Lawsuit claims Florida schools fail children
Parents accuse lawmakers of not providing resources for education.
BY BRANDON LARRABEE, MARY KELLI PALKA
Parents from Duval County and across Florida filed suit against the state's education system Wednesday, setting off legal and political battles over the future of Florida schools.
The lawsuit accuses the state's leaders of failing to provide the necessary resources for education, leading to low graduation rates, unsafe schools and higher property taxes. It draws on a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1998 calling for Florida to make education a "paramount duty" of the state.
"Basically, it's trying to achieve a recognition that the constitution of Florida means something," said Thom Rumberger, one of the lawyers pressing the suit.
But Florida Education Commissioner Eric Smith said he was disappointed with the legal action, saying it casts the state's education system in an unnecessarily negative light.
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Helicopters, firefighters and politicians descend on area schools for Teach-In
By Emily Nipps, Andy Boyle and Alexandra Zayas, Times Staff Writers
Posted: Nov 18, 2009 09:48 AM
ST. PETERSBURG - The children of Bay Point Elementary were amazed at the sight of a huge Black Hawk helicopter sitting on their P.E. field Wednesday morning.
The aircraft and its crew were visiting as part of the Great American Teach-In. Hundreds of parents and volunteers across the Tampa Bay area went to schools to talk about their careers, which included everything from firefighters to politicians to scientists to document shredders.
But one of the coolest props was the Black Hawk, operated by the six-person "Phoenix Dustoff" Army MedEvac unit out of the St. Petersburg-Clearwater airport.
"Do you guys know what an ambulance is?" Maj. Michael E. Alvis asked the Bay Point students. "Well, we're an air ambulance."
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Florida to ask U.S. for up to $1 billion for schools
BY HANNAH SAMPSON
HSAMPSON@MIAMIHERALD.COM
A couple hundred million ain't bad, but why not go for a billion?
Florida Education Commissioner Eric Smith on Wednesday said it looks like the state could end up asking the federal government for $1 billion in grant money earmarked for education.
``We are excited by what this means to the state, what it means to our children and what it means to our educators,'' Smith said in a call with reporters.
That amount would be nearly a quarter of the entire budget for Race to the Top, a $4.35 billion initiative that seeks to solve some of the most persistent problems in education by pouring money into innovative reforms.
The state is in a category with three others, based on size, that are eligible to receive a sum between $350 million to $700 million. But federal officials have acknowledged those are just guidelines and states can ask for different amounts.
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