Valencia College President Sandy Shugart says he's found ways to avoid a tuition hike this year.
Gov. Rick Scott is drawing a line on tuition hikes this year. He wants state universities to find other ways to deal with budget cuts.
At a contentious Board of Governors meeting in June, many universities asked for the maximum tuition increase. A few got it; most did not.
But some colleges are heeding Scott’s request.
StateImpact Florida’s John O’Connor spoke to Valencia College president Sandy Shugart about why the state’s second-largest college is not raising tuition next year.
Shugart says he doesn’t want to raise tuition too much now because he may need to raise it in the future.
Instead, the community college plans to raise class sizes and do other belt-tightening.
Shugart said the college is particularly sensitive to the needs of low-income students as the hard economic times continue in Florida.
A student who tried to stop a classmate from being bullied and was then attacked himself is suing Palm Beach County schools because a bus driver did not follow the county’s anti-bullying policy, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Palm Beach County schools have one of the state’s highest rates of bullying, according to state data, with one bullying incident for every 95 students. It’s not the first time the school district has been sued over bullying.
A bank owned sign is seen in front of a foreclosed home on December 7, 2010 in Miami, Florida.
The Florida real estate market is showing signs it has finally hit bottom, which is good news for schools suffering budget cuts due to a declining property tax base.
Martin County officials reported the county’s property tax base declined 1 percent last year. That’s less than county officials expected and the smallest decline in five years.
Former California State Sen. Gloria Romero help write the nation's first parent trigger law.
Former California State Sen. Gloria Romero writing at redefinED takes education historian Diane Ravitch and others to task over the inspiration for the parent trigger.
Why does it matter to Florida?
Because the parent trigger was the most contentious education bill during the last legislative session and it’s coming back when lawmakers return in 2013. The bill allows parents at failing schools to choose how to restructure the school, including replacing faculty or principals, closing the school or converting to a charter school.
Ravitch has argued the bill is the brainchild of the conservative-leaning American Legislative Exchange Council. But Romero said the bill was born in California, among Democrats:
Children's Librarian Charles Roig entertains kids in the Dream Big, Read program.
Florida students can exercise their reading skills over the summer through a free program at their public library.
The goal is to mitigate the summer reading loss that leaves some students two years below grade level by the time they reach middle school.
The program is helped by a collaborative effort among states to make more low-cost summer reading materials available to local libraries.
Librarians in Miami kicked off the “Dream Big, Read” program thanks to a federal grant. Charles Roig got things started by leading the kids in a song and dance session.
“Hopefully they leave with a joy of reading and interest in reading,” said Roig.
The program is designed to help students avoid what’s become known as the summer slide.
Should schools be allowed to charge students for participation in school sports.
Editors note: This post was written by WLRN reporter Luc Cohen.
The state does not explicitly prohibit schools from charging students to participate in school sports.
But many Florida schools have their own policies banning the practice.
Earlier this month, the Broward Bulldog published a story accusing the cheerleading booster club at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland of collecting tens of thousands of dollars from parents in order for their children to be on the team.
The State Investigative Unit has opened an investigation into the allegations. The booster club has since disbanded and handed over all financial operations to the school.
But the issue raises a question about pay to play policies in Florida. Continue Reading →
Florida pays International Pearson Inc. $249 million dollars to administer the FCAT. Pearson also pays to lobby Florida lawmakers.
Florida pays International Pearson Inc. millions of dollars to administer the FCAT during its current five year contract – $249 million dollars to be exact.
But Pearson also spends money – up to $800,000 – to lobby state legislators, as central Florida’s WFTV reports.
Public records show Pearson spent at least $580,000 on lobbyists since 2007. This is two years before Pearson’s current contract.
WFTV confirmed Pearson does not donate to individual legislators, but has donated to political action committees that have pushed lawmakers to increase testing and raise the standards. Continue Reading →
Lawmakers and lobbyists look down from the second floor on the state Capitol building as students protest higher education cuts and tuition increases.
Students occupied the Capitol chanting, “They say cut back, we say fight back.” State representative Dwight Bullard (D-Miami), center, jumped in chanting to let the students know they have a friend in the legislature.
“I support more funding for education, so the same issues they’re fighting for, its easy for me to stand with them,” Bullard said.
“I love seeing youth energy getting involved in government because often times its too many blue jackets and khaki pants walking around this place.”
Florida students meet outside of the Capitol in Tallahassee to distribute signs before they Occupy the Capitol to protest tuition increases and cuts to higher education funding and scholarship programs.
Ralph Wilson, a PHD students in mathematics at Florida State University, gets his tuition paid through a research assistantship. “I have it great compared to a lot of the undergraduates or high school students who are about to start their educations here in Florida because the tuition is seeming like its going to continue increasing every year,” Wilson said. “These are my colleagues, these are my friends. And if something is going to threaten their livelihood, I absolutely take offense.”
Florida State University junior Cherry Smith, freshman Elizabeth McCawley and Lissa Reed, and senior Gladys Nobriga. Nobriga acknowledges Florida has some of the cheapest tuition rates in the country. “They’re saying they want to raise it closer to national averages, but that’s always rising also,” Nobriga said. “Its not fair that we don’t get the same education rate that they may have gotten.”
Broward College, Palm Beach State College and Valencia College – the second largest community college in the state – voted not to raise tuition. Continue Reading →
“This is where many children, especially low income children, forget a portion of what they learned during the prior school year over the summer break,” said Ann Stone, Senior Research and Evaluation Officer for the Wallace Foundation.
“Since this happens every summer, summer learning loss accumulates and ends up contributing substantially to the achievement gap that we see between low-income children and their more fortunate peers,” Stone said.
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