Full-time Florida public school teachers could see their incomes rise later this year if Governor Rick Scott gets his way. The Governor is proposing a 25-hundred dollar pay raise, but as Lynn Hatter reports, it has to make it through the legislature first.
On Friday, educators and Governor Rick Scott kicked off a new system that lets Florida students get free algebra help while they Facebook. From member station WMNF in Tampa, Janelle Irwin reports, Algebra Nation is a statewide service created for schools by the University of Florida and a private company called Study Edge that interfaces mobile apps and social media.
A legal battle between the state and employee unions has come to an end, after a Florida Supreme Court decision validated changes to Florida’s Retirement System. Now, as Sascha Cordner reports, as state lawmakers look to change the system again, many unions are coming out against a proposal to do away with the state’s pension plan and instead force future employees into a 401K type plan, which leaves some wondering is history bound to repeat itself?
Florida leads the country for the number of public officials convicted of federal corruptions charges. That’s evidence, a number of lawmakers and activist groups say that shows ethics are a problem in Florida. They’ve been pushing for ethics reform for years. And Regan McCarthy reports, this coming session, a new ethics measure is expected to be one of the first bills passed.
It now looks likely that Florida lawmakers will at least consider doing something about medical malpractice tort reform this year. But Tom Flanigan reports there are differing ideas about what should be done.
The idea of Florida collecting more taxes from online retailers is getting bipartisan support among state lawmakers. As Jessica Palombo reports, what was once an idea pushed mainly by Democrats is getting the attention of Republicans now that Florida businesses are calling for relief.