Broward Schools & Property Tax Edition: Capitol to Courthouse Headliners–May 20

 

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Broadcasters battle tax-swap plan

The tax-swap fight heats up as broadcasters plan to weigh in against it, claiming it takes from average homeowners to give to corporate property owners.

Put aside the Clinton vs. Obama and McCain fights for a moment and consider a summer of political ads accusing black-hat corporate interests of getting million-dollar tax breaks at the expense of hard-working Floridians if they approve an amendment to the state constitution.

Sales Tax Gaps Create School Funding Fears

When the state lowered its revenue predictions this spring, lawmakers chose not to renew the annual sales tax holiday on hurricane supplies this year.

Florida may need to tap into reserve funds

Florida’s battered bank account is in danger of running out of money in the current budget year, a move that may force Gov. Charlie Crist to dip into state reserves in the next few weeks.

OPINION: Florida needs uniform tax on business

Back in the 1960s when I lived in Ohio, only property owners could vote on the school millage.

Florida teachers union to fight move to revive vouchers

The state’s powerful teachers union is launching a two-pronged attack on two constitutional amendments designed to restart former Gov. Jeb Bush’s controversial school-voucher program.

Voucher ‘army’ grows

A few years ago, the Pinellas County School District told Shannon Coates that her daughter Taylor might have to be bused 45 minutes from home.

OPINION: Your views: The school zone

According to a recent FLORIDA TODAY article, 47 percent of 10th graders statewide, or almost 89,000 students, failed the FCAT essay test.

Miami-Dade schools may cut 500 jobs

The Miami-Dade School Board began the discussion about how to cut hundreds of jobs.

Miami-Dade school officials Thursday unveiled details of a proposal to eliminate more than 500 positions before the next school year.

Dade schools police to protest proposed job cuts

Faced with job cuts and a reduced work schedule, Miami-Dade Schools police officers plan to stage a protest outside Wednesday’s board meeting.

Broward sheriff may cut school officers, mounted patrols

Mounted patrols, officers on school grounds and new cars could all be targets as Broward County commissioners look for ways to force more cuts in spending at the Sheriff’s Office in their effort to pay for voter-mandated tax relief.

3 Dade schools listed in Newsweek’s top 100

Three Miami-Dade high schools made Newsweek’s annual list of top 100 high schools in the country.

FCAT shrinks South Florida’s class of ’08 by 6,400

About one in five Miami-Dade high school seniors and one in 10 in Broward won’t receive their diplomas on time because they failed to pass the FCAT, despite multiple attempts.

At least 1,977 students in Broward and 4,420 in Miami-Dade won’t graduate with the rest of the class of 2008 because they still haven’t passed the reading or math sections of the 10th-grade FCAT.

State budget shortfall sacks Amer-I-Can program

Jeff Sainzelus was a new student from West Palm Beach when he quickly grew bored with the slow pace of Brevard County.

Brevard schools may cut teachers

On Tuesday, Superintendent Richard DiPatri will announce his recommendations to slash almost $22 million from the district’s operating budget, a cutback that could result in the loss of about 180 jobs.

More schools to face law’s consequences

Pink slips for principals and teachers.

U.S. Supreme Court upholds municipal bond tax exemption

The $2.5 trillion municipal bond market skirted a land mine yesterday when the Supreme Court ruled that states could continue to give special tax breaks on the bonds that fund hospitals, roads, schools, and other services.

EDITORIAL: Florida legislation gives welcome uniformity to anti-bullying efforts

ISSUE: Legislature helps anti-bullying efforts.

The bully is still a fearsome force in schools and, increasingly, in cyberspace. And there may never come a day when the behavior is totally eradicated.

School gender gap narrowing, study reveals

Both boys and girls are doing better in school, so there’s no reason to fear that school systems favor girls at boys’ expense, a women’s advocacy group says in a study to be released Tuesday.

Teachers’ private lives in limelight

The sex education that students in Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties are getting from some school staff members this semester is not on the approved curriculum:

Introductory Filmmaking: Shooting Campus Love Scenes.

$8.5 million state earmark will help FGCU go to solar power

Barring any political flares, Florida Gulf Coast University will become a worldwide showcase for solar power, thanks in large part to an $8.5 million boost from the state.

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