At least one virtual class would be mandatory for graduation, kindergarten students could take online courses, and charter schools could offer full or part-time classes in what’s almost certain to become law.
Florida Legislature
Gun-Toting Bills, Supplanting Doctors and Local Governments, Poised to Become Law
One bill would penalize local governments with stricter gun restrictions than the state. Another would muzzle doctors’ abilities to ask their patients about gun ownership.
Growth-Management 2.0: Local Government Whims Sprawl Over State Oversight
Republicans have complained for years that growth management rules slow growth in the state. A glut of empty homes suggests otherwise. Local governments will be empowered to take advantage of far more lax growth rules.
Bail Bondsmen Would Cash In at Taxpayers’ Expense As Pre-Trial Release Is Scaled Back
A bill written to boost bail bondsmen’s business would force inmates to post bond to get out of jail rather than rely on county-run pre-trial release programs. Taxpayers are likely to pay the price as fewer inmates can afford bond and jail populations soar.
Property Tax Reform: 50% Exemptions, Breaks for Investors, Losses for Local Governments
Supporters of the overhaul say it’ll fill up empty homes. Critics say it’ll also slash local government revenue and further shift the tax burden to current residents, exacerbating inequities.
More Losers Than Winners as HMOs Skim Off Florida’s $20 Billion Medicaid Overhaul
Managed-car plans will take over almost all of Florida’s 2.8 million Medicaid patients. The overhaul does nothing to change the status of 3.8 million uninsured Floridians.
“Education Savings Accounts” Would Shift Public Money to Private and Home Schools
A vast expansion of school vouchers, Education Savings Account would shift 40 percent of per-student funding to children attending private school, to college savings accounts or to home-school spending, among other diversions from public-education budgets.
Charter Schools To Be Allowed To Go Virtual As Florida Expands Online Public Education
A proposed law would let charter schools open full-time K-12 “virtual” charter schools, all students would be required to take at least one online class, and school districts would have to offer full or part-time virtual programs.
At 14.5%, Flagler Unemployment Drops to Lowest Level in 2 Years, Florida’s at 11.1%
The unemployment rate locally and statewide appears to be trending downward consistently and finally following the national trend, which has been improving for most of the past year.
Union-Busting Bill Narrowly Clears Hurdle and GOP Dissents Before Full Vote at Florida Legislature
The proposed law forbids union deductions from public employees’ paychecks, essentially gutting unions. It passed a committee, 11-9, with three Republicans breaking rank to oppose it.
Popping Again: Drug Database and Pill-Mill Regulations Return From the Dead
Taken for dead only weeks ago, a revised bill that would preserve many pill-mill regulations, ban doctors from dispensing some pills and require permitting process for pharmacies cleared a Florida House committee Tuesday.
30 Days to Go, $3.8 Billion to Find: Lawmakers Set to Flatline Health Care Programs
Hospitals, Medicaid, the poor, the very sick and the Department of Health would all face severe cutbacks as the Legislature enters its session’s second half, with abortion, pill mills and medical malpractice issues yet unresolved.
Barack Obama and Rick Scott In Florida Voters’ Eyes: From Lousy to Dismal
The latest poll has Obama’s approval at just 44 percent, and Scott’s at 35 percent, with Scott’s disapproval rating doubling in two months, and 60 percent of Floridians saying Florida is on the wrong path. The poll reveals widespread dissatisfaction.
Far Apart, School Unions and Flagler District Negotiators Still Looking for a Common Page
After two sessions on Wednesday, negotiators only agreed to meet again in mid-April to discuss clearer, fresher budget numbers before negotiating proposed cuts of $3.5 million that would affect most employees and students in the district.
For a Few Cents Less: Legislature Moving to Slow Required Minimum Wage Increases
Voters approved a constitutional amendment linking the minimum wage to inflation. Florida lawmakers would also reduce the rate of growth based on a different way of calculating inflation.
Conklin Calls on Flagler School Board to Sue Scott and Legislature Over Education Funding
Flagler County School Board member Colleen Conklin says the state has abdicated its constitutional responsibility to properly fund education, and wants the board to sue the state. The board will discuss the matter on April 19.
But Should They Be Paid? Flagler School Board Members Defend Their Salaries
A Florida Senate proposal would replace school board members’ salaries with a $100 per-meeting stipend. Retirement and health benefits would be eliminated, too. Savings would exceed $10 million a year.
