Broward Schools & Property Tax Edition: Capitol to Courthouse Headliners–November 5
Nov 5, 2009
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McCollum says Expedia, Orbitz cheated state, local governments out of tax revenue
Attorney General Bill McCollum filed suit Tuesday against two leading Internet travel firms, accusing Expedia and Orbitz of cheating the state and local governments out of millions of dollars in sales tax revenues from online hotel bookings.
Giving businesses a (property tax) break
Local governments can’t ease the credit crunch or extend federal tax credits to help businesses recover from the longest, deepest and most severe recession since the Great Depression.
Glitch causes some Hillsborough County taxpayers to get charged twice
Patricia Farrington was preparing to pay her car insurance bill Tuesday when she did a quick check of her bank account balance.
State managers: I could swear those 17,900 state-owned buildings were here somewhere
Nearly 10 months after they were ordered to create an inventory of all state-owned properties, state officials are unable to identify how many buildings the state owns and where they are.
Florida’s financially strapped school districts trim driver’s education
Driver’s education has been a part of the high school experience for decades. Generations of pimply teenagers have practiced three-point turns behind the gym, gripping steering wheels with sweaty palms at 2 and 10 o’clock.
Behind the Gates money, a new education reform strategy in Florida
As we reported today and last August in the St. Petersburg Times, the Hillsborough County schools may be holding a $100 million lottery ticket from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Consortium seeks answers to Florida’s education needs
During the summer the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations conducted a survey on what county school board members felt were problems areas in Florida education.
Pembroke Pines, teachers union reach deal on charter school pay
Teachers in Pembroke Pines’ charter schools will be getting their annual salary increases based on years of experience, after the Broward Teachers Union and city negotiators reached a tentative contract agreement Wednesday night.
Palm Beach County School Board postpones decision on dropping rent for Girl Scouts, other nonprofits
A year ago, some Girl Scout leaders worried they would have to sell more cookies to be able to continue holding meetings in Palm Beach County schools.
Broward School Board seeks to fix contract-awarding process
At a workshop Tuesday, Broward School Board members discussed suggestions about how to fix flaws in the way the district chooses contractors for building and renovation projects.
Broward School Board: Panel in corruption probe has ‘perception’ problem
With one of its members facing a possible prison term, the Broward School Board can’t seem to agree on how to fix a key committee that’s been accused of helping rig construction contracts to award work to favored companies.
Broward schools: Despite 34,800 empty desks, district didn’t overbuild | School construction data
Projections show Broward public schools will have more than 34,800 empty seats during the 2012-2013 school year, but beleaguered School Board members on Tuesday said the district didn’t overbuild and the numbers don’t show the whole picture.
Hillsborough ready to rework teaching
Imagine radically reinventing America’s teaching force.
A report to be discussed by the next week summarizes the national research on smaller class sizes and how they relate to student achievement. The conclusion? It’s not clear.
Florida isn’t the only state padding its graduation rates
With Florida’s latest graduation rates coming out soon, this new report from the Center on Education Policy should make you wonder how many grains of salt to take with any state’s grad rates, let alone Florida’s.
A steady stream of South Florida high school seniors walked into a college recruiting event last week at the Deerfield Beach Hilton, eager to get accepted into what many considered their first choice of schools.
Florida drivers’ gas tax flows far
For every dollar they pay in federal gas taxes, drivers in Florida see roughly 14 cents spent on transportation projects in other states.
Ford Foundation gives $100 million to reform urban high schools
The Ford Foundation pledged $100 million Wednesday to ‘transform’ urban high schools in the United States, focusing on seven cities, including Los Angeles.
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