Tution for out of state.
matrix4583 | | 
1
Anyone know a place where I can get some info or a program to sign up so that I attend college cheap for out of state student?
(all tags)
Industrial expansion exempted from DRI process in aquatic preserves
Isn't industrial development in Florida supposed to be watched closely? Isn't that particularly important on our coasts? What about in an area of the Gulf coast that is surrounded by aquatic preserves, wetlands, protected marshlands, conservation areas, archaeological protected areas and state parks and that constitutes one of the few really pristine areas of the southern Gulf Coast? They have some very powerful politicians behind it including Senator Bennett who just passed his own bill out of "his" Senate committee on Community Affairs--unanimously.
Five bills, SB 0424, SB 0856, SB 0932, HB 1021 and HB 0441 all have language in them that would exempt expanding port industrial facilities from the DRI process. The people behind the change are the folks at Port Manatee, and they want it because, while located in an area surrounded by aquatic preserves, wetlands, conservation lands and state parks, they would never be able to expand their port with DRI process oversight. This language is being hidden in the Senate and House Transportation bills as well as the standalone language being sponsored by the Senator (Bennett) and House member representing the Port Manatee area. The only thing they need for the exemption is to show that their industrial or commercial expansion is port-related.
wetlands, aquatic preserves, industry, exemptions, DRI, growth management (all tags)
FCAT A Requirement?
What if I were to tell you that you had to take a test to determine whether you keep your job or if you can graduate from college even though you have the right grades? As adults, we would think that this was a crazy scenario and wouldn't accept those conditions by any means. But children in our public schools here in Florida have to go through the FACT tests from elementary school all the way through high school and this determines if they can graduate.
Students are under a tremendous amount of pressure during these test days and if they don't pass they aren't allowed to advance to the next grade. Even though they are given the chance to retake these tests, I believe that this is unjust simply because a test shouldn't determine if your child is capable of moving on to the next grade. The FCAT tests a wide range of subjects including Math, Reading, Writing and Science. Students are required to score at least a 300 in these subject areas to pass, but the state average of students meeting the required score for sophomores in reading is only 38% and math 69%. This means that over half of our students are failing the reading portion of the test and they must do retakes before they can graduate. Even though students may have an "A" average throughout the year, there are no exemptions for this test and everyone must take it. So now this student with an "A" average has a bad day and scores below the required level and is not allowed to graduate until the score is met. While students are allowed to retake the test up to six times, this is a lot of extra stress on the students and not to mention more tax dollars being spent by all the taxpayers throughout the state. So now our students are not only required to take enough high school credits and maintain the required G.P.A. but they also have to score high enough in all the required areas of the test. The teachers and school boards throughout the state claim that they do everything in their power to prepare the students for this test, while this may be true, at times they are more worried about teaching ways to pass the test than they are teaching the material that the students actually need. This takes away from what our children should be learning just so they can pass a test. Schools want to make sure their students do well because the higher a school scores on the FCAT, the more money the school then receives the next year for funding.
Now I'm not saying that I think we should get rid of the FCAT completely, I just think that it should be used as an assessment rather than a graduation requirement. Anytime time you study and prep a whole year for one test, students are going to be so nervous and edgy that they are not going to be able to truly show what they have learned throughout the year.
WKoF initiative: Kitchen Table Economics
CIVIC Concern | | 1
From health care costs to gasoline prices, the housing slump, the credit crunch and hurricane insurance, Florida families are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. What do you think are the toughest issues facing Florida's households? What can the state do to strengthen the middle class and help the working poor? Policy changes? Public-private partnerships?
Share your thoughts here as we kick off "What Kind of Florida Do You Want to Live In?", our ground-breaking, two-year initiative that will mobilize citizens from around the state to come together in shaping policy proposals that can make a real difference in the lives of Floridians. To learn more, visit the What Kind of Florida? homepage.
Overlooked Problems With Standardized Tests
Marion Brady | | 0
America is in love with the idea of "accountability," with measuring how much students know of what a school teaches. But that isn't really what's important. It's a second level of functioning which should concern us--what the young can DO with what they know.
But there's an even MORE important third level of functioning--what students do when they don't know what to do . . .
. . . and a critically important FOURTH level--what students do when nobody knows what to do.
Because the future is unknowable, our survival as a society hinges on students being able to function at this fourth level, but we're so preoccupied with the first "how-much-does-the-kid-know" level we're ignoring it completely.
The Property Tax Puzzle
Property tax reform is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, issue facing the state legislature this year. There has been much hand wringing all around. Many hare brained schemes have been floated. Civic Concern has just published a thoughtful, reasoned history of the property tax problems in Florida and proposed some solutions.
Some commenters on the St. Peterburg Times Buzz Blog piece on this report claim that
The people want major reduction in property taxes
Others argue
I don't think "the people" want a bunch of half-cocked, sound bite ideas.
... Recent polls show they're pretty skeptical of all the various proposals.
If you want my opinion...
Cross Posted from Florida Kossacks
http://fl-kossacks.blogspot.com/
Civic Concern, Florida Kossacks, Florida Legislature, growth, impact fees, Leadership Florida, local politics, property taxes (all tags)
