Julie Delegal, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Julie DelegalApril 19, 2015

On April 9, the Florida Legislature quickly and quietly passed an educational testing reform bill that Gov. Rick Scott signed into law this past Tuesday, a significant victory for advocates and educators. However, except for the Duval County PTA, advocates don’t appear to be taking credit for its passage. House Bill 7069 reduces duplicative testing, […]

Julie DelegalMarch 16, 2015

I have to laugh, or else I’d be crying. Certain religious fanatics offer a constant supply of fodder for TV comedians and columnists like me. Who doesn’t poke fun at Pat Robertson’s contention that “demonic” religions (like Buddhism!) can infect items you buy at the Goodwill store? But in truth, Christo-fundamentalist ideology is dangerous. As […]

Julie DelegalMarch 4, 2015

Rep. Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, has been listening to parent complaints about high-stakes testing. Mayfield, like most parents and educators, is so frustrated with the entire standards-based accountability system that she wants to give entire school districts the ability to “opt out” of standards-based tests altogether. Judging from an action alert obtained from a Tea […]

Julie DelegalMarch 3, 2015

And you thought the Obamacare web rollout had problems. Computer malfunctions, brand new curriculum standards and unparalleled stress have characterized the debut of the new Florida Standards Assessments. But could Florida’s testing debacle be alleviated by a stroke of the governor’s pen? On Monday, 36 of Florida’s 67 counties – more than half – experienced […]

Julie DelegalMarch 2, 2015

Part one of this two-part series examines one senator’s move to lower the stakes in Florida’s high-stakes education accountability system, and how the stakes got so high in the first place. For several years, parents and teachers have bristled against the centerpiece of education reform in Florida. “Teacher accountability” is the political term for it, but what […]

Julie DelegalJanuary 22, 2015

Jacksonville needs to get on top of police-and-fire pension reform, and failing to do it now amounts to playing politics with taxpayer money. And contrary to what a recent direct mail piece would have us believe, it’s not the mayor who’s playing fast and loose with our tax dollars. Our past rates of payment on […]

Julie DelegalJanuary 14, 2015

I live in paradise. A broad, blue river runs through my city, crossed by seven bridges – three or four of them works of art in themselves. The skyline at night, sparkling in the mirror-blackness of the St. Johns, never fails to take my breath away. I love Jacksonville as I would a member of […]

Julie DelegalJanuary 14, 2015

I live in paradise. A broad, blue river runs through my city, crossed by seven bridges – three or four of them works of art in themselves. The skyline at night, sparkling in the mirror-blackness of the St. Johns, never fails to take my breath away. I love Jacksonville as I would a member of […]

Julie DelegalJanuary 12, 2015

“Can’t we all just get along?” The immortal words of police brutality survivor Rodney King might make for great TV, but they’re a lousy statement on education policy. And yet, those words nearly jumped off the page as I read Trey Csar’s recent apologia for public school privatization. Csar is president of the Jacksonville Public […]

Julie DelegalDecember 30, 2014

Chutzpah. That’s what Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has. Not for accepting lavish vacations from the lobbyists who fund the Republican Attorneys General Association. No, that’s a whole ’nother column. AG Bondi has the chutzpah to pretend, for the sake of politics, that Florida’s Clerks of Court are exempt from obeying the United States Constitution. U.S. […]

Julie Delegal

Julie Delegal: Silent victory for Florida’s education advocates

Julie Delegal: Faith, fear and climate science

Julie Delegal: Tweaking the tests – Common Core pushback

Julie Delegal: Gov. Scott, give kids a break from computer-plagued tests

Julie Delegal: Tweaking the tests – what to watch in education legislation

Julie Delegal: Pension politics squanders millions in Jax tax dollars

Julie Delegal: Axe Handle Saturday dims; Civil Rights Saturday shines

Julie Delegal: New milestone joins Axe Handle Saturday – Civil Rights Saturday

Julie Delegal: Lousy education policy blurs line between public, private

Julie Delegal: No ban on Pam Bondi’s chutzpah