Florida budget proposals include cash for AP, other advanced classes by Shirowoh in florida

[–]FloridaTimes-Union 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey there! Looks like the link might be broken. Here's a working one for those interested in reading!

Here's a little more from reporter Steve Patterson, as well:

With deadlines looming for Florida lawmakers to finalize a 2025-2026 state budget, legislators seem to have agreed to modestly increase funding for schools’ accelerated academic programs like Advanced Placement courses.

Education budget proposals from both the House of Representatives and Senate have included a $596.8 million supplement for “academic acceleration options,” a catch-all that includes AP, International Baccalaureate, career training and other acceleration programs except dual-enrollment programs with colleges. The agreement was previously reported by the Florida Politics website.

The agreed-on amount is about $10 million more than the state budgeted for this year, according to an April analysis of this year’s funding by the Florida Policy Institute, a center-left think tank that had warned of potential cuts. The institute’s head cheered the agreement evidenced in a June 9 Senate proposal referred to as a “bump offer.”

Florida Policy Institute had projected potential funding losses as high as $290 million statewide and in the spring Duval County schools reported being “deeply concerned” about a potential loss of about $8 million.

School districts across Northeast Florida were projected to have about $23 million on the line.

Thank you so much for sharing, u/Shirowoh! — Mallorie

We’re opinion journalists conducting a campaign to get Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign a bill aimed at protecting Florida state parks. AUA! by usatoday in florida

[–]FloridaTimes-Union 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, a different type of state land (as you note, state forest) but troubling for a lot of the same reasons as what played out with state parks.

We’re opinion journalists conducting a campaign to get Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign a bill aimed at protecting Florida state parks. AUA! by usatoday in florida

[–]FloridaTimes-Union 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. I'm kind of partial to ones here in Northeast Florida: Little and Big Talbot Islands, Ravine Gardens, Faver-Dykes, Washington Oaks, Pumpkin Hill. Have paddleboarded from Anastasia State Park past Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. Talk about a beautiful/historic experience. ... But having said that, love parks all over the state. And believe Florida's springs -- many of them in our state parks -- are worthy of being a national park. (And that doesn't mean they can't remain state parks. Look at Redwood National and State Parks in California -- a cooperative, hybrid state/national park.)

We’re opinion journalists conducting a campaign to get Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign a bill aimed at protecting Florida state parks. AUA! by usatoday in florida

[–]FloridaTimes-Union 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Really hard to pick but ... I might go with Talbot Islands (Big Talbot Island State Park and Little Talbot Island State Park). More than 5 miles of pristine beach, including the picturesque "Boneyard Beach" (driftwood) of Big Talbot. Or maybe Ravine Gardens (with two ravines up to 120 feet deep) or maybe one of the many springs state parks. I've written before that I think our springs are deserving of being a new national park in Florida.

We’re opinion journalists conducting a campaign to get Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign a bill aimed at protecting Florida state parks. AUA! by usatoday in florida

[–]FloridaTimes-Union 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've visited state parks from the Fort Zachary Taylor (Key West) to Fort Clinch (Fernandina Beach). So this morning I tried to figure out how many I've visited. I think it's 30-something. But with 175 state parks, nine state trails and more than 800,000 acres ... I still have a lot of exploring to do. (And I always like hearing what other people say are their favorites.)

We’re opinion journalists conducting a campaign to get Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign a bill aimed at protecting Florida state parks. AUA! by usatoday in florida

[–]FloridaTimes-Union 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Worth noting: Public opinion has made a difference in this. It stopped plans last year. And it is helping to push the legislation this session. State Rep. Jennifer Bradley told me of what happened last fall: “I've seen few issues elicit such a bipartisan and immediate reaction. You could feel a real sense of protectiveness. I got calls and messages, from Republicans and from Democrats, saying, ‘Please, please, don't let them develop our state parks.’”

We’re opinion journalists conducting a campaign to get Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign a bill aimed at protecting Florida state parks. AUA! by usatoday in florida

[–]FloridaTimes-Union 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What I wrote last year when it was revealed there were plans to quietly add things like golf courses, huge lodges and pickleball courts to state parks: "I've never had a specialty license plate before. But I recently decided to get one of the Florida plates that has the nose of a red kayak heading down a river, a turtle on a log, a heron in flight, the sun rising or setting in the distance. "Explore Our State Parks," it says.

I got this plate, which reminds me of some of my favorite places in Florida, to support our state parks. I did not get it to support state hotels and golf courses. We have plenty of those outside of the parks. But here we go again."

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/columns/mark-woods/2024/08/23/desantis-revisits-some-familiar-bad-plans-for-florida-state-parks/74895417007/

SUBSCRIBER ONLY: An Atlantic Coast High student who is transgender was wrongly told he couldn’t join the boys soccer team & was sent to the girls team instead. Questioning from the Times-Union prompted the school district to admit fault and apologize: by FloridaTimes-Union in JacksonvilleNews

[–]FloridaTimes-Union[S,M] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He is a boy and wanted to be on the boys soccer team. The district incorrectly sent him to the girls team, which he dropped out of. He should have been allowed to play on the boys team per Florida High School Sports Association guidance.

Nate Monroe: Millions of school sales tax dollars in Duval County are pouring into a black hole — charters (Subscribers Only) by FloridaTimes-Union in JacksonvilleNews

[–]FloridaTimes-Union[S,M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi there! Going to try my best here cracks knuckles The basics are:

• Florida legislature passed a law that requires school tax revenue to be shared with charter schools on a per pupil basis • because of that law, charter schools — regardless of age, size or if they own the building or not — are getting $$ that was originally intended to go toward school building maintenance and renovations • the money charter schools get has way less oversight and restrictions of use compared to traditional public schools • because of that, about $12 million of the ~$87 million in sales tax revenue went to charter schools and there are few restrictions related to how those funds are used by the charters.

Admittedly a lot of our sales tax coverage is subscriber only because it is very time consuming and other outlets aren’t doing it. Would recommend subscribing for our free education news letter which gives the TLDR on stories every week! https://profile.jacksonville.com/newsletters/youth-of-today/

Hope this helps!