Broward Schools & Property Tax Edition: Capitol to Courthouse Headliners – Thursday, February 3

Feb 3, 2011


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Governor Scott wants Florida employees to pay toward pensions

Governor Rick Scott wants to cut pension benefits for state workers, teachers and many local government employees while also requiring that they contribute 5 percent of their salaries to the Florida Retirement System.


Editorial:  A $3 billion windfall waiting to be had

Increase Florida’s share of federal grants.


Blog:  Think you can balance Florida’s budget?

The Bob Graham Center at the University of Florida has put together a cool website that allows people to run through the exercise of addressing the budget deficit.


Stage Is Being Set for Debate Over Teacher Pay

The chairman of the Senate’s education committee is setting the stage for a lengthy debate over teacher pay by inviting former D.C. public schools chancellor Michelle Rhee to testify before his committee next week.


    Groups file suit against governor over halt to redistricting changes

    Supporters of two voter-approved constitutional amendments changing the way Florida lawmakers draw Congressional and legislative districts filed a lawsuit today demanding that Governor Rick Scott move forward with the federal approval needed to implement the changes.


    Florida Governor Scott picks Florida Lottery veteran to head agency

    Governor Rick Scott has named Lottery veteran Cynthia F. O’Connell to head the agency.


    Blog:  Law enforcement, teachers unions say Scott flip-flopped on pension promise

    Police officers, teachers and government workers across Florida had harsh words Wednesday for Governor Rick Scott’s plan to have public employees contribute toward their pensions, but the unions representing them expressed little hope that they’ll be able to stop it.


    Legal online poker could mean more money for Florida

    Poker is one big moneymaker for casinos.


    Bill mulls votes on consolidating Florida’s West Coast fire units

    Individual taxing districts could be merged                    

    Voters may soon be able to decide if Southwest Florida’s hodgepodge of fire districts should be melded into one countywide agency.


    Dispute over hotel taxes escalates

    State legislators are pushing bills to scuttle lawsuits by Florida counties against online travel booking sites. At stake:  $22 million in tax revenues.


    How banks are enjoying homestead exemption

    Some agree a tax change could help cash-strapped local governments.

    Banks, mortgage companies and investors that seize Florida homes in foreclosures also get millions in tax breaks because state law allows them to enjoy the homestead exemption intended for owner-occupied homes.


    School district may seek impact fee hike

    The St. Johns County School District plans to seek an increase in the impact fees it gets for new houses constructed in the county to help pay the cost of new schools.


    Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test  Pressure Heating Up

    As the countdown to the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test is in progress, every outstanding teacher in the Polk Public Schools feels the pressure of forging ahead, cultivating every student in every class to reach deep down inside of themselves and pull out every skill and lesson they have learned since returning to school in August.


    Blog:  Florida TaxWatch targets no-bid contracts

    Florida TaxWatch, which has the ear of Tallahassee politicians looking to cut taxes, recommends the state improve how it hires contractors to make the process more competitive. It estimates that shopping around can bring costs down by up to 15 percent.


    Florida Representative Lake Ray seeks boost for state spending on ports

    Lawmaker’s goal: $250 million yearly; not the $8 million now

    State Representative Lake Ray wants this year’s legislative session to go down as the Year of the Ports.


    Blog:  Florida Representatives Kline and Miller Talk Elementary and Secondary Education Act

    It is looking more and more like the Senate will be the first to move on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.


    Civil rights leader Robert Moses seeks equality in education

    A prominent civil rights leader has a new focus: advocating a constitutional amendment guaranteeing quality education for all the nation’s children

    For five decades, civil rights leader Robert Moses’ cause of equality has taken him across the nation — from organizing voter drives in segregated Mississippi to launching an award-winning mathematics literacy program for students in poor-performing schools.


    ‘Progressive’ Study Takes Right Turn on Schools

    Center for American Progress concludes that more money may not produce better outcomes

    Confirming what conservative think tanks have argued for decades, a leading liberal organization’s district-by-district analysis shows that more education spending does not buy better academic results in the classroom.


    Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test  Pressure Heating Up

    As the countdown to the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test is in progress, every outstanding teacher in the Polk Public Schools feels the pressure of forging ahead, cultivating every student in every class to reach deep down inside of themselves and pull out every skill and lesson they have learned since returning to school in August.


    Deerfield Beach is facing a  nearly $400,000 federal penalty

    City manager wants to privatize city housing division at heart of problem

    The city is seeking to privatize its troubled Community Development Division, which is responsible for a looming $395,298 penalty because of federal regulations that weren’t followed.


    New York Senate OKs first cap on property tax

    Governor Cuomo won a major victory last night as the Republican-controlled Senate, with 13 Democrats in agreement, overwhelmingly approved a first-ever cap on runaway property taxes in the suburbs and upstate.


    Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial:  Trickle-down tax hikes

    The illusion of Governor Corbett’s no-new-tax pledge is becoming clearer, given the state’s budget crisis.


    Lawmaker seeks 3 percent cap on North Dakota property tax hikes

    Limiting the growth of local governments’ property tax revenues would help older North Dakotans avoid being pushed to sell their homes because they could no longer afford the tax bills, legislators and agriculture lobbyists said Tuesday.


    Retooling vacant-land taxes urged as Texas developers seize on agricultural breaks

    Developer John Moir is more interested in creating subdivisions than in feeding livestock. But in recent years, like a number of others holding title to vacant lands across the state, he has turned from one to the other to survive a construction slowdown.


    Students need more paths to career success, study says

    The U.S. education system is failing to prepare millions of young adults for successful careers because it uses a one-size-fits-all approach, and it should take a cue from its European counterparts by offering greater emphasis on occupational instruction, a Harvard University study published Wednesday concludes.


    New Jersey Assembly panel to weigh offering vouchers for students in failing public schools

    An Assembly panel today is set to debate a startup school choice program that would allow some children in 166 failing public schools in New Jersey to transfer elsewhere.


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