Broward Schools & Property Tax Edition: Capitol to Courthouse Headliners–April 10
Apr 17, 2008
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House keeps growth caps on taxes alive
A House panel Tuesday revived Florida’s version of a Taxpayers Bill of Rights, a day after a powerful commission killed an attempt to place it on the November ballot.
Flat tax fight returns to state House
A divided House panel picked up the baton of a citizen tax revolt on Tuesday, agreeing to ask voters in November to cut property taxes by at least $5.9 billion.
Haridopolos sees no relief in tax-swap plan
Sen. Mike Haridopolos, the Indialantic Republican campaigning to lead the Senate, was stumping across the state 18 months ago telling crowds at town-hall forums that Florida needed radical property-tax reform.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Education regulation
Tax amendment wrong on multiple levels
Even as they look for ways to cut about $1 billion from the budget, lawmakers are moving closer to increasing an $88 million-a-year tax break by $30 million for corporations who give vouchers to low-income students to attend private schools.
Sales tax increase legislation may face tough fight
The defeated proposal to limit government spending wasn’t the only tax-related item raising questions at the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission meeting Monday.
Florida lawmakers spar over charter-school funding, accountability
The Florida Senate wants to make charter schools more accountable. The House response: OK, as long as the schools get more money.
EDITORIAL: It’s no year to underwrite nonpublic schools
A proposed amendment to the state constitution that would swap property taxes for sales taxes would be punishing to local school districts.
EDITORIAL: Education funds can be saved
Gov. Charlie Crist’s promise to protect schools from budget cuts is looking wobbly as state fiscal projections darken, but there are things he and the Legislature can and should do to keep Florida education moving up.
On chopping block for schools: field trips, summer programs
No more field trips.
Legislators may not renew school, storm tax holidays
Florida’s popular sales tax holiday for back-to-school supplies is in jeopardy.
Crist wants to slash state’s gas tax
Echoing the calls for a national gas-tax holiday by Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday urged state legislators to eliminate the state gas tax temporarily this summer to give families a reprieve during tough economic times.
As lawmakers prepare to cut student spending for the first time in decades, they are also calling for some of the toughest curriculum standards in state history.
Public school students would take the FCAT later in the year and social studies would be included in the test for the first time under an overhaul of state education standards tentatively approved Wednesday by the Florida House.
Florida’s progress in lowering class sizes in public schools could be frozen in place for the next two years, under a measure that has attracted bipartisan support and even won the blessing of the state teachers union.
The state waits to make success on the writing test a must for students’ graduation.
This year’s 10th-graders took the FCAT writing exam thinking they had to pass it to graduate. But Florida’s budget woes have offered a reprieve.
Broward County: Teachers seek funds for classroom supplies
In these though economic times, some Broward County teachers have asked a nonprofit organization for help buying classroom supplies.
Boundaries OK’d for new Pines school
Broward School Board members, despite appeals from area families, decided on controversial boundaries for the new West Broward High School at a meeting Wednesday.
After listening to hours of protests from parents and students, Broward School Board members took a final vote on boundaries for a new high school in Pembroke Pines Wednesday night. It was their second and final vote, an 8-1 decision that left many who attended the sometimes-raucous meeting disappointed.
New magnet planned for Ashe Middle in Lauderdale
Arthur Ashe Jr. Middle School will be the home of a new magnet program this fall.
Two South Florida schools honored
Two South Florida schools are winners of awards from the National Center for Urban School Transformation in California.
School workers spared higher insurance costs
School employees got unexpected good news: They won’t have to pay higher health insurance bills.
Bill would end ‘zero tolerance’
School boards would no longer have to turn in students for minor violations of their crime and substance abuse policies under a bill that cleared a House panel and now goes to the full chamber.
Senate set to debate expanded P.E. bill
Florida elementary school students would be required to have 30 minutes of continuous exercise daily, and middle schools would get P.E. too under a bill up for debate in the Senate.
Senate bill expands bachelor degree programs
A plan to create more low-cost, work force-oriented bachelor’s degrees cleared the Florida Senate on Wednesday.
Textbook Bill Clears the House
In an effort to stem rising college costs, the House passed a measure that might keep textbooks from getting too expensive.
COMMENTARY: How Washington Will Spend Your Taxes
At this time of year, it’s only natural for taxpayers to wonder just what their hard-earned federal tax dollars pay for, anyway.