As COVID-19 sent brick-and-mortar education into a tailspin this spring, students at one North Florida school realized what they missed most was a creature with four legs and a wet nose. That’s why staff at Morning Star Catholic School in Jacksonville featured Nova, a golden retriever who likes to lean into humans’ legs while being… Read more »
Editor’s note: Leslie Hiner, vice president of legal affairs at EdChoice, connects this U.S. Supreme Court case with the recent controversy over the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program and the interests of LGBTQ, lower-income and minority students, stressing that the position held by those who argue against financial support of religiously-affiliated schools is in direct… Read more »
Anti-drug campaign: Florida first lady Casey DeSantis has announced a campaign starting in schools to fight substance abuse by children. The campaign, called “The Facts. Your Future.”, will present scientific information about vaping, opioids and more and offer personal stories from people who have been affected by drug abuse. Just telling students to say no isn’t enough, DeSantis said…
WLRN vote postponed: The Miami-Dade County School Board has delayed making a decision about hiring a manager for the WLRN radio and television stations. District spokeswoman Daisy Gonzalez-Diego said the delay is meant to give the district time “to exercise all due diligence.” The district recommended that the board award the management contract to South Florida PBS…
Tax vote opinion: When asked in October by the Jacksonville City Council to give an opinion on whether the Duval County School Board could sue the council to force it to place a school tax referendum on the ballot, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody responded two weeks later, on Nov. 4, by declining because of “pending litigation.” But school officials said they only found out about Moody’s response this week…
The Miami Herald recently republished commentary that originally appeared June 7 in The Conversation. In the essay, titled “School Vouchers Expand Despite Evidence of Negative Effects,” education professors Christopher Lubienski and Joel Malin wonder why states keep adopting and expanding private school choice programs when such initiatives, in their view, have failed. Their answer essentially… Read more »
When Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democratic candidate for president, recently revealed his education plan, most of the ensuing news coverage focused on his criticism of charter schools and his call for a moratorium on their expansion. Cue the usual op-eds and pundits booing him, attacking socialism and railing against infringements on a “competitive free market.”… Read more »
The Florida Education Association, which is virulently opposed to private school vouchers, has released a perfectly predictable fiscal impact “analysis” of the new Family Empowerment Scholarship. Less foreseeable was the bounty of uncritical coverage it received from news media. From last Thursday through Monday, at least 10 media outlets covered this “analysis” (examples here, here… Read more »
