Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorJune 23, 2014

I am frequently asked, “why do you favor John Thrasher for president of FSU?” “Don’t you have your PhD?” “You are so involved in higher education, what makes you support him?” The questions never seem to end — but the answers are easy. I know John Thrasher well. He is focused, smart, driven to success, […]

Guest AuthorJune 22, 2014

Small communities have always faced “brain drain,” as many of their most educated young people leave for big cities, bright lights and the promise of bigger paychecks. But the shift could be getting more extreme. A new study indicates that highly educated and skilled people are focusing on a relatively few large cities while people […]

Julie DelegalJune 22, 2014

Jacksonville is ground zero for the public education budget disaster that is the result of 15 years of misguided “reform” in Florida. Three months ago, Duval Superintendent of Schools Nikolai Vitti introduced an innovative, if short-lived, proposal to allow open enrollment district-wide to keep more students in the public system. His reason? The public school […]

Guest AuthorJune 22, 2014

During the 2014 legislative session, lawmakers failed to grant Florida’s nurse anesthetists the authority to administer anesthesia without physician supervision. Nonetheless, we look forward to continuing to be a part of the solution to Florida’s health-care workforce crisis. Before the session came to a close, lawmakers were positioned to allow Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) […]

Martin DyckmanJune 19, 2014

In George Orwell’s classic novel, Animal Farm, the pigs who become tyrants of the barnyard declare that although all animals are equal, “some animals are more equal than others.” He was satirizing communism, but the point applies to our democracy as well. Your “equal” vote may be gerrymandered into uselessness. The politician takes calls from […]

Guest AuthorJune 19, 2014

Walt Disney World is without a doubt an amazing enterprise. In creating a place built on fantasy, nostalgia and imagination, it is truly Florida’s jewel. One of the largest employers in Florida, Disney is responsible for the influx of millions of tourists to our state and billions in revenue. Even our small attempts at state-wide […]

Guest AuthorJune 19, 2014

Years ago, I was an elementary schoolteacher. Those years imprinted on me many valuable lessons, the most important of which is that academically successful children from the earliest grades are more likely to enjoy school. This belief is backed up statistically: An overwhelming 74 percent of all students who fail to read proficiently by the […]

Guest AuthorJune 19, 2014

I admit it. I’m addicted. Social media, my phone, television, all things Internet — I would not want to live without them. I turn 40 next month and I’ve had the luxury of: growing up without the Internet, reading physical books in the library that I found using a card catalog, remembering the first time […]

Shannon NickinsonJune 18, 2014

Here we are, facing the Hayseed Factor again. Just when our own congressman, U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, was on the big stage thanks to his position as chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee during an epic shameful scandal about the way the VA medical system treats veterans, he had to go and do it. […]

Peter SchorschJune 18, 2014

By the time whoever is chosen to serve as Speaker of the Florida House in 2020-21, there will be a new occupant of the White House and a new governor of Florida. The Sunshine State’s population is expected to be over 21 million by the time of the next census. By 2020, there will be two […]

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Border Patrol personnel deploy tear gas during a demonstration over the dozens detained in an operation by federal immigration authorities a day earlier, in Paramount, Calif., Saturday, June 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Ed Moore: Thrasher is the perfect choice for FSU presidency

Mark O’Brien: Give us your tired, your poor, your service workers

Julie Delegal: Florida’s school-budget chickens come home to roost

Jorge Valdes: State’s nurse anesthetists to continue advocacy to solve workforce crisis

Martin Dyckman: In Florida, poor people whose woes are of a civil nature are on their own

Gary Stein: Behind the Disney magic, reality bites back for those who work there

Toni Jennings: Florida’s investment in early literacy prepares kids for success

Leandra Preston-Sidler: Appreciating the simple moments in midst of technology onslaught

Shannon Nickinson: Science stupidity is bad for business

Peter Schorsch: Here’s everything you didn’t know about the 2020-21 Speaker race