Influence

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Education is big business. These are stories about the politicians, businesses, lobbyists and other leaders seeking to impact education decisions.

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April 16, 2012

Romney Says GOP Needs Its Own Version Of The DREAM Act

Presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney said at a Palm Beach fundraiser Sunday that Republicans need their own version of the DREAM Act — one piece of a policy set designed to win over Hispanic voters, according to the Wall Street Journal. Well it’s a good thing that Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is working on […]

New FCAT Brings New Complaints

Students across the state are beginning the annual Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test season this week, and critics of the high-stakes test have some new complaints this year. The Florida Department of Education has raised minimum requirements for the reading portion of the test. The goal is to improve performance long-term, but state officials admit that […]

April 9, 2012

Florida U.S. Senator Working On New Version Of The DREAM Act

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is quietly working on a new version of the DREAM Act to allow young undocumented immigrants a chance to stay in the U.S. legally while seeking citizenship, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The bill is a political tightrope for Rubio — widely regarded as a potential vice presidential pick because […]

April 6, 2012

College Students Begin Three-Day March From Daytona To Sanford

Editor’s note: This post was written by WLRN reporter Tasnim Shamma. Over 40 college students from around the state gathered near the Bethune-Cookman University campus in Daytona Beach Friday afternoon. They’re walking 41 miles to Sanford to call for justice for Trayvon Martin. The march is meant to mimic the historic 1965 civil rights march […]

Feedback Loop: What To Do About Bullying

We’ve talked about bullying several times this week. As the movie “Bully” opens in theatres, students in South Florida are sharing their own painful experiences. We also heard about the suicide of a teenager who classmates say was a victim of bullying and harassment at school. The New Jersey teen was a family friend of […]

April 5, 2012

School In Haiti Named After Sixth Grader In South Florida

Editor’s note: This post was written by WLRN reporter Tasnim Shamma. In her third visit to Haiti within a year, 12-year-old Rachel Wheeler from Broward County visited Rachel’s School to cut the ribbon on a school she helped build. The previous elementary school, Ecole Reap de Morel, in the coastal village of Kay Piti in Leogane, Haiti, was damaged […]

April 4, 2012

Teen’s Suicide Has Florida Lawmaker Seeking Action For Victims Of Bullying

The repercussions of bullying recently hit home for a Florida legislator. A family friend committed suicide, and classmates say it followed repeated harassment. Port Richey Republican Representative John Legg was moved enough by the tragedy to send a letter to Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson. He wrote about 15-year-old Lennon Baldwin, who “committed suicide last […]

April 2, 2012

Florida Is the 8th-Friendliest State For Charter Schools, Report Says

Florida ranks eighth in the nation for laws which promote innovation, equal funding and ease of expansion of charter schools, according to a ranking from the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Education Reform. That moves Florida up two places from last year’s report as the Sunshine State improved its score slightly. Among the short-comings in the […]

March 22, 2012

Parents Requested School Not Acknowledge Trayvon Martin’s Death, School District Says

This morning, the chief communications director for the Miami-Dade County school district, John Schuster said there is a reason the school did not announce Martin’s death on campus. “Shortly after Trayvon’s death, his parents asked the school’s principal for privacy in the matter,” Schuster said. “So counselors couldn’t do what they normally do. They couldn’t […]

March 21, 2012

Parent Trigger Is The Wrong Kind Of Choice, Cato Argues

The Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based, think tank that has been an ardent supporter of school choice, has published a piece opposing the ‘parent trigger.’ The law allows the majority of parents at chronically low-performing schools to petition for one of four methods to overhaul their schools, including replacing administrators and staff, closing the school […]

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