Monday, April 27, 2009

Legislative Update

Dear colleagues,

 

Here's a run-down of this week's news in education policy and program development.

 

 

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FLORIDA LEGISLATURE FAILS TO REACH BUDGET AGREEMENT

 

The biggest news of the week, of course, is that there isn't any state budget news. Five days after the first joint conference was scheduled, no such meeting has yet taken place. The House and Senate leadership are in deadlock as the last days of the session approach. If no agreement is reached by Tuesday, then Legislative rules will prevent a budget from being passed during the regular session and special session will have to be convened. Efforts to reconcile major differences that had been scheduled over the weekend were cancelled late Friday afternoon.

 

Tallahassee Democrat http://floridacapitalnews.com/article/20090424/CAPITOLNEWS/904240327

 

 

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FLORIDA'S WAIVER REQUEST STILL PENDING

 

Florida is one of a handful of states that is currently ineligible to receive federal stimulus funding because its support for public schools has declined so much in recent years. In a disastrous budget year, both houses of the Legislature have relied heavily on these expected federal funds, but those funds cannot flow without a waiver from the U.S. Secretary of Education. However, the Florida Department of Education has not yet filed for the waiver.

 

The Florida Department of Education says it has completed the request package, but has "strategically waited" for further guidance. The topic was not mentioned in the Commissioner's weekly memorandum to school superintendents.

 

Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1013138.html

 

 

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NEW BLACKJACK DEAL OFFERED BY SEMINOLE TRIBE

 

In a twist on the Seminole Tribe's proposed gambling compact, a new offer would provide up-front payments of $600 million and $500 million over the next two years in exchange for exclusive rights to blackjack games. These up-front payments would be offset by minimal payments in years 3 and 4 of the 25-year compact. However, the offer did not appear to entice legislators concerned that this infusion of funds would come to an end at the same time as the federal stimulus funding ended.

 

Orlando Sentinel http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2009/04/crists-new-seminole-deal.html

 

Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1015049.html

 

 

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FLORIDA SCHOOL VOUCHER PROGRAM MAY EXPAND

 

Florida currently provides dollar-for-dollar tax credits to businesses the provide vouchers for low-income students to attend private schools. HB 453 was approved by the House in a 94-23 vote this week. If approved by the Senate, this bill would expand this tax credit to insurance companies, thereby providing even more money for the program, perhaps as much as $118 million.

 

Lakeland Ledger http://www.theledger.com/article/20090423/NEWS/904235098/1003/NEWS00?Title=Bill-Would-Strengthen-Voucher-Program

 

 

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NEW FAITH-BASED EDUCATION LICENSE PLATE PROPOSED

 

A new "I believe" vehicle license plate was proposed in an amendment to SB 642 by a Senate panel. If approved by the Legislature, proceeds from the new plates would be provided to an Orlando firm that promotes faith-based education. A number of other plates are proposed in the bill, including a "Trinity" design to promote natural science, and designs related to autism, surfing, and biodiversity.

 

St. Petersburg Times http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2009/04/of-god-the-devil-and-license-plates.html#more

 

 

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TURNITIT.COM WINS LANDMARK COPYRIGHT CASE

 

Turnitin.com is an online anti-plagiarism service in which students upload term papers and reports to the site, which then checks them for passages that appear to have been previously published elsewhere. If such passages are found, a report of potential plagiarism is then provided to the teacher, who can then conduct their own investigation. Two years ago, however, students in Arizona and Virginia sued Turnitin for copyright violation.

In a landmark decision similar to the Google Image Search thumbnail case, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Turnitin does not violate the students' copyrights in their own work, even though the service stores and uses their work to check future papers. The decision includes a carefully-constructed review of how each of the components of copyright law apply in the online era, and concludes that the service is essential "transformative" in nature, and thereby must be regarded as fair use.

See the full opinion at http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/081424.P.pdf

 

 

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RUNNING THE NUMBERS

1. Number of Americans primarily employed as CEOs: 299,160

2. Number primarily employed as lawyers: 555,770

3. Number primarily employed as bloggers: 452,000

4. Days of suspension from school proposed by the Florida Senate for a fourth offense of droopy drawers: 10

 

 

SOURCES

 

1-3. Business Insider http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-us-now-has-more-paid-bloggers-than-lawyers-2009-4

4. Tallahassee Democrat http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20090420/CAPITOLNEWS/90420013/1067/

 

 

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