Broward Schools & Property Tax Edition: Capitol to Courthouse Headliners–March 30
Mar 30, 2010
To view a complete story, click on a headline below:
Education shocker: Florida not a winner in federal Race to the Top education grant
In a huge surprise, Florida is not a first-round winner of a massive federal education grant that would have pushed participating school districts to change how they pay and evaluate teachers and turn around struggling schools.
Blame game begins after Florida loses out in Race to the Top
Unions blame the state, lawmakers blame the unions, after Florida is passed over for federal grant.
Florida education leaders, stung in their attempt to win $1 billion in education-reform money, will try again even as lawmakers, business leaders and union officials blame each other for being passed over Monday for the historic federal grant.
Blog: Race to the Top–Score sheets and reviewer comments
If you’re interested in how Race to the Top applications were viewed, you can find the score sheets and reviewer comments online here.
Florida’s teacher merit pay plan could be first in nation
No state relates performance to pay for all instructors
Florida is on the verge of becoming the first state in the nation with universal merit pay for teachers.
Feds ID more than $10.3 million of unreported Florida stimulus funds
The $787 billion federal stimulus program – touted as helping thousands of companies survive the economic recession – had one major stipulation when it was enacted last year: To report every penny used.
USA Today: Florida homeowners balk as property tax bills stay high
Javier Hyland was furious when he got his latest property tax bill from Miami-Dade County.
Miami-Dade Superintendent of Schools: State must ante up funding
As America struggles with its worst recession in decades, our public schools continue to shoulder a disproportionate share of the burden.
Florida must enact pension reform before inflated retirements bankrupt the state
THE ISSUE: Bill seeks to limit Florida public pensions.
Predictably, a proposal that would reduce future retirement pay for hundreds of thousands of Floridians has irked the ire of union leaders across the state. Brevard schools could lose $10 million.
Brevard schools could lose $10 million
Brevard Public Schools stands to lose $10 million to $12 million in state funding next year, far less than the $30 million projected a month ago.
Rising sales boost education spending in Hillsborough
Last year’s bleak budgetary outlook for Hillsborough County public schools has brightened somewhat as rebounding sales tax collections increased available state money for education.
With tax dollars, counties offering a voice on cable
Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte county governments all operate taxpayer-supported TV stations.
States Seek to Tax Services, From Head to Toe
In the scramble to find something, anything, to generate more revenue, states are considering new taxes on virtually everything: garbage pickup, dating services, bowling night, haircuts, even clowns.
Legislature: Anti-union or just getting ‘Floridians back to work’?
Hundreds of thousands of Florida workers, including teachers, deputies and state employees, are facing salary cuts, pension reductions and other measures that labor leaders are calling an all-out assault on lower- and middle-class workers by lawmakers.
Column: Florida Legislature’s schools strategy–shock and awe
From 250 miles away, it sure looks like the Republican-led Florida Legislature is mounting a full-scale assault on public schools.
Bankrupting the state DOT and local firms
With the state unemployment rate at 12.2 percent and thousands of Floridians facing foreclosure, is it any surprise a state agency in Florida could also be in deep water?
Group wants voters to have a say in growth
The president of Florida Hometown Democracy, a group pushing a proposed state constitutional amendment that would empower voters to ratify or veto changes in their communities’ growth management plans, rallied her local fan base Saturday.
School Sales Tax Holiday Good for Florida
Because you’re reading this newspaper, you’ll probably agree that the value of a daily newspaper isn’t just the news and opinion – it’s also the ads.
Senate bill would designate University of Florida as state’s elite school
A bill approved unanimously by a Senate committee could result in the University of Florida being designated the state’s elite school.
To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please send an e-mail to bellis@cftlaw.com.