The cliff, layoffs, and another stimulus/state rescue
Andy Smarick’s analysis is correct: Arne Duncan and Barack Obama are talking this week about pending teacher layoffs to lay the groundwork for more stimulus/state-budget-rescue discussions. I suspect I have one analytical and one policy disagreement with Smarck, though. First, it’s not a “second stimulus,” because we’re moving into a period where there will be […]
Ray Sansom resigns from Florida House of Representatives
It’s been 412 days since Ray Sansom resigned as Florida House Speaker after allegations that he had swapped millions of dollars funneled to Northwest Florida College for a job at the college. Since then, he’s been a member of the chamber without a committee assignment, facing ethics charges in the chamber and criminal charges in […]
A closer look at HB 1009 (proposed expansion of Florida corporate tax-credit vouchers)
On Wednesday, I discussed my first reaction to news of Florida House Bill 1009, which I thought had some eye-popping proposals, and I posted Jon East’s response. I’ve had a chance to look at the text of the bill, and there are some details hidden in there that are interesting. The reporting of test scores […]
Jon East responds on corporate tax-credit voucher expansion (HB 1009)
Jon East, a former reporter for the St. Petersburg Times and now Research and Communications Director at the corporate tax-credit voucher non-profit Step Up for Students, was unable to put the following long response in comments to my discussion of HB 1009, and when he e-mailed them to me, I agreed to post them here: […]
Eye-popping proposal to expand corporate tax-credit voucher program in Florida
When Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas criticizes the Florida House bill to expand one of Florida’s large statewide voucher programs, you know something interesting is happening with the bill. Thomas has previously argued in favor of expanding vouchers, but the current bill is eye-popping for Thomas. I have somewhat different reasons for thinking it’s eye-popping: […]