Broward Schools & Property Tax Edition: Capitol to Courthouse Headliners — Wednesday, June 15
Jun 15, 2011
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Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush to testify on education changes today
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is coming to Michigan to meet with Republican leaders and testify about how he thinks states should change how they approach education.
Editorial: Broward schools’ challenge
Despite three tough years of hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to public education, South Florida’s students continue to improve in key FCAT subjects, including reading and algebra.
PolitiFact: Governor Rick Scott says state debt is $23 billion
Florida Governor Rick Scott vetoed a record $615 million from the 2011-12 state budget on May 26, 2011, targeting an array of money for projects such as university buildings, a rainwater study and $4.8 million for public broadcasting.
Editorial: Corporate tax cheats cost Florida millions
Newly disclosed documents from a Georgia lawsuit show that major online hotel booking services have systemically schemed since at least 2004 to avoid paying full sales and bed taxes in Florida and across the country.
Corporate tax repeal brings back memories
Voters let Florida tax corporate income in 1971 after their new governor stumped the state with a pair of Sears shirts, one bought in the state and the other in neighboring Georgia, which already had that tax.
Column: As state jobs depart, communities suffer
How do you put a price tag on the lifeblood of a community?
Brevard governments use pension windfall to balance budgets, give pay raises
The Florida Legislature gave government agencies across the state a one-time windfall when it rewrote the state pension plan’s contribution formula.
Property tax base bucks trend in Dade City
Pasco County has lost more than two percent of its taxable income but one community there is bucking that trend.
Editorial: Florida lawmakers can’t be trusted to keep their hands off designated trust funds
They’re called trust funds, but Florida lawmakers can’t be trusted to keep their hands off them.
Controversial property tax break on ex-Indialantic official’s home
A politically contentious property-tax break for a 5,105-square-foot Indialantic house has been approved, but a potential lawsuit looms in circuit court.
Consumer Advocate: Property tax exemption for military now available
Members of the military who were deployed in 2010 can get a break on their property taxes thanks to a new exemption that’s just become available.
Editorial: Look not to Florida’s Capitol for schools’ salvation
Editor’s note: As detailed by Times staff writer Jeffrey S. Solochek, Mitchell High school student Justice Greene e-mailed Governor Rick Scott about the importance of funding arts education.
Schools catch break on health insurance
School Board Chairwoman Judi Zanetti had the look of a general who had just won the first battle fending off the enemy – massive state budget cuts for local education.
Brantley County facing increased taxes, teacher furloughs
After more than four months, a few protests and rallies, a plethora of meetings and a few hundred angry emails from the community, the Duval County School Board has found $91 million to balanced its budget for the coming school year.
Duval School Board OKs furloughs to balance new budget
After more than four months, a few protests and rallies, a plethora of meetings and a few hundred angry emails from the community, the Duval County School Board has found $91 million to balance its budget for the coming school year.
Pinellas Juvenile Welfare Board will float idea of higher tax rate
The Juvenile Welfare Board, which collects millions in property taxes every year to help at-risk youth, is considering asking for more money from Pinellas County homeowners.
Florida employment weakest in United States
The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey shows that 17 percent of Florida employers interviewed plan to hire more employees from July to September, while 10 percent expect to reduce staffing for a net outlook of 7 percent.
Editorial: Driving off teachers
The surest way to destroy a state’s economic competiveness is to destroy its education system.
Florida Department of Health awards almost $2 million in abstinence education grants
This year, 13 groups will each receive a $150,000 grant from Florida’s Department of Health for the states abstinence education program.
New York Times: School Districts Look at Increase in Tax Rates
Senator Steve Ogden, Republican of Bryan, is the latest lawmaker to say it: A $4 billion reduction in state financing does not have to mean teachers lose their jobs.
Philadelphia City Council souring on Nutter plan to tax sweet drinks
While Mayor Nutter was touring classrooms Tuesday and stumping for a soda tax to raise millions for city schools, Council members back at City Hall already were declaring his plan dead.
Glaxo tax disputes could cost school districts millions
In what may be the largest property-tax dispute in the region, Montgomery County’s Spring-Ford and Upper Merion School Districts stand to lose millions of dollars a year in tax payments from the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline.
Many State Legislators Lack College Degrees
About one in four of the nearly 7,400 elected representatives across the country do not possess a four-year college degree, according to a report released Sunday evening by The Chronicle of Higher Education in Washington.
Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial: Time running out on school funding
Everyone in City Hall agrees that this week is crunch time on school funding.
Philadelphia Enquirer Editorial: Taking custody of the school district
In recent weeks, more than one observer has used divorce as a metaphor for the city’s awkward and sometimes fractious relationship with the school district.
Philadelphia Inquirer: Karen Heller — What about the students?
Philadelphia’s school-budget crisis is hardly an anomaly.
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