Rep. Joe Abruzzo, D-Boynton Beach, leaned into the microphone then stopped in mid-sentence and pushed away from the table. Rep. Bryon Donalds, R-Naples, had smoothly declined to answer Abruzzo’s question of whether the Naples businessman would like to give private school vouchers to all public school students. Donalds said that was a topic for another discussion.…
The Florida House plans to hold a hearing to explore how the state sends nearly $1 billion for scholarships to mostly unregulated private schools, the subject of the Orlando Sentinel’s recent “Schools Without Rules” series.“The goal of the House has always been a world class education for every child,” said Fred Piccolo, spokesman for House…
The Senate on Thursday released its version of tax reform, and in one important respect it could have a bigger impact on spending for public schools than the House bill released last week. The Senate’s GOP-only version would eliminate all the current deductions people can take on the federal tax returns for state and local…
A years-long battle in the Legislature to pass a bill requiring high school students take a course teaching them how to manage money is back again. Sen. Dorothy Hukill‘s bill, though, had a small victory on Wednesday. SB 88 advanced the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on pre-K-12 Education, leaving one more committee stop before it can…
Florida House members began moving forward Wednesday with a controversial proposal that would allow public-school students to receive voucher-like scholarships to attend private schools if they have been bullied, harassed or subject to violence. The bill (HB 1), approved by the House Pre-K-12 Innovation Subcommittee, is a priority of House Speaker Richard Corcoran, a major…
The Legislature will hold a third round of Interim Committee Meetings this week. Please click on the file below to access the schedule and more information on the education-related meetings, bills, and presentations that will be considered. In addition, please click on the links below for our updates on the Constitution Revision Commission Committee meetings that…
Collier County School Board member Erika Donalds thinks she is paid too much. Donalds, a member of the Florida Constitution Revision Commission, proposed a constitutional amendment that would eliminate salaries for school board members in Florida. Commissioners will vote in the spring to decide which proposals will be placed on the 2018 ballot. Twenty-two of…
Republican lawmakers unveiled a sweeping rewrite of the tax code on Thursday, outlining a $1.5 trillion plan that will deliver a significant tax cut for corporations and more modest savings for middle-class families while tilting the United States closer, but not entirely, toward the kind of tax system long championed by businesses. Read More
From banning the death penalty to creating an elected secretary of state, members of the Florida Constitution Revision Commission have filed more than five-dozen proposals to change the state Constitution. The 37 members of the commission, which meets every 20 years and has the power to place amendments directly on the November 2018 ballot, had…