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FLORIDA POLITICS
Since 2002, daily Florida political news and commentary

 

UPDATE: Every morning we review and individually digest Florida political news articles, editorials and punditry. Our sister site, FLA Politics was selected by Campaigns & Elections as one of only ten state blogs in the nation
"every political insider should be reading right now."

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Welcome To Florida Politics

Thanks for visiting. On a semi-daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

For each story, column, article or editorial we deem significant, we post at least the headline and link to the piece; the linked headline always appears in quotes. We quote the headline for two reasons: first, to allow researchers looking for the cited piece to find it (if the link has expired) by searching for the original title/headline via a commercial research service. Second, quotation of the original headline permits readers to appreciate the spin from the original piece, as opposed to our spin.

Not that we don't provide spin; we do, and plenty of it. Our perspective appears in post headlines, the subtitles within the post (in bold), and the excerpts from the linked stories we select to quote; we also occasionally provide other links and commentary about certain stories. While our bias should be immediately apparent to any reader, we nevertheless attempt to link to every article, column or editorial about Florida politics in every major online Florida newspaper.

 

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The Blog for Thursday, January 06, 2005

Embarassing

    This is embarassing (see also yesterday's "It's the Teachers Union's Fault")
    Florida ranked 47th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in spending in 2001-02, the latest year in which data is available allowing national comparisons.

    Adjusted for regional cost differences, Florida spent just under $6,500 per student — more than $1,200 short of the national average.

    Education Week gave Florida a grade of A in the area of standards and accountability. Eleven other states earned an A in this area.

    The publication gave Florida Cs for its efforts to improve teacher quality and for school climate, which includes measures ranging from absenteeism to physical conflicts to classroom and school size.

    Last year, Florida earned an A in standards and accountability, a C plus in teacher quality, a C in school climate and a D plus in school spending.
    I get it, demand that a product meet certain standards ("accountability"), but refuse to spend the money necessary to achieve the goal.And the GOoPer's response to this embarassing contradiction:
    Education Commissioner John Winn said Florida got its best mark in the most important area.

    "Florida again ranks at the very top in standards and accountability, which we've always believed has been the basis for the remarkable student improvement that we've got in Florida," Winn said. "If you don't have standards from which teachers can rely on to guide teaching and instruction, then you're lost."

    On the subject of Florida's low ranking in per-pupil spending, Winn said: "It's more about how you use your money than it is about the total amount of money."
    See also "State raises bar, but spending lags". Disgusting.

5:24 AM

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