Lynn Hatter
News DirectorLynn Hatter is a Florida A&M University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Lynn has served as reporter/producer for WFSU since 2007 with education and health care issues as her key coverage areas. She is an award-winning member of the Capital Press Corps and has participated in the NPR Kaiser Health News Reporting Partnership and NPR Education Initiative. When she’s not working, Lynn spends her time watching sci-fi and action movies, writing her own books, going on long walks through the woods, traveling and exploring antique stores.
Follow Lynn Hatter on Twitter: @HatterLynn | Phone: 850-645-6078
-
Florida Republicans deny their efforts to limit teachings on race, gender and sex are discriminatoryConversations and training in schools and businesses around race and gender issues could become severely curtailed under a proposal advancing in the Florida House. House Bill 7 is part of several different efforts along the same lines that are advancing simultaneously in the legislature. The bill sponsor claims the effort isn’t racist—that it’s meant to encourage open dialogue, but Democrats and minority groups are not buying the justification. -
Florida is jumping into an increasingly heated fray over what learning materials students should be exposed to in the classroom. A plan by state Republican Senator and Florida GOP Chairman Joe Gruters requires school boards to create and publicly post their processes for adopting items like library books—and to create ways for parents to request the removal of content they don’t like.
-
Florida teachers say their profession is struggling. The state has more than 4,300 thousand teacher openings well into the school year. Another 5,000 job postings are for support staff like bus drivers, substitutes and office personnel. The state’s largest teachers union fears bills moving the state legislature will only exacerbate the issues.
-
WFSU has found more than two-thirds of Florida’s public universities have sitting trustees whose terms have expired. And there are no new appointments in sight—which is starting to create tensions between the people charged with overseeing the universities and those running them day-to-day.
-
Housing and rental prices continue to soar in Florida and wages are struggling to keep up. There are fewer and fewer options for affordable housing in the state. Groups like the Florida Housing Coalition are hoping lawmakers continue to put money designated for affordable housing into affordable housing. Yet legislative efforts around the issue are a mixed bag.
-
A plan that would allow local ordinances to get automatically blocked if they’re challenged is moving ahead. The proposal goes hand-in-hand with another measure that would let businesses sue local governments over policies that cause a revenue loss of 15% or more. Local government groups say the bill is better, but they’re still worried about its impact.
-
Amid the social justice movements of the last two years, Republicans caught wind of another boogyman: something called Critical Race Theory. It’s an academic framework used in higher education to explore how race, and racism, influence public policy. It is NOT taught in Florida’s public K-12 schools. That, alongside ongoing efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion in government and businesses, is a step too far for many.
-
A nearly decade-long effort to close the search process for Florida’s public university presidents is back again. The proposal has been tried and failed several times over, despite opposition from faculty, staff, and open government advocates. This time around, the argument remains the same.
-
Florida lawmakers are preparing to kick off their annual lawmaking session which begins on Jan. 11. The agenda comes amid both an election and redistricting year which will see Republicans try to boost their numbers and win all statewide contests while Democrats try to hold their ground. Casting a shadow over everything is the ongoing fallout from the Coronavirus, as Florida and the nation enter the third year of the pandemic.
-
Leon County students return to school tomorrow (Wednesday) and the district cannot require them to wear masks, though superintendent Rocky Hanna says he is strongly encouraging them to do so.
