Broward Schools & Property Tax Edition: Capitol to Courthouse Headliners–Aug. 30

Click on a headline to read the complete story:

 

Why are property tax bills rising?

On the heels of a new law aimed at rolling back property taxess some Brevard homeowners have been getting a surprise: Notices that their taxes may rise this year. That, despite sinking property values.

 

School Nurses Alarmed Over Shrinking Staff, Rising Needs

TAMPA – Hillsborough’s school nurses are warning that student health is in jeopardy because of district personnel cuts.

 

Sharpen line between church and state

The number of charter schools that serve both general education and niche markets is quickly growing. Market is the operative word: Private charter-school owners and operators look to profit by running schools using state tax dollars.

 

Report: Gulf Coast Schools Shortchanged

Thousands of Gulf Coast students are still displaced two years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region, and millions of dollars worth of school reconstruction projects remain unfunded, according to a report released Wednesday.

 

Take control of county spending

In October, Palm Beach County commissioners established a Budget Advisory Committee for the ostensible purpose of finding potential cuts in nonessential services while reviewing budgeting methods. Then-Commissioner Warren Newell was the committee’s chairman.

 

Beach considers increase in sales tax

The cost of running Fort Myers Beach’s government, now the onus of property owners, could be turned over to everyone who purchases goods on the touristy island.

 

Is technology burying the book?

Here it is, the start of another school year, when parents attempt to get recalcitrant children to embrace the joy of reading for the sake of learning, and out comes a report that says the typical adult American read only four books in the past year.

 

DMS drops supplemental vision plans for state employees

The state will not offer supplemental vision coverage next year for employees.

 

Bad Behavior On School Board Will Hold Hillsborough Back

Even the most patient school teacher would not stand for the bad behavior shown by some members of the Hillsborough County School Board.

 

School voucher analysis delayed

TALLAHASSEE — For the first time, Florida was supposed to receive an analysis this month of the academic performance of students who receive state vouchers to go to private schools. But it won’t.

 

Schools defy order to close

Students, teachers report to Osprey and Sawgrass

Administrators, teachers, parents and students at Osprey and Sawgrass charter schools became vigilantes of sorts, opening their doors for classes Wednesday and bucking a Brevard County School Board decision that demanded the sister schools close.

 

Teachers’ discipline records go online

A new statewide database is beginning to shed some light on the murky process of punishing teacher misconduct.

 

Palm Beach County School Board approves credit union for teens

With changes to Social Security being debated and pension plans that might end up as little more than gold watches, teenagers need to know how to save, said Spanish River High School economics teacher Brett Burkey.

 

Spending wildly

The most recent Gallup Poll, in fact, shows only 32 percent of Americans think he’s doing a good job. But compared to Congress, he’s a “rock star.”