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 Friday, May 06, 2005

"School Money Shuffle"

    Simply Irresponsible:
    Though Tallahassee exerts more and more control over local school districts through FCAT grades and other ploys, Tallahassee has paid less and less of the costs since Gov. Bush hit town in 1999.
    "School-money shuffle". And, when
    Florida lawmakers debate the state's proposed $62 billion budget today, they're likely to brag about their own fiscal responsibility and boast about the good they're doing for state priorities like education.

    But dig deeper into that budget, and the illusion of responsibility melts. The proposal short-changes the voter-mandated pre-kindergarten program, and predicates much of the public school budget on a hefty -- but little-discussed -- local tax increase.

    Lawmakers seem to be missing the big picture. Public schools have long held the No. 1 spot in Floridians' priorities for state government, and voters approve every pro-education ballot initiative presented to them. They understand how important a world-class public education system is to a state that wants a thriving economy and high quality of life. Lawmakers don't seem to.
    "First things last".

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