The more Americans learn about Common Core, the less likely they are to support the math and language arts standards for K-12 public schools. That’s one conclusion to draw from the annual poll from Phi Delta Kappa, a professional group for educators, and polling firm Gallup. Last year, two-thirds of Americans said they had not […]
Editor’s note: This post has been corrected from its original version. Please see the bottom of the story. A group arguing Florida’s Supreme Court judges are too political is citing the 2006 decision striking down vouchers as an example of the court deciding cases based on their own beliefs rather than the state constitution or […]
We’ve heard a lot from educators who support Democratic President Barack Obama for reelection. The National Education Association has endorsed Obama. But there are plenty of teachers who support his Republican challenger, Gov. Mitt Romney. According to EdVotes.org, about 40 percent of Florida Education Association (FEA) members and at least 25 percent of NEA members […]
Earlier this week we gave the full explanation about the Amendment 8 debate in Florida — what the change would and would not do. We know that was a lot to absorb, so we’ve boiled it down to a Cliffs Notes version to sort out the details. 1. What is Amendment 8 and what does […]
Yesterday we explained why this fall’s vote on Amendment 8 can’t directly mean the return of Florida’s universal voucher program or state funding of religious schools. Here’s why: The 2006 Florida Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Holmes. We’ve annotated some significant portions of the opinion. That includes the portion where the majority explicitly says […]
Alachua County school board member Eileen Roy has called a proposed constitutional amendment coming before voters in November “the very death of public schools.” The state’s largest teacher’s union is running ads against the change and mobilizing teachers to get out and vote against it. Amendment 8 – dubbed the Religious Freedom Amendment – is […]
Politics and history are mixing in the debate over Amendment 8 on this fall’s ballot, The News Service of Florida reports. Amendment 8 would delete language from the Florida Constitution banning public money spent “directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution.” (You can […]
A recent article in The Nation magazine accused business leaders of using legislative tactics to hide their true intentions, which include privatizing virtual public schools. Writer Lee Fang talked about Florida as a leader in the pursuit of privatized education through vouchers and charter schools. But another writer says Fang got it wrong. Fang cited […]
The Florida Education Association sends a helpful reminder that two lawsuits they filed are heading to Circuit Court in Tallahassee this week. The first case challenges a new state law which requires state employees take a 3 percent pay cut in order to pay a portion of their pension benefits. The suit argues the law […]
As noted this morning, the Florida Education Association has filed a lawsuit challenging a state constitutional amendment allowing public money to pay for private school tuition vouchers. From the Palm Beach Post: The proposed constitutional amendment would effectively lift a century-old provision, dubbed the “Blaine Amendment,” which prohibits tax dollars from directly or indirectly going […]
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