Money

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The dollars and sense of educating students, from state and local budgets to tax credits and school financing.

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October 13, 2015

Veteran Florida Teachers Wonder If New Bonuses Are Meant For Them

“Who are these bonuses for?” It’s a question we heard from teachers over and over again while reporting on the new Best and Brightest Scholarships. They’re not actually scholarships — they’re bonuses worth up to $10,000 for teachers who scored in the top 20 percent of students when they took the SAT or ACT and […]

October 12, 2015

New Florida Teacher Bonus Program Draws Complaints

In Brigette Kinney’s design class at Ada Merritt K-8 center in Miami, one of the key concepts is editing and revising ideas after getting feedback. Her 8th graders created role-playing games based on books they read. And then adjust the games, after watching their classmates play. Kinney hopes Florida lawmakers will be as open to […]

September 29, 2015

Florida Teachers Say Deadline To Apply For New Bonuses Is Unfair

Miami teacher Brigette Kinney said she doesn’t always hear about school news when classes are out for the summer. So Kinney missed the word that lawmakers set aside $44 million for bonuses based on SAT and ACT scores during a special summer budget session. Teachers who scored in the top 20 percent the year they […]

September 24, 2015

Rock Band Offers Miami Students Financial Lesson Based On Personal Experience

You might be forgiven for mistaking Miami Beach High School’s auditorium for the Fillmore Thursday. Students waved lit cellphones above their heads. They sang along with “whoa-oh-oh” choruses. But when the concert ended, they got a lesson in what some have dubbed nature’s most powerful force. “It’s called compounding interest,” says Gooding, the guitarist who […]

September 14, 2015

New Database Shows How Student Earnings Compare For Florida Colleges

Lots of schools promise to train students to be nurses, technicians or other in-demand medical careers. But a new federal database shows that isn’t always the case. At some schools only a small percentage of students who attend using federal grants or loans earn more than a high school graduate a decade after enrolling in […]

August 24, 2015

Charity Helps Florida Students Get Dressed To Head Back To School

As schools open for a new school year, they’ll also start encountering student poverty and homelessness. At last count — the 2013/2014 school year — the number of homeless students had risen to more than 71,000 in the state’s public schools. For many of these children, a brand new school uniform may be out of […]

July 23, 2015

State Board Of Education Sets New Goals For Some Teacher Evaluations

The State Board of Education has approved a new statewide standard for the test-based portion of teacher evaluations. State law requires that teachers are evaluated each year. That evaluation must include how well that teacher’s students performed on standardized exams — and whether they did better or worse than expected, based on a complex statistical […]

June 23, 2015

Gov. Scott Breaks Budget Veto Record

Gov. Rick Scott’s budget veto list broke records Tuesday, and education projects weren’t spared despite Scott’s emphasis on K-12 funding this year. In total, Scott vetoed $461.4 million from the now $78.7 billion spending plan. Scott signed the plan in private Tuesday and the budget takes effect July 1. Among the largest items Scott trimmed […]

June 1, 2015

Gov. Scott Pushes Lawmakers On School Funding

Gov. Rick Scott visited a Miami elementary school Monday to ask lawmakers to meet his request for school funding. Lawmakers return to Tallahassee today to finish the budget. The big disagreement is how to pay for health care. And that could affect how much money is left for education. Scott opposes expanding the state-run Medicaid […]

How The Internet Is Helping Florida Students Pay For Their Education

Ashley Jean is graduating from Miami’s iPrep Academy this week. And then she’s planning to travel the world. Jean will start a global studies program through Long Island University that will eventually take her to places like Costa Rica, Australia, Bali and Spain. That’s a lot of plane tickets. “I don’t want money to be […]