Sarah Gonzalez was the Miami-based reporter for StateImpact Florida until March 2013. Previously, she worked at NPR in D.C. where she was a national desk reporter, web and show producer as an NPR Kroc Fellow. The San Diego native has worked as a reporter and producer for KPBS in San Diego and KALW in San Francisco, covering under-reported issues like youth violence, food insecurity and immigration. Her work has been awarded an SPJ Sigma Delta Chi and regional Edward R. Murrows. She graduated from Mills College in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and journalism.
Tres Whitlock types on the DynaVox tablet that serves as his voice. Whitlock, 17, has cerebral palsy and can’t speak on his own. Whitlock is trying to enroll in a Hillsborough County charter school, but has yet to enroll because of concerns about the therapy and services he needs.
Tres Whitlock is stuck in a public school where he feels ignored. He wants out.
The 17-year-old would-be video game designer researched his options online and found his perfect match – Pivot Charter School.
“It’s computer-based and I think I will do better,” he says.
But when Whitlock tried to enroll in the school he found a series of barriers in his way.
The reason? He has cerebral palsy, and the Whitlocks say school officials told them they don’t have anyone to take Whitlock to the bathroom.
When Governor Rick Scott asked the state’s 11 public universities to prove their worth to him, the universities responded to the challenge.
The Governor asked the schools to answer 17 questions that he says will help him craft higher education reform. And those schools have been turning in their answers.
The Sun Sentinel reports the University of Florida turned in a 750-page report. And according to the Sentinel, Florida State University answered those questions in “a 38-megabyte file, roughly the size of an encyclopedia volume.”
The Governor is testing public universities to see how well their goals match up to his job-creation plan, which includes graduating more science, technology, engineering and math majors, or STEM fields.
It’s that time between Halloween and Thanksgiving when first-year teachers start losing some of the initial excitement they had at the start of the school year, and when students (who haven’t had a school break in a while) start pushing new teachers to see what they can get away with.
Roxanna Elden, calls the month of November the “disillusionment phase” for rookie teachers.
Below, she tells us about her first-year teacher breakdown, and offers some tips for new teachers, friends and family members of new teachers, and people who help train new teachers.Â
“This Halloween marked the ten-year anniversary of my first-year teacher breakdown. I spent the afternoon in my car in a Burger King parking lot, crying too hard to drive. According to many of the teachers I interviewed for my book, I was right on schedule.
College debt is a major theme among the Occupy Wall Street protests, such as this October rally in Washington, D.C.
OnlineUniversity.net has released an infographic on schools that graduate students with the most and least college loan debt. And three of the top five colleges with the highest student debt are in Florida.
Shamir Ali of Bangladesh made national headlines after StateImpact Florida and others described his plight: He was being deported, even though the Obama Administration’s policy was to allow college students like him to stay in the U.S.
That’s put a wrench into his plans to enroll in college full-time. Here’s an update from Shamir:
“I’m trying to sign up for full-time spring 2011 classes at Miami Dade College.
They acknowledged that I’m legal but want evidence that I’ve been in Florida for at least 12 months, which I have. This has nothing to do with ICE. It has to do with the State of Florida requiring strict evidence of residency to qualify for in state tuition. Continue Reading →
Florida is one of 11 states that asked the U.S. Department of Education to waive federal No Child Left Behind provisions.
A couple of months ago, President Obama agreed to offer states more flexibility from the federal mandates if states submitted a request showing their commitment  to boost student achievement.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, “We set a high bar and an aggressive deadline, but these states rose to the challenge.”
Each state designed a plan to do the following:
Develop rigorous accountability systems that include a focus on low-performing schools and schools with persistent achievement gaps. Continue Reading →
His book points to racial biases against minorities in the SAT verbal section and gender biases against females in the math section. Continue Reading →
Shamir Ali, 25, with his mother Shamim Sultana of Bangladesh. She was deported in Feb. 2009 for driving without a license.
Days after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told StateImpact Florida that DREAM Act student Shamir Ali was a “fugitive alien,” Ali was released from detention.
We got in touch with Ali, who is now making new college plans. Ali says he shouldn’t have been facing deportation and is thankful to be out. Here’s Ali, in his own words:
“I am still in disbelief! The back and forth was such a psychological roller coaster. They first denied me prosecutorial discretion but then approved it after all the media attention. Pretty much, it was all the support I received from people… Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart!
I was given an order of supervision for one year which lets me work, drive, and etc. I have to visit with an ICE officer every month and if I’m doing well, they will renew it after that year expires. I am VERY grateful for that … [and] I do appreciate ICE granting me that. I just wish they accepted it automatically since I qualify for everything under the Morton Memo released by ICE. All the media attention, petitions, and protests is what really pushed ICE to release me. Continue Reading →
Bangladesh native, Shamir Ali, now 25, was picked up in a workplace raid in Miami last week and now faces deportation. Ali arrived to Florida when he was seven years old and is DREAM Act eligible.
College student Shamir Ali has been released from a Florida detention center after being told he would be deported to Bangladesh.
The decision comes after Nestor Yglesias, spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Miami told StateImpact Florida Ali was a “fugitive alien” because he ignored a previous deportation order.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are letting Ali, 25, stay in the U.S. for one year with supervision, according to DREAM Act activist Felipe Matos with Students Working for Equal Rights.
DREAM Act activist Juan Rodriguez with Students Working for Equal Rights (SWER) paints "I Am Shamir" on t-shirts before the protest for Shamir Ali in Pompano Beach, Oct. 25, 2011.
Immigration officials say their decision to deport a Palm Beach College student is consistent with a new policy prioritizing the deportation of those committing crimes because a judge ordered the student deported as a child.
That makes 25-year-old Shamir Ali a fugitive, said Nestor Yglesias, spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Miami.
Ali ignored the order and stayed in Florida to attend college and work.
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives. Learn More »