Merit Pay’s Trap: When Lawmakers Are Clueless About Teachers’ Classroom Realities
Jo Ann C. Nahirny, a teacher at Matanzas High School, describes the gulf between merit pay assumptions about teachers and everyday classroom realities that are beyond teachers’ control. Lawmakers appear clueless.
Florida Legislators’ Creepy Uterus Obsession
Florida lawmakers want to force women seeking an abortion in the second trimester to watch an ultrasound of their fetus first. It’s a back-alley assault on women’s privacy and abortion rights.
Parental Report Cards: Florida Lawmaker Wants Teachers Grading Your Parenting Skills
Kelli Stargel, Republican of Lakeland, thinks parents should be graded on their child’s preparedness as one way to address parental involvement and student underachievement. The proposal leaves economic and social issues mute.
Gov. Scott Vows to End “Oxycontin Express,” Yet Legislature Weakens Pill Mill Regulations
Gov. Rick Scott gave no details on his assault on the “Oxycontin Express,” and a Senate committee approved eliminating a ban on doctors dispensing more than a three-day supply of drugs to patients who pay with cash or credit cards.
From Teacher Merit Pay to Charter School Expansion: Legislature Marches On
Like the swiftly-approved teacher merit pay reforms, the push to expand charter schools, including expanding preferential admittance, has the strong backing of Gov. Rick Scott, and continues to revamp education.
Flagler Unemployment Drops to 14.9%, Lowest Since May 2009; Florida Improves to 11.5%
While Flagler County is still at the top of the unemployment chart in the state, improvements suggest that job creation is finally reaching Florida, which added 22,000 net jobs. Flagler’s employed grew by 360.
FPL, Progress Energy, Florida’s Nuclear Fraud
Florida taxpayers and ratepayers are footing the bill of Florida Power & Light’s and Progress Energy’s risk-free, $40-billion plan to build nuclear reactors, a fraud enabled by the Legislature and Congress.
Children as Billboards: From School Buildings to Buses, a Lunge for Ads and Revenue
The Flagler school district just broadened its advertising policy to allow ads in school buildings, websites and uniforms. State lawmakers are moving toward lifting the ban on ads on schoolbuses to make up for revenue the state is cutting.
How Grim Are State School Spending Cuts? Try 7 to 10% Per Student, Layoffs to Follow
Florida House and Senate proposals would cut from $447 to $473 per student, or close to 7 percent, a little less than Gov. Rick Scott’s proposal to slash per-student spending by $680 in addition to recent reductions.
Rick Scott Orders State Employees Randomly Drug-Tested Often, Like Welfare Recipients
Gov. Rick Scott signed an executive order requiring drug testing, and compared the testing of employees to the drug-testing of welfare recipients, a proposals lawmakers also approved unanimously in a Senate committee Tuesday.
Hijacking Home Rule: Stiff Fines if Local Gun Regulations Exceed the State’s
The Senate proposal adds financial penalties of between $5,000 and $100,000 on cities and counties with stricter gun regulations than the state, and removes a longstanding shield protecting elected and appointed officials from civil lawsuits relating to their job function.
Florida Lockups Lite: Closing Prisons and Boot Camps, Privatizing Inmate Healthcare
The Department of Corrections plans to close three prisons and two boot camps, a bill would privatize inmate health care and cut top salaries 5 percent while ending numerous positions.
Teacher Tenure Out, Merit Pay In: Legislature Whips First Bill of 2011 to Gov. Scott
The Legislature passed the biggest change to the state’s education system in more than 10 years, sending to Gov. Rick Scott a bill tying teacher salaries to test scores and ending multi-year contracts.
Throngs Voice Opposition as School Board Endorses Cuts With Sweeping Consequences
The board voted 4-1 to approve recommended cuts that would reduce middle and high school days by one period, among other cuts totaling $3.5 million. The proposal must be approved by employee unions before it goes into effect.
Florida Abortion Public Funding Ban Would Extend to Reform’s Health Insurance Exchange
Measures that would bar public money from subsidizing abortion coverage in Florida in nearly all cases passed a Senate panel on Monday. The ban would extend to the health-insurance exchange that will be set up by 2014 as part of health care reform.
From 5% to 2%: Retreat from Extra Pension Contributions; All Salaries Below $40K Exempt
A Senate committee backed off considerably from a proposal to require state workers to make 5% contributions to their pension fund, exempting most state workers, and cutting back the amount others would have to chip in.
State of Education Forum in Flagler: Anxiety and Advocacy as District Braces for Shock
If the state of education in Flagler County is strong, it won’t stay that way if state policy continues on its budget-slashing course, advocates and school officials told a large crowd at an education forum Thursday evening.
