Refugees escaping dangerous countries are traditionally welcomed to U.S. shores. Jewish refugees came through Ellis Island circa 1910 to escape Russia. Cuban refugees poured into Florida in 1959. They left family and possessions to escape Castro’s communism. The U.S. welcomed the “Lost Boys of Somalia” and other victims of rape and torture in the 90s. […]
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A judge’s ruling that threatens teacher tenure in California further undermines job security for teachers. Public school teachers continue to feel the brunt of political opportunists, unfair evaluations, the conservative push to privatized education, inadequate classroom funding, and lack of wage increases. It is ironic that the legislators responsible for undermining public schools are the […]
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OP-ED: Let’s ignore the loudmouths and listen to sensible talk An old adage states, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” It seems the louder the outcry, the more the attention. Whether the issue is health care, education, taxes, abortion; the media focus on noise. That’s unfortunate, because a lot of wise, unassuming folks get lost in […]
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Many of Florida’s public school teachers see little value in the value-added-model (VAM) teacher evaluation process that’s being used this year. Also labeled “value added analysis” or “value added assessment,” the evaluation tool is tied to student testing results. VAM assesses how one student’s scores compare to others and tracks how each student is performing […]
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Florida Charter Schools need improved oversight Marc J. Yacht, MD, MPH Florida legislative efforts to increase charter schools continue. About one in 17 Florida children attend a charter school. That’s a six-fold increase in a decade. Both not-for-profit and for-profit companies can operate charter schools. School districts can open charter schools. Charter-school teachers must be […]
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Op-ed – Satire: Florida GOP legislators banish NRA lobbyists; they flee to Texas In an abrupt about-face, conservative Republican legislators banished NRA lobbyists from the Capitol last week after getting what appeared to be divine instructions at a Republican prayer meeting. Shouts of “ban guns!” and “Get lost!” were heard echoing through the Capitol corridors. […]
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Because Florida Republican officials are refusing federal Medicaid dollars, about 1.3 million low-income Florida residents will not get health care coverage. Before Obamacare, 4.1 million Floridians lacked health insurance. Despite Gov. Rick Scott and other Florida legislative efforts to block Medicaid expansion and enrollment, the number of Florida’s uninsured has been reduced to 3.4 million. […]
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Because Florida Republican officials are refusing federal Medicaid dollars, about 1.3 million low-income Florida residents will not get health-care coverage. Obamacare pays the full cost of expanding Medicaid for the first three years. After that, the federal government pays 90 percent of the cost. A family of four could qualify for Medicaid earning up to […]
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