instructional days.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida students in grades K-12 would be taught about child-trafficking prevention, under a rule proposed by state education officials. The intent of the rule is to have every school in Florida be a child trafficking free zone, according to the proposed regulation published by the Florida Department of Education Tuesday. Under the proposed rule, all public schools would be required to have a plan in place for teaching students about child trafficking. The state would then require school districts to report individual plans to the Department of Education every year by Dec. 1. Under the proposed rule, school districts that fail to comply with the new mandate could be sanctioned.

Starting high school can understandably create nervousness among parents and kids.

Is a child who seemingly was in diapers yesterday now ready to start the final phase of K-12 education, otherwise known as high school? Here are five tips or things to keep in mind as your son or daughter begins high school, according to myOptions. RELATED: 3 tips to help avoid 'senioritis'Become involvedWhether it's sports, music or any other extracurricular activity, getting acclimated to high school life will only get easier by being involved. Select good electivesOne perk of high school is that kids get to select what classes they want to take beyond core classes in math, science or English. In high school, there is an increased expectation among teachers and counselors that kids are at the age where they can speak and stand up for themselves.