Despite 4 Million Uninsured, Florida Senate Approves Opt-Out Amendment on Health Law
Senators voted 29-10 to approve the proposed constitutional amendment, which would allow people to opt out of the “individual mandate” requirement that they buy health insurance or face financial penalties.
All Business All the Time as Gov. Scott
Tells Lawmakers: “Don’t Blink”
Scott mentioned the word “job” or “jobs” 31 times in the 27-minute State of the State speech, lauded privatization, vouchers for private and parochial schools and the needs and virtues of business.
Rally Draws Out Teachers, Supporters and Honks. Lawmakers May Not Be Listening.
Some 150 teachers and other school employees and supporters lined Belle Terre Parkway in Palm Coast, one of dozens such rallies across the state, hours before Gov. Rick Scott rebuffed them by telling lawmakers: “Don’t blink.”
State of the State Tonight: Scott and Legislature’s GOP Keep Their War Civil–So Far
Don’t expect Gov. Rick Scott to deviate much from his frequent message as he delivers his first State of the State speech Tuesday night before a joint session of the Legislature: Budget cuts, tax cuts, potshots at Washington rather than his own dissenting GOP.
Flagler Schools Prepare to ‘Awake the State’ As Night of Long Budget Knives Falls on Florida
As school employees prepared to demonstrate against massive state budget cuts on Tuesday, the Flagler School Board got closer to proposing cuts of its own that would eliminate classes and up to four dozen teachers.
End of the Line for Rail Brawl As Supreme Court Ruling Sends $2.4 Billion Elsewhere
The Florida Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Gov. Scott could not be bound to spend $2.4 billion in federal high-speed rail money. That money will now go to New York or California.
Governor and Senators’ High-Speed Rail Brawl Crashes a Skeptical Florida Supreme Court
Judging from Justices’ questions, the legislators’ case to force the governor to accept $2.4 billion in federal funding for the bullet train looked slim after Thursday’s arguments before the high court.
Senators Against “King” Scott Face Off at Florida Supreme Court Over High-Speed Rail
Set for 3 p.m. Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court showdown over $2.4 billion in federal money underscores the divide between Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-dominated Legislature ahead of next week’s legislative session.
Senators File Supreme Court Challenge To Gov. Scott’s $2.4 Billion Rail Spurn
The central Florida senators–one Republican, one Democrat–say Scott had no authority to cancel an act of the Legislature and cash appropriations former Gov. Crist had already approved for the $2.4 billion Orlando-Tampa high-speed rail link.
Florida’s Drug Database Targeted for Destruction as Lawmakers Swallow Pill Mills
Florida’s drug database, even if caopable of fighting pill mills, is “Big Brother” to Rob Schenck, Republican House Health and Human Services Chairman. Others are joining him to do away with the drug database.
Florida Pension Redo: Rank and File Would Contribute 2%, Management and Elected 4%
Gov. Rick Scott is backing a proposal that would have all county, school and state workers contributed 5 Percent of their pay to the state pension system. A new proposal would bump that down to a maximum of 4 percent.
Impact Fee Challenges in Florida: Legislature Moving to Neutralize Local Governments
Local governments are challenging a 2009 law they consider an unfunded mandate that shifts the burden of proof from developers to governments in impact fee challenges. In a boon for developers, lawmakers are rewriting the law to make it challenge-proof.
Severe, $3.5 Million in School Cuts on the Way: 40 Teachers, Shorter Days, Shorter Calendar
The Flagler County School Board agreed to the cuts today, the result of federal stimulus aid running out and Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed cuts to the education budget. Many of the cuts must be negotiated with the unions.
As County Health Departments Brace For Cuts in Vital Services, Flagler’s Makes Its Case
The Flagler County Health Department sees an average of 136 people a day, providing clinical, dental and maternal services, among other things, that no other agency provides. That safety net is in jeopardy.
Florida to Jobless: Tough Luck.
Benefits To be Cut. Businesses To Get a Bye.
Driven by Florida businesses, the Legislature is preparing to cut eligibility for the jobless and making it harder to claim benefits. Flagler’s unemployment rate is hovering around 16%, Florida’s around 12%.
Cops Recoil Over Florida Pension Reforms; Deferred Retirement (DROP) Slated to End
Senate plans introduced Wednesday would replace traditional state pension plans with 401(k)-style systems, and would end the deferred retirement option plan known as DROP.