It is worth reading this long piece in the Palm Beach Post about the Scripps deal: "Bush creates Scripps puzzler". It makes one wonder if "Jeb!" even knows what's going on.
MORE ON SCRIPPS - "A cautionary note" and "A balance for Florida's needs". As pointed out in the latter,
As they consider whether to set aside $500 million on the Scripps Research Institute deal and other incentives next week, lawmakers must acknowledge the cost of neglecting other state priorities, especially in the areas of education and children's health care.
This year's budget failed to fund growth in public schools and universities, the engines that drive economic development from within the state. Instead of fueling that growth, the state has kept schools on a starvation diet -- and the sorry condition of the educational system has become a serious barrier when recruiting companies to relocate here.
It's hard to put a price tag on that loss, but impossible to deny it.
VOUCHERS -Education Commissioner Jim Horne unveiled new evidence of problems in Florida's voucher programs on Thursday, even as he proposed new safeguards. "Voucher flaws and fixes are revealed". The flaws include:
- A small number of children in the state's Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship Program received vouchers from more than one source, Horne said.
- Another problem: $168,000 that is now missing.
PLAYING POLITICS -[A]s Gov. Bush involves himself in high-profile cases, many children over whom the state -- meaning the governor -- has direct authority suffer from inattention. What about the hundreds of foster kids on psychotropic drugs not approved for use on children? Where is Rilya Wilson? "Schiavo not a test case".
"MED SCHOOL POLITICS" - The removal of Robert Daugherty as dean of the University of South Florida's medical school represents an especially damaging chapter in the poisonous politicization of the state university system. Daugherty made a bad mistake in attempting to cope with that politicized culture. His efforts to collect campaign contributions from his staff for House Speaker Johnnie Byrd's U.S. Senate bid were clumsy and technically illegal. But Daugherty was trying to do what he thought was best for the medical school and the university. The circumstances of his departure will only encourage further meddling from Byrd and other local and state politicians. "Med school politics".
LIEBERMAN AHEAD IN FLORIDA?Democratic presidential contender Joe Lieberman is emerging as the top alternative to Bob Graham among Democratic donors in Florida. "Elbows are flying over Graham support base".
VOUCHERS - the governor stubbornly wants to protect private schools in the state's two largest voucher programs from that level of accountability [the FCAT]. He's so adamant that he's willing to keep parents in the dark about how their kids measure up to state standards.
Lawmakers can and must correct this huge gap in accountability. The state has a responsibility to expect the same standard of education for all children educated on the state's dime -- including those in private schools. It should require the FCAT of all students receiving corporate tax-credit vouchers and of those disabled McKay Scholarship students who would have had to take the test in public school."Crucial information".