Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Janelle Irwin TaylorSeptember 24, 2018

Sen. Jeff Brandes, the Republican incumbent in St. Petersburg’s District 24, has a massive lead at the bank over his challenger, Democrat Lindsay Cross. Cross has not had anywhere near as much time to raise funds as Brandes — she entered the race late after Carrie Pilon withdrew abruptly, citing personal reasons. During the most recent reporting period […]

Janelle Irwin TaylorSeptember 20, 2018

House Democratic Leader Janet Cruz, now challenging GOP state Sen. Dana Young for her Senate District 18 seat, is attacking her opponent’s record on education policy and funding. “Dammit Dana, stop,” Cruz lamented at a press conference in front of Plant High School in south Tampa on Tuesday. Cruz was referring to Young’s track record voting in […]

Guest AuthorAugust 13, 2018

I was raised as a public school kid. After graduating college, I spent 22 years as a teacher and administrator in the Miami-Dade school district, the fourth-largest in the country. I was a high school principal of a small city, 3,000 students. I wasn’t surviving, I was thriving. How did I end up here, principal […]

Drew WilsonFebruary 26, 2018

Americans for Prosperity-Florida announced Monday it would send out direct mail in support of state lawmakers who backed the “school choice” package favored by House Speaker Richard Corcoran. The group said it would amp up digital outreach in addition to the mailers to support lawmakers who supported HB 7055, which cleared the Senate Education Committee […]

Drew WilsonMarch 6, 2017

The Florida branch of the conservative group Americans for Prosperity announced its 2017 legislative priorities Friday; dismantling Enterprise Florida is on the top of the list. “In 2015 the Governor boldly stated that ‘taxpayers are better investors than government.’ We completely agree. That’s why we’re calling on both chambers to put politics aside and work […]

Joe HendersonJanuary 18, 2017

Betsy DeVos, whose children never attended public schools, may soon lead the nation’s Department of Education. Assuming she is confirmed, care to take a guess what Florida public education will look like four years from now? Perhaps former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who is DeVos’ biggest cheerleader, can provide some insight. He wrote a stirring […]

Jenna Buzzacco-FoersterNovember 28, 2016

Florida leaders praised Donald Trump’s choice of education secretary, calling Betsy DeVos an excellent pick. The president-elect announced Wednesday he tapped DeVos, 58, to lead the federal agency. The choice reinforces his pledge to make school choice an education priority. In September, he pledged to funnel $20 billion in existing federal dollars into scholarships for […]

Guest AuthorSeptember 28, 2016

W.E.B. Dubois once said, “To stimulate wildly weak and untrained minds is to play with mighty fires.” I hear Dubois when I see the academic results for black students. Year after year, the outcomes remain unbearable and unconscionable. More than 60 years after the U.S. Supreme Court declared an official end to separate-but-unequal schools, only […]

Michael MolineAugust 26, 2016

Close to 100,000 Florida children have secured scholarships to attend private schools this year through the state’s school-choice programs for low-income families. Florida Tax Credit Scholarships will allow 92,126 students to attend 1,665 private schools, according to Step Up For Students, one of two nonprofit organizations administering the program. That represented a 13,462-student gain over […]

Associated PressJune 30, 2016

Florida legislators passed 279 bills during this year’s session three months ago, and 162 of them take effect on Friday with the start of the state’s fiscal year, affecting school choice, abortion, tax cuts and many more aspects of life in the Sunshine State. Here’s a roundup of some of the measures taking effect: BUDGET: […]

Tag: School choice

Jeff Brandes increases fundraising lead over Lindsay Cross

‘Dammit Dana’: Janet Cruz blasts opponent Dana Young’s education record

Thomas Halfaker: Catholic school resurgence uplifting thousands of low-income families — and me

AFP-FL mailers thank lawmakers for supporting House education plan

Dismantling Enterprise Florida is a top priority for AFP-FL

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos could mean more Florida charter schools, a lot more

Florida school choice advocates praise selection of Betsy DeVos as education secretary

Mark Coats: Time to stop fighting school choice

School-choice scholarships in Florida reach nearly 100,000 students

Abortion, budget, tax cuts among new Florida laws