Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Scott PowersOctober 25, 2017

Responding to Gov. Rick Scott‘s reported comments Tuesday that there was little to be done about Florida’s relatively low teacher salaries, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum said Wednesday he would propose a statewide minimum starting salary of $50,000. “When Gov. Scott blames ‘the system’ for low teacher pay, Floridians should ask him to look in […]

Scott PowersAugust 10, 2017

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham pledged Thursday to a number of educators and parents concerned about public education that she would make public education her top priority. While meeting with a roundtable of teachers, former teachers, public education advocates, and parents in an Orlando restaurant Thursday, Graham blasted Republican efforts to promote charter schools, which […]

Florence SnyderFebruary 13, 2017

At the rate Florida is hemorrhaging classroom teachers, it soon won’t matter that we can’t hire school bus drivers for $11.88 an hour, because there won’t be any classrooms worth taking the kids to. Every week brings fresh reporting about Florida’s teacher shortage; none of it is a surprise to parents or policymakers who have […]

Guest AuthorMay 17, 2016

When my daughter graduated high school, she took her talents to the University of Central Florida where she majored in musical theater. As patrons, my wife and I love the arts. As parents, not so much. We worried that four years hence our daughter would strut across the stage to “Pomp and Circumstance” only later […]

Associated PressApril 18, 2016

New bonus payments aimed at attracting and keeping good teachers in Florida have gone disproportionately to those who work with students from affluent families, an analysis by a Florida newspaper has found. Teachers who received bonuses under the $44 million “best and brightest” teacher scholarship program started last year were more than twice as likely […]

Guest AuthorFebruary 11, 2016

Here’s some wishful thinking. Wanted to Rent: One bedroom, one bath house or apartment. Long-term lease. Willing to pay security, first and last. Employed. Good references. Can afford up to $775 monthly. In Key West. I don’t have a car so need to be close to work. Did that $775 a month make you snort […]

Julie DelegalAugust 24, 2015

Former State Board of Education Chairman Gary Chartrand has issued an impassioned plea on behalf of Florida’s 78,000 voucher students. He wants the plaintiffs, namely the Florida Education Association, which represents teachers, to drop its lawsuit opposing the diversion of tax dollars to the voucher program. The FEA lawsuit is now at the appeal stage. […]

Guest AuthorJuly 22, 2015

When I first began my teaching career it was in an inner city school where extreme poverty permeated nearly every child’s life. It hung in the air outside the chain-link fence surrounding the school like an oppressive fog, waiting to engulf my students as soon as the school day ended. Knowing what they were headed toward […]

Guest AuthorJuly 6, 2015

Monday, July 6, 2015 Dear Community Meeting Participant, I want to thank you for taking your valuable time a few days ago and joining us at Glades Central High School for my community outreach meeting. As I stated at the meeting, I am not coming in leading with solutions and best practices — I am […]

Guest AuthorJuly 2, 2015

The teacher who taught state Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, his ABCs, if he or she were around, should certainly regret it. Because — astonishingly, or maybe not — Fresen believes that the insights gleaned from a casual reading during a long airplane flight (Amanda Ripley’s “The Smartest Kids in the World,” according to Fresen) entitles […]

Andrew Gillum proposes $50K starting salaries for teachers

Gwen Graham pledges public education as her priority, blasts Richard Corcoran

Florida abuses teachers and can’t figure out why there’s a teacher shortage

Darryl E. Owens: Good teachers at poor schools deserve a fair shot at bonuses

Florida’s top teachers found at affluent schools

Linda Cunningham: Key West voters need to preserve housing for workers

Julie Delegal: Other ideas follow defense of school vouchers

Andy Ford: Free public schools to help break shackles of poverty

Catherine Martinez: An open letter to Palm Beach County Superintendent Robert Avossa

Chris Timmons: Legislator misunderstands teaching and teachers