Broward Schools & Property Tax Edition: Capitol to Courthouse Headliners–January 14

Jan 14, 2010

 

 

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Florida ranks eighth in new education report

Florida public schools rank 8th in the nation — a huge leap from 31st just three years ago — in Education Week magazine’s annual “Quality Counts” report released today.

 

Blog:  Race to the Top – Final tally shows 59 Florida districts want to take part

Fifty nine of 67 Florida school districts sent in the required Race to the Top grant paperwork but only five of the memos had signatures from local teachers unions, according to the latest information from the Florida Department of Education.

 

Budget cuts force Broward government to close Friday

Don’t plan to check out a library book, visit a regional park or dump an old television set Friday.

 

State Facing Hard Budget Choices with Rising Expenses

The economic recession will hit Florida’s budget hard this year.

 

Blog:  Lawmakers lament class size cost, ‘inflexibility’

The state has spent more than $19-billion toward reducing class sizes as constitutionally required, yet when the class size amendment takes effect next year, the state still won’t technically be in compliance on a per-class basis, deputy education commissioner Linda Champion told House representatives Tuesday.

 

Sarasota County school tax backers face Republican vote

Jane Goodwin knows this year’s campaign to extend an extra school property tax could be the toughest one yet.

 

Florida No. 2 in foreclosures in 2009, study shows

More than half a million Florida homes received some type of foreclosure notice in 2009, a sad but not shocking measure during a year that broke records nationally for bank-seized properties.

 

Bay District School Board Clears Way for Sales Tax Vote

Bay District school board members unanimously approved setting the wheels in motion to put a half-cent sales tax on this year’s ballot.

 

Blog:  Orange County likely to lean on furloughs to bridge budget gap

Orange County leaders will consider a host of cost-cutting measures next month to bridge a projected $70 million shortfall in its upcoming 2010-2011 budget, and its increasingly likely that most rank-and-file employees could be facing work furloughs.

 

Frigid classrooms have Palm Beach County parents fuming

Baby, it’s cold outside – and inside many schools as well.

 

Hernando School Board chooses Bryan A. Blavatt as new superintendent

If Hernando School Board members had selected the district’s next superintendent based solely on the number of times a candidate made them laugh, Bryan Blavatt would have easily taken the post.

 

Florida parents: Ban schools from restraining students with autism, other disabilities

For a third straight year, Florida parents and special-education advocates are trying to get a law passed that would prevent school employees from holding students with disabilities face-down or shutting them in rooms to try to control behaviors associated with their conditions.

 

Florida lawmakers hoping to boost fine arts, civics in school curriculum

Northeast Florida lawmakers are offering measures that would change the course mixture for students at public schools – and how those schools are graded – in the legislative session this spring.

 

Blog:  Middle school civics bill gets first, favorable vote

A bill that would make civics a required middle school course in Florida got a first, and favorable, committee vote earlier today.

 

Blog:  Florida Virtual students gain ability to listen to online documents

Hoping to help students with learning disabilities and those still tackling English, Florida Virtual School has launched a new text-to-speech program that will allow students to hear the content of their online assignments read aloud.

 

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