Florida School Boards Association
In a video that appeared on YouTube in mid-May, the Republican-controlled Florida House of Representatives said “union bosses and their media allies” were pushing a “myth.” It wasn’t true, they said, that state funding for public schools had increased only 47 cents per student this year. Three months later, as the new school year got…
If a ballplayer batted .500, it would be stupendous. If a team wins half its games and loses the other half, it might be called a rebuilding year. If you broke even in a casino, you’d figure it’s better than losing. But Florida voters had a coin toss land on its edge this month in…
A controversial proposed constitutional amendment that could have significantly altered Florida’s public education landscape will not go to voters in November. In a narrowly divided 4-3 decision, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ruled Amendment 8 should remain off the ballot. It upheld the order of Leon County Judge John Cooper, who found the measure’s title and summary misleading. Read More
Florida Supreme Court justices poked holes in both sides of an ongoing debate whether to place Amendment 8 back on the November ballot during a 45-minute hearing Wednesday afternoon. They didn’t issue a ruling, but one is expected soon. Read More
Legal challenges to at least three and, perhaps, seven of the 13 proposed Constitutional amendments Florida voters will see Nov. 6 remain unresolved as the deadline for mailing ballots to out-of-state voters draws near. The Florida Supreme Court has scheduled two hearings Wednesday – one day after the deadline to set ballots for mailing by Sept.…
Four former lawmakers stood in front of the Great Seal of the State of Florida Tuesday and called on voters to reject the Constitution Revision Commission’s eight proposed amendments, including six that bundle disparate issues. Read More
Hours after a Leon County judge tossed proposed constitutional Amendment 8 off the November ballot, calling it misleading, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a 47-page document asking the Supreme Court to leave the measure and five others on the ballot. Hers was a response to a separate challenge, filed a week earlier by former chief justice…
A Leon county judge ordered that Amendment 8, the amendment that would have created a pathway for the state to oversee charter schools and bypass local school boards, be removed from the ballot. Judge John Cooper wrote in a summary judgement Monday morning that the amendment should be removed “because its ballot title and summary…
It’s hard to imagine how toxic Florida’s political landscape might be today, had its legislature and governor been free to act over the past decade without the oversight of the judicial. Certainly Democrats tested their limits back when they were in power. But the GOP has pushed legislative trickery to all new levels. Read More
The Leon County Courthouse was the scene Friday for the first of what looks to be several showdowns over the fate of Amendment 8, a Constitution Revision Commission proposal to change portions of the state constitution’s education article. The proposal aims to do three things — set school board term limits, embed civics education in…