Take a look at "Bush vs. Bush". The St Pete Times editors point out that "Gov. Jeb Bush says that Gulfport Elementary School did so well academically last year it is a due for a state bonus check of roughly $40,000. President George W. Bush says Gulfport Elementary School has performed so poorly that its parents must be allowed, less than a week before school begins, to pull their children out. Which brother is right? The question is amusing in a political sense, given that the famous brothers both claim to corner the market on education reform, . . . ."
And, "[w]hile local school boards are scrambling, shuffling and scrimping to cover the needs of the communities they serve, state lawmakers are undermining the structure of education in Florida in ways that are difficult to track and even harder to justify. In recent years, the percentage of state revenue that's dedicated to public education has been dropping, with more of the burden being shifted to local property taxes. The only real increase in the amount of money flowing to local school districts comes from growth -- the same force that produces bumper crops of new students who must be educated. There's a more fundamental shift of philosophy at work." Read about that "fundamental shift" in Due credit" by the Daytona Beach News-Journal editorial board.
Corporate Voucher Secrecy Scam - "The state's largest school voucher program funnels millions of tax dollars to private schools, but faces increasing criticism because it has little public accountability. The controversial program, called the Corporate Tax Scholarship, allows companies to donate money to send low-income children to private schools, then receive dollar-for-dollar tax credits on their state corporate income taxes. The contributions are channeled through nonprofit scholarship-funding groups rather than the state education department." See "Voucher program secrecy assailed". See also "School-voucher rules sought".
It gets worse. "How did a New York-based program for young performers, athletes and other well-off students keeping up with their studies away from home end up on a Florida list of voucher schools? After all, aren't these vouchers supposed to serve low-income kids? How did a tennis academy in Tampa that helps children study independently as they perfect their tennis skills also end up on the list? Education Commissioner Jim Horne should seek the answers to those questions when he meets Friday in Miami and West Palm Beach with private, nonprofit funding groups that dispense the vouchers. While he's at it, Mr. Horne should grill his own staff. The owners of both those private schools adamantly insist that they never received any corporate tax-credit vouchers. And the two private foundation groups that would have been responsible for the vouchers say they never sent money to those schools." See "Get it straight".
Nevertheless "[a]dvocates of [the] program that diverts $88 million in state corporate income taxes to private school scholarships defended the program in Tampa on Wednesday." See "Supporters defend $88 million taxes-to-scholarship program".
A New Tack In Cap Fight - "Medicaid patients are the newest pawns in the medical malpractice fight. Attempting to alter the debate before another special session next week, the Florida Medical Association and Gov. Jeb Bush's administration said Wednesday that rising malpractice premiums will force doctors to drop Medicaid patients. That is a different explanation than state officials previously have used for the shortage of doctors willing to treat patients on Medicaid. The problem is traditionally blamed on Medicaid's low reimbursement rates, not medical malpractice premiums. But Bush and the FMA, which have failed to convince the state Senate to embrace a $250,000 limit on pain and suffering awards in malpractice cases, are waging a public relations battle to shift opinion before next week's special session." See "Malpractice debate takes new direction".
It Must Be True Then - "[M]ore than 1,000 doctors in the state . . . have signed sworn, notarized affidavits saying they are moving out of state, retiring or quitting their practices - or have stopped seeing certain patients or doing high-risk procedures - because of a medical-liability crisis." See "1,000 doctors provide affidavits".