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.
Textbooks at South Broward High School in Hollywood, Fla. are stacked on the ground, instead of on bookshelves, in order to save money. Broward County school’s $141 million budget deficit is the largest in the state. South Broward High lost six teachers this summer, while other schools, like Cypress Bay High in Weston, Fla. lost up to 40 teachers this summer alone.
The Broward County Public School District instituted a new barcode system to keep better track of textbooks and make sure students return them after the school year. South Borward High’s textbook coordinator estimates the new system has saved the school up to $50,000 in unreturned textbooks.
The video production equipment in the MTV classroom at South Broward High was replaced by stacks and stacks of textbooks after the video production program was cut last school year because of shrinking budgets. Some of the equipment, like the stage lights, were left behind.
Debra Hixon has taught at South Broward High for the past 17 years as a marine science teacher. But before and after school, and during the lunch period, Hixon also works as the school textbook coordinator in order to earn extra income. Broward County teachers are the lowest paid teachers in the state.
A marine science class at South Broward High. Kevius Morgan, center, and Taylor Drake, right.
Taylor Drake, Kevius Morgan and Cristinne Paneit, seniors at South Broward High, say some teachers give them extra credit for bringing in items like markers, rulers, paper and tissues. All three say their final grades increased by a full letter in at least one class. “A lot of teachers do it,” Drake said, whose C grade increased to a B after she brought in classroom materials. “If they see that you’re trying and you’re still struggling and you bring in those items, it will boost you a lot.” Paneit says “its like a raise” for working hard in class.
Kayla Kervin and Elinor Taieb are seniors at Cypress Bay High School in Weston, Fla. where 40 teachers were cut this school year. Taieb says, “some teachers actually request if you can bring some paper in for them because they are limited,” but she says students don’t get any credit for it.
Every school district in Florida is dealing with layoffs and budget cuts. But Broward County in South Florida is facing the largest budget deficit in the state—more than $140 million. And its forced teachers and students in the nation’s 6th largest school district to get creative about spending money.
Students at South Broward High in Hollywood waited in the rain during the first week of school to get inside what used to be the video production classroom. Only, the video production program was cut last school year.
Teachers rally against proposed budget cuts in March
Seminole County could turn classroom thermostats all the way up and athletes may have to pay to wear their school’s uniform.
The wife of a Polk County Tea Party congressman led a failed effort to raise money for college counselors whose positions were eliminated.
Many students can no longer walk to catch the bus after districts merged stops.
School districts have been forced to make painful budget choices as state property values decline and the economy continues to sputter. More than $2.1 billion has been cut from state education spending since 2008, according to the state education department.
This year, districts are facing an 8 percent cut, or $542 per student.
Melissa, 18, fled gang violence in her native Honduras when she was 7-years-old. Because she has attended U.S. schools and has no criminal record, her deportation has been deferred for one year.
When a local immigration field office in northern Florida tried to deport an 18-year-old girl in Quincy, Fla. a powerful South Florida advocate intervened.
Advocates on both sides of the immigration debate say that a lack of clear federal law on how to treat undocumented students leaves the process open to influence peddling.
President Obama gave local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices authority to choose which undocumented students can stay and who must go when Congress failed to pass the DREAM Act—a law that would allow some undocumented school-aged kids to stay in the country.
College tuition in Florida is already among the least expensive in the country. And it’s lowest for Florida residents who attend state colleges. But some residents are being charged the out-of-state rate.
Florida is the only state known as a “receiver state” for immigrant families that does not offer in-state tuition to U.S.-born students with undocumented parents.
Caroline, who requested we only use her first name because her father is undocumented, got a full scholarship to cover the in-state fees at Miami Dade College. But three weeks before the start of school, she learned she has to pay the out-of-state rate.
One class at Miami Dade College costs $315 for in-state students. Its $950 for out-of-state students. That’s three times more expensive because Caroline’s dad is not a legal Florida resident. And in Florida, college tuition is based on a parent’s residency for unmarried students under age 25.
A new law designed to collect more information on college students is having an unintended effect – it could prevent some undocumented students from receiving the state’s Bright Futures scholarship. And as Sarah Gonzalez of StateImpact Florida discovered, the new policy could also discourage U.S. citizens from applying for the merit-based scholarship.
University of Florida junior received a Bright Futures scholarship despite being an illegal immigrant.
Florida students unable to document citizenship for themselves or their parents may lose their Bright Futures college scholarships because of a new paperwork requirement.
Due to a change in the law, students who qualify for the lottery-funded merit scholarship must now fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. Most students complete the form online – and a valid social security number is required for it to work.
The change has created a chilling effect among undocumented students and stirred debate over whether colleges and universities should be put in positions to scrutinize immigration status. Even students who are here legally say they’re afraid to fill out the form because it might tell federal authorities that their parents are illegal immigrants.
The single sentence requiring the FAFSA was included in a 71-page bill approved in May. It raises SAT and ACT requirements and community service hours needed to qualify for the scholarship.
Isaura Konig (right) watches as her children, Paul Mamondes, 9, and Melanie Mamnodes, 6, test out an Acer laptop after Comcast announced the national Internet Essentials initiative at the Phillis Wheatley Elementary School auditorium in historic Overtown Thursday morning Aug. 4, 2011.
And Florida has one of the highest numbers of eligible students in the U.S., behind Texas, California and New Mexico.
In Miami alone, over 200,000 students are eligible.
David Cohen, executive vice president of Comcast Corporation, says Hispanic and African-American communities are expected to benefit most.
“When we look around the country we see the disparities that exist,” Cohen said. “Quite frankly people in lower-income communities, mostly people of color, have such limited access to broadband than people in wealthier communities.”
The program is open to students from K-through-12. But only to those that live in one of the Comcast service areas in 39 states.
I first realized the power I have as a journalist while covering education in Oakland.
I was part of a team that created a radio documentary on the public school system. Our work compelled listeners to donate toward filling the food cabinet of a teacher struggling to feed her hungry students. And one listener offered a college-bound senior living with her drug addicted mother paid tuition. Our work provoked listeners to act. From that moment, I aspired to always generate such movement through journalism.
My motivation as a journalist and sociologist is to be a catalyst for social change through “people reporting” and data analysis.
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