Broward Schools & Property Tax Edition: Capitol to Courthouse Headliners–October 9
Oct 9, 2008
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Report: Florida among top tax-friendly states for business
Florida ranks among the top 10 states with the nation’s most business-friendly tax systems, according to an index released this week by the Tax Foundation.
Buy a home in this troubled market and the property tax may shock you
Real estate ads these days include listing after listing of bargain-basement prices. But those who buy a home in a foreclosure or a pre-foreclosure sale should know that future property bills may be no bargain.
Lawmakers, Teachers Seek Leeway On Fla. Class Sizes
The economic crisis and practicality have lawmakers and educators in the mood to put the brakes on Florida’s class-size amendment for another year.
Should pay rise at poor schools?
Before class begins, a stream of smiling brown faces ripples through the foyer at Eisenhower Elementary. Kids with chirpy accents walk with purpose, past portraits of George Washington and Gen. Dwight Eisenhower and an American flag as big as a dinner table.
Pasco schools get dire financial news
As if they didn’t have enough bad news.
Pasco School Board members, who already have passed a no-raises budget with $16-million in cuts, heard more financial doom and gloom Tuesday during a presentation by longtime Tallahassee education lobbyist Wayne Blanton, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association.
Seminole teachers reject School Board’s plan for no raises
Teachers in Seminole County public schools Wednesday rejected a School Board pay plan that would give them no raises this year and countered with a request for increases averaging 3.5 percent that they say the district can afford despite tough economic times.
Thirty-three schools in Manatee will receive more than $2 million, based on the schools’ performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test:
Polk Schools Get $2.8 Million for Good Grades
Forty-seven schools in Polk County received money from the state for either improving their school grades or for maintaining an A grade.
Officials, parents worry how to deal with looming class size caps
Hillsborough schools are not finding easy answers in the push to prepare for hard class-size caps next year.
Voters get chance to decide whether community colleges can request tax increases
Voters to decide whether colleges can request special tax
Residents in some Florida counties might be asked to pay higher taxes if they approve an amendment giving cash-strapped community colleges permission to ask their local communities for help.
State legislators suggest ‘tweak’ of Bright Futures
The Bright Futures scholarship program should be phased out over the course of a decade, state Sen. Steve Oelrich said Wednesday to a University of Florida community group.
COLUMN: Amendment 8 holds dangers for community colleges
While attention has been given to other high-profile amendments on November’s ballot, a lesser known amendment has the potential to raise local taxes and cause unintended consequences for community colleges — Florida’s point of entry to higher education for more than 800,000 students every year.
Ethics panel: Dade School Board ‘violated principles’ with Carvalho hire
While a School Board ethics committee called the selection of the new Miami-Dade superintendent flawed, it stopped short of suggesting that the board reconsider the appointment.
The Miami-Dade School Board ”violated the principles of fairness and transparency” when it selected new Superintendent Alberto Carvalho last month, a School Board ethics committee said Wednesday.
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