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Joanne McCall

Another $215 million for schools doesn’t go far enough, FEA complains

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The Florida Education Association isn’t satisfied with Gov. Rick Scott’s and legislative leaders’ plan to pump another $100 per pupil into public education. The union also wants Scott to veto HB 7069, the Legislature’s big education package. “The gaping flaws in HB 7069 haven’t changed with this suggested increase in funding,” FEA President Joanne McCall said in a written statement. “It doesn’t even pay for the massive giveaway to charter schools included in the bill. The governor and the legislative…

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Florida Education Association calls for proper funding for public schools in new ads

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The Florida Education Association is taking to the airwaves to call on lawmakers to better fund public schools. The statewide education association released two advertisements Thursday in response to several measures being advanced by the Legislature. The proposals, education officials said, would under fund public schools and harm public school students. “Students are at the center of everything we do. That’s why we are fighting for students and for better public schools,” said Joanne McCall, the president of the Florida…

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Teachers’ union: “Who can challenge the Legislature on voucher program?”

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classroom school vouchers

The Florida Education Association (FEA) vented its “frustration” Wednesday after the Florida Supreme Court declined to take up a suit challenging the constitutionality of what’s been called “the nation’s largest private school choice program.” The court decided not to hear a challenge to the Tax Credit Scholarship Program, created in 2001, though – as one former judge noted – its order “doesn’t say (it) lacks jurisdiction.” (Main story here.) That had Joanne McCall, the statewide teachers’ union’s president and the lead plaintiff in the case, asking, Who can…

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Who knows best, parents or teachers’ union?

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In a recent POLITICO article, Florida Teachers’ Union President Joanne McCall said the following: “We believe that those closest to the students should be making the decisions about what is best for the students they serve.” At issue was the controversy surrounding the state Board of Education’s efforts to turn around Florida’s worst performing public schools. McCall was stressing her belief in local control of schools, saying that her members are bogged down with state requirements and don’t have enough…

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Endorsement Watch: National Right to Life, the Florida Medical Association, the Florida Retail Federation and others issue endorsements

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There are just a few weeks until the election, and organizations across the state are rolling out endorsements for state and federal candidates. Several organizations — National Right to Life, the Florida Medical Association, and the Florida Retail Federation — issued endorsements. — Local law enforcement officials have thrown their support behind Neal Dunn in Florida’s 2nd Congressional District. The Dunn campaign announced the support of Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford; former Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner, former Bay…

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Florida court backs state’s largest school voucher program

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From The Associated Press’ Gary Fineout: A Florida appeals court rejected a bid to end the state’s largest private school voucher program on Tuesday, but it’s unclear if the ruling will end the two-year-old battle. The 1st District Court of Appeal sided with a lower court’s decision to throw out the lawsuit filed by the Florida Education Association and others, who argue that its method of funding private-school educations for more than 90,000 schoolchildren this year is unconstitutional. The three-judge…

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Justice Fred Lewis addresses Catholic high school students

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Kudos to Florida Supreme Court Justice Fred Lewis. As detailed in an article in the Ocala Star-Banner, Lewis took the time to speak to students at Ocala’s Trinity Catholic High School. He did so as part of the court’s Justice Teaching Initiative, which he founded in 2006 to help Florida’s K-12 students understand the state’s laws and justice system. It’s a free program with trained volunteers who are available to lead classes in any school in the state, public or private. As often detailed on FloridaPolitics.com (see my October 2014…

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