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.
In August 2011, the Obama administration announced it would prioritize deporting people convicted of crimes.
That meant shifting resources away from low-priority cases—such as undocumented children who came to the U.S. at a young age, or DREAM Act kids, and others.
One idea behind the new policy was to protect DREAM Act-eligible kids from deportation in case Congress were to soon approve the federal bill that would provide a path to citizenship to some undocumented immigrants.
But last Friday, 25-year-old Shamir Ali, a DREAM Act-eligible undocumented Florida resident, was denied deportation relief by the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement Field Office Director, Marc Moore (see the letter from Moore below). Continue Reading →
Gov. Rick Scott attends a governors' summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in June.
Florida Governor Rick Scott is still answering questions after he suggested Florida colleges and universities should get less funding for social science programs, and more funding for science, engineering, technology and math programs, or STEM fields.
Scott told a Miami radio station that he’s related to the angriest anthropologist he’s heard from so far.
With Halloween approaching, the great anthropology debate is the Florida political story that won’t die (background here). But the question remains: Is anthropology a STEM field?
While Rhee was pushing a controversial teacher evaluation system that led to hundreds of firing, Strauss writes, she did not address fundamental issues such as constructing a curriculum for D.C. schools.
The lessons of D.C. apply elsewhere, Strauss writes, including Florida’s new requirement that all high school students must take a class online:
Do not stop charter schools, but question and ask for the highest degree of accountability. Some charter schools are only there is make a profit and use taxpayer’s money. Manny Alonso Pouch unfortunately is a member of that group.
Question, investigate, and demand more from charter schools. If they are well run with a good staff, what charter schools can do is inspiring.
That got us thinking about other recent examples of politicians misquoting data or using data that does not support the point they are trying to make.
The highest-profile example came from Arizona Republican Sen. John Kyl back in April, who claimed that “well over 90 percent” of Planned Parenthood’s activities related to abortion. Planned Parenthood says abortion comprises just 3 percent of its services, according to PoltiFact.org.
The group argues that children of undocumented immigrants should not be charged out-of-state tuition despite those students being both U.S. citizens and Florida residents.
StateImpact Florida profiled one such student in August.
Back in August I profiled Caroline Roa, a recent high school graduate ready to start school at Miami Dade College with what she thought would be a full-scholarship.
But weeks before the start of classes, Roa, who was born in Miami, learned her tuition would be three-times higher than she planned for—because Roa’s dad is an undocumented immigrant.
That’s when I got a call from The Southern Poverty Law Center looking to get in touch with Roa and more students like her.
That group has now filed a federal class action lawsuit against the Florida education commissioner and university system chancellor on behalf of Roa and four other students in the same situation.
A cat statue found on Key Marco in Southwest Florida.
It’s been a rough week for anthropologists with Gov. Rick Scott singling out the field as an inefficient use of higher education budgets.
Why should taxpayers foot the education bill for an anthropologist who can’t find a job? Scott asked a business group last week. Colleges should “drive” students into science, technology, engineering or math — known as STEM — programs, he said.
“I got accused of not liking anthropology,” Scott said. “But just think about it: How many more jobs do you think there is for anthropology in this state? Do you want to use your tax dollars to educate more people who can’t get jobs? I want to make sure that we spend our money where people can get jobs when they get out.”
But don’t expect to see anthropologists on street corners holding signs reading “will study social interactions for food” anytime soon.
Orange County tops the nation for growth in charter school enrollment, up 42 percent during the 2010-2011 school year.
Miami-Dade ranked seventh for the total number of students enrolled in charter schools, with 35,380 students. Broward County ranked tenth with 24,150 students in charter schools.
Almost 100 school districts have 10 percent of students enrolled in charters, the report note.
Hat tip to our friends at StateImpact Ohio for noting the report.
We told you this morning that Gov. Rick Scott had sent a letter to state universities asking a series of questions in an effort to gauge their performance.
The letter is part of Scott’s larger push to reevaluate the way state universities operate.
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives. Learn More »
