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Today on Context Florida: Voucher plea, as seen by average Joes and SLAPPs

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Today on Context Florida: Former State Board of Education Chairman Gary Chartrand issued an impassioned plea on behalf of Florida’s 78,000 voucher students, writes Julie Delegal. Chartrand wants the plaintiffs, namely the Florida Education Association, which represents teachers, to drop its lawsuit opposing the diversion of tax dollars to the voucher program. The FEA lawsuit is now at the appeal stage. Chartrand’s article spurred some ideas as to how the voucher program might survive ongoing lawsuits. Marc Yacht says it would…

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Today on Context Florida: Medicare foes, pro-life attacks and skunks in Martin County

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Today on Context Florida: America’s doctors have long since made their peace with Medicare, which marked its 50th anniversary last week, but Martin Dyckman says the program’s oldest and most implacable enemy, the ideological right wing, is still bent on destroying it. In their libertarian outlook, any government program that helps people deprives them of liberty. Dyckman doesn’t doubt that some of them truly believe this, although with others it is simple selfishness coated with snake oil. Pro-life proponents continue their…

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Today on Context Florida: AIF & Amendment 1, the Pope & politics and bureaucracies

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Today on Context Florida: In Tallahassee, there was no shortage of opinions spend the money voters approved for Amendment 1. Throughout the debate, Brewster Bevis of the Associated Industries of Florida says some have tried to hold our lawmakers to an arbitrary standard, arguing for tens of millions of dollars for land-buying that the state doesn’t need and taxpayers simply cannot afford. Thankfully, cooler heads in our state’s representative branch of government have prevailed. There’s a reason your mama told you…

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Today on Context Florida: Lenny Curry, Big Sugar, free parking and standardized test fail

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Today on Context Florida: Bob Sparks says Lenny Curry’s victory in Jacksonville last night shows Republicans the way to win. The political class is analyzing whether Curry’s win gives Republicans any advantage next year in the quest to capture Florida’s 29 electoral votes or to hold a U.S. Senate seat. Since Jacksonville and Duval County usually go Republican (Barack Obama lost this area twice), a Democrat winning twice in non-presidential election years would certainly give the GOP some cause for concern.…

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Today on Context Florida: Pot and 2016, existing projects, financial literacy and online voter registration

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Today on Context Florida: Medical marijuana amendment could sway 2016 presidential election, says former Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp. If the Florida Legislature fails to pass a medical marijuana bill this session the issue is almost certain to resurface as a proposed constitutional amendment. However, it is widely believed that in a presidential election cycle (when Democrats in Florida turn out by 4-6 percent more than in non-presidential election cycles) a medical marijuana amendment will pass. The emails are puzzling. The subject…

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Today on Context Florida: Save Our Rivers, Palestinians & Israel, education reform and custodians

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Today on Context Florida: Floridians want the state to buy sugar industry-owned land south of Lake Okeechobee to store and clean water, says Sally Swartz. Unfortunately, that is not what the sugar industry wants. The “Save Our Rivers/Buy the Land” advocates are not giving up, and Stuart Republican Joe Negron offers a glimmer of hope. Marc Yacht notes that Israelis and Palestinians are weary of conflict. The Palestinians need a contiguous land of their own, as did Israel, he adds. The…

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Today on Context Florida: Standardized testing, Witham Field, Orlando culture and technology & education

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Today on Context Florida: It is almost time to let the tilt-a-whirl of state standardized testing spin anew, says Shannon Nickinson. Escambia County students will soon begin Florida Standards Assessment testing in reading and mathematics. When students took the writing test earlier this month, technical problems caused the Escambia School District to suspend testing for three consecutive days. And the problems weren’t just in the Pensacola metro area. Districts all over the state reported similar problems. If you think that was…

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