Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Shannon NickinsonJanuary 26, 2015

Pensacola’s business community made its pitch for the 2015 legislative session. Now it will be time to let the chips fall where they may in Tallahassee. At the recent Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce’s 2015 Legislative Luncheon, chairman of the board of directors Justin Beck said the group had three broad areas of interest as […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 21, 2015

Most of us who are born American citizens take for granted the basic freedoms and affluent way of life that our country gives us. Living in the USA, we’re spoiled because we don’t encounter abysmal poverty, despotism and the lack of value of human life that exists in the rest of the world. Think about […]

Ryan RayJanuary 20, 2015

Jeb Bush‘s prominent and idiosyncratic views on education are liable to make or break his presidential ambitions, writes Alec MacGillis in The New Yorker. Few people doubt that he’s developed an expertise on the subject. But whether his public policy conclusions will alienate Republican primary voters is another question altogether: Dan Gelber, a Democrat who served in the Florida […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 13, 2015

I’ve been invited to contribute to Context Florida and want to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My career in journalism started 47 years ago when I was selected to be the editorial cartoonist for my high school newspaper. I had moved the previous year from a close-knit, small-town high school to a large suburban […]

Jac VerSteegJanuary 4, 2015

Candidates mouthed the words “education” a lot in 2014, but it was not a decisive election issue. Still, against the odds, 2015 might be the year the Florida Department of Education makes a sincere effort to make its testing policies reasonable. There has been legitimate concern that Rick Scott, safe in his second term and […]

Jac VerSteegJanuary 4, 2015

Candidates mouthed the words “education” a lot in 2014, but it was not a decisive election issue. Still, against the odds, 2015 might be the year the Florida Department of Education makes a sincere effort to make its testing policies reasonable. There has been legitimate concern that Rick Scott, safe in his second term and […]

Peter SchorschDecember 29, 2014

If only the Rick Scott we got to know during this past election year had been the one who first entered the Governor’s Mansion in 2011. Remember that guy? The former health-care exec with a chip on his shoulder who bragged he was a Tea Partier before the Tea Party was cool. He was the novice politician […]

Guest AuthorDecember 22, 2014

Clinton and a Bush are gearing up for a run at the White House. Is it 1990 or 2014? Congress is under Republican control with a Democrat in the White House. Is it 1946, 1994 or 2014? A Republican is heading to Florida’s Governor’s Mansion after just half of registered voters turned out to vote. […]

Guest AuthorDecember 11, 2014

Across the country, policymakers are grappling with the phenomenon of “disruption.” Disruption refers generally to the process whereby some new technology or innovation “disrupts” a long-standing industry and its attendant regulatory environment, threatening market incumbents. Today, we see disruption most overtly in two areas: education and transportation. In education, new organizational structures, new teaching methods, […]

Marc YachtJune 11, 2014

The nation’s ongoing disputes make us great. Whether driven by Glenn Beck, Rachel Maddow, Fox News, or CNN, everybody forms an opinion. Some actually study the problem, but that takes work. When it comes to physical effort, Americans excel. But when it comes to mental exertion, most folks would just as soon listen to someone […]

Tag: education

Shannon Nickinson: Health care, taxes top business legislative list

Steven Kurlander: Give all Americans a mandatory civics exam

Good read in The New Yorker: The Education of Jeb Bush

Catherine Martinez: Teacher still looking for elusive new world order

2015 might bring high-stakes testing reform to Florida

Jac Wilder VerSteeg: 2015 might bring high-stakes testing reform to Florida

Peter Schorsch: Refurbished Rick Scott is Florida’s politician of the year

Mark Pafford: Florida Democrats will stay focused on our key issues

Gregory Newburn: Like transportation and education, the criminal justice system is ripe for ‘disruption’

Marc Yacht: Politicians’ refusal to compromise creating dangerous gridlock