News

Category: Schools
View by Month
Florida Legislation

So many questions about school voucher bill

The following editorial was published in The Daily Sun on March 21, 2023. Any day now, the Florida Senate will side with their colleagues in the House and approve a voucher bill that will give money for any student in the state to attend a private school. Republican legislators want to expand the state’s voucher

Continue Reading »
Opinion

What is Ron DeSantis doing to Florida’s public liberal-arts college?

By Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, February 22, 2023 DeSantis is not simply inveighing against progressive control of institutions. He is using his powers as governor to remake them. In the context of other universities—the sort of assessment the Princeton Review’s guidebooks might do—New College of Florida, situated on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico,

Continue Reading »
Florida Legislation

Scrutiny of charter schools out the door

The following editorial was published in The Daily Sun on Feb 24, 2023. OUR POSITION: The recent approval of a charter school for the Wellen Park community in North Port is an example of the lax oversight dictated by the Legislature. Let’s start a charter school. A for-profit one for sure. There’s money to be made.

Continue Reading »
Republicans

What qualifies Richard Corcoran to make up to $1 million at New College?

By Carrie Seidman, The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Feb 17, 2023. I’m sure I am not alone in being stunned by the compensation package approved at a recent special meeting of the New College of Florida board for Richard Corcoran, appointed as the school’s interim president following the Jan. 31 ouster of Patricia Okker. Corcoran, who will take over

Continue Reading »
Opinion

DeSantis blocks an African American course – and reveals his true colors

By David G. Wilkins, Sarasota Herald Tribune, Jan 25, 2023. I appreciate the clarity that Gov. Ron DeSantis has demonstrated in his recent decisions. For example, DeSantis’ appointment of conservatives to New College of Florida’s Board of Trustees clarified his intention to remake the public, liberal Honors College into a conservative, Christian school, in the

Continue Reading »
Opinion

Why is DeSantis going after New College?

The following Letter to the Editor was published in The Daily Sun on Jan 24, 2023. Ron DeSantis and his fascist regime are running roughshod over our students’ education. First in K-12 grades with his CRT policy and banned books, etc. and now in our colleges and universities. Recently, for no reason except to promote

Continue Reading »
News

New College president ousted, Corcoran named

By Ryan Dailey, News Service of Florida, Feb 1, 2023. SARASOTA — A revamped New College of Florida Board of Trustees on Tuesday quickly shook up leadership at the small liberal-arts school, removing President Patricia Okker and replacing her on an interim basis with former state Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran. The moves came after Gov.

Continue Reading »
Florida Legislation

Florida proposes expanding school vouchers

By Ryan Dailey, News Service of Florida, Jan 20, 2023. TALLAHASSEE — Calling it a move toward “universal choice,” Florida House Speaker Paul Renner on Thursday announced a proposal that would make every student in Florida eligible for school vouchers — a move that Democrats blasted as a Republican attack on public education. The legislation

Continue Reading »
Florida Legislation

FL schools must teach ‘benefits of monogamous heterosexual marriage’

By NANCY J. SEMON, STAFF WRITER, The Daily Sun, Jan 20, 2023. PORT CHARLOTTE — Teaching students about the “benefits of monogamous heterosexual marriage” to prevent AIDS is one of the policy changes the Charlotte County School Board discussed this week. It is among other changes to district policies under review to abide by Florida’s

Continue Reading »
Florida Legislation

Florida says AP African American Studies program “lacks educational value”

BY NIKKI MCCANN RAMIREZ, Rolling Stone, Jan 18, 2023. FLORIDA HAS BLOCKED the College Board from testing a pilot Advanced Placement African American Studies (APAAS) curriculum in the state under Governor Ron DeSantis’ “Stop WOKE” Act. According to a letter obtained by National Review, Florida’s Department of Education’s Office of Articulation said the curriculum “is inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly

Continue Reading »
Racism

The NAACP will not tolerate Florida DOE’s reprehensible “whitesplaining” of Black Studies

By Dr. Ivory Toldson, Director of Education Innovation and Research Strategy, NAACP| Empowerment Programs The NAACP is outraged by the Florida Department of Education’s (DOE) recent “whitesplaining” of Black history and culture. The DOE’s pathetic attempt to defend the DeSantis administration from criticism after they rejected AP African-American Studies shows just how out-of-touch they are

Continue Reading »
Call to Action

Charlotte County Public Schools Superintendent Search

A meesage from Cara Reynolds, Chair, Charlotte County School Board. As you may know, our current superintendent, Steve Dionisio, will be retiring after 33 years of dedicated service to our school district. We are grateful for his leadership and commitment in providing a high-quality education for all students, and we wish him the best in

Continue Reading »
Call to Action

Take action to oppose HB 1, School Choice bill

By Jean Siebenaler. DWCF Legislative Chair Well, here we go. We’ve been waiting for some “big” controversial legislation in the new 2023 FL State Legislature to drop and we now have one. We have a new Republican-sponsored HB 1  titled School Choice. This bill is the “big kahuna” — the expanded school voucher program that has

Continue Reading »
Health Care

Dear Legislators, please consider mental health needs in schools

The following speech was given to our FL Reps.  Michael Grant and Spencer Roach and FL Sen. Ben Albritton at the Charlotte County Legislative Delegation meeting in Punta Gorda on Jan 11, 2023. It was written by Charlotte County Democrats member, Maria Metge. Research has shown that exposure to trauma in childhood significantly impacts children

Continue Reading »
Opinion

Dear Legislators, we don’t need partisan school board races

The following speech was written and spoken by Dawn Mann, Charlotte County Democratic Party Chair to our FL Reps.  Michael Grant and Spencer Roach and FL Sen. Ben Albritton at the Charlotte County Legislative Delegation meeting in Punta Gorda on Jan 11, 2o23. To our elected representatives here today: thank you for the opportunity to

Continue Reading »
Democratic Women's Club

DWC and DEC offer scholarships to 2023 Charlotte County graduates

By Kay Blue – dwcofcharlottecounty@gmail.com Do you know a talented young woman who will be graduating from the Charlotte County Public School System this year?  If so, please encourage her to apply for the Charlotte County Democratic Womens Club (DWC) and Democratic Executive Committee (DEC ) college scholarships. The DWC is offering two $1000 scholarships

Continue Reading »
Florida Legislation

DeSantis takes aim at teachers’ unions

The following editorial was published in The Daily Sun on Dec 26, 2022. OUR POSITION: Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to pay back teachers’ unions — and their members — for supporting his November opponent for governor, Charlie Crist. You don’t cross Gov. Ron DeSantis. The governor has made that clear in the past and he’s raising

Continue Reading »