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News
Current News
Concerning Education - in Monroe County, Florida
and the US |
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Absentee ballots
are in the mail; early voting starts Oct. 20
Voters should be receiving their absentee ballots for
the Nov. 4 general election, which were mailed Friday.
Those who need them must request them by 5 p.m. Oct. 29.
Voters may begin casting ballots as soon as they receive
them, and ballots must be received by the Monroe County
Supervisor of Elections office by 7 p.m. Nov. 4. Early
voting begins Oct. 20 and ends Oct. 31. Anyone can cast
an early vote from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays
through Saturdays at the supervisor of elections offices
in Key West, 530 Whitehead St. #101; in Marathon, at 490
63rd St. Oceanside #130; and in Tavernier, at 88820
Overseas Highway.
( -- The Citizen, Published
Friday, October 3, 2008 -
full
article)
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College
Board getting the Change it Sought
Editorial - The
Citizen, September 7, 2008
Today we take occasion to
salute the board of trustees of Florida Keys Community
College for giving the a go-ahead to seek a total of $63
million in funding from the state Department of
Education over five years, beginning in 2009. This
action by the board is surely an emphatic endorsement of
the transformational strategies now being implemented by
President Jill Landesberg-Boyle and her team. The monies
being sought will finance an ambitious but nevertheless
realistic menu of capital improvements on the main
campus on Stock Island, as well as the establishment of
a new campus in Key Largo ( -- The Citizen, Published
Sunday, September 7, 2008 -
full
article)
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Property tax, school voucher ballot
items struck
By BILL KACZOR,
The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE -- One ballot proposal that
would trade a huge property-tax cut for other tax
increases and two others designed to expand school
voucher programs were removed from the Nov. 4 ballot
Wednesday by the Florida Supreme Court. The removal of
the property-tax amendment proposal is good news for
Keys schools, because the Monroe County school district
receives the bulk of its funding through local property
taxes. The Monroe County School Board recently came out
publicly against the amendments. (Published
September 4th by KeysNews.com -
full article)
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Legislators go way out of bounds - by
Wayne Markham - Publisher
Keynoter, April 11, 2008
".......So raiding Citizens'
reserves to help for-profit insurance companies skim off
the most lucrative windstorm policies from Citizens may
be just the start of even worse things to come. In
today's
Keynoter, you'll read about school staffing cuts
being recommended by School District Superintendent
Randy Acevedo. And the county has already begun
downsizing staff, increasing fees and is eyeing a
gas-tax hike. With weeks to go in this year's
legislative session, who knows how many more penalty
flags await? "(full article:
online,
pdf)
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Schools
Slashing Jobs, by
Kristen Burnie,
Keynoter, April 11, 2008
The Monroe County School District
could cut as many as 38 positions from 12 schools
because of a dwindling budget and less state funding.
Tuesday in Key West, Superintendent Randy Acevedo
proposed to the School Board eliminating 38 positions
and cutting discretionary spending by 15 percent to meet
a board-imposed $88 million cap on the 2008-09 budget.
(full article:
online,
pdf)
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State incentive-pay cut could lead
to higher teacher turnover -
by Kristen Burnie,
The Reporter, April 10, 2008
"A state budget
cut that axes
$47 million in bonuses and scholarships for teachers who
earn national certification could prompt an increase in
teacher turnover in Keys public schools, officials say."
(full article:
online,
pdf)
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Florida Keys at a crossroads between locals and the rich
- by Adrian Sainz,
AP Business Writer, Bradenton
Herald - November 3, 2007 - reprinted at:
http://www.house.gov/list/press/fl18_ros-lehtinen/KeysCrossroad.html
"......Teachers are a group that face a daily financial
struggle, though Monroe County leads Florida in average
annual salary for teachers with a bachelor's degree at
$47,687. Schools superintendent Randy Acevedo says
the district has plans to build housing for teachers and
staff. Retention is a problem, with the district
replacing about 100 teachers out of 600 every year,
Acevedo said. Some don't leave but use other methods to
manage a stressful life that belies their picturesque
surroundings, like take a second job. "I can go out to
dinner with the family and the waiter or waitress might
be a teacher," Acevedo said. There are many efforts to
improve the quality of life for residents, including
attempts in Key West, Marathon and other cities to add
hundreds of new affordable housing units......" (full
article:
online, pdf)
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Where will the Teachers Live??
- by
MICHAEL
VAN SICKLER and SHARON L. BOND
Published April 23, 2006, TampaBay.com
"Our average home is
about $700,000," said Randy Acevedo, Monroe's
superintendent. "Meanwhile, we average about $40,000
for a beginning salary. Our teachers have to wait
tables on the weekends to make ends meet. I shake my
head. I don't know how they do it."
Other longtime teachers
are fleeing. Acevedo says teacher turnover has
increased nearly 70 percent because of the rise in
housing costs. He says one way to slow the exodus is
for the district to supply its own housing. Many
schools have property they don't use. Why not lease
that to land-starved developers, and require that,
in exchange, they build low-rent housing?Since
Florida schools haven't done this type of
development before, Acevedo and officials from
Collier and Osceola want lawmakers to explicitly
allow school property to be used for housing.
(full
article:
online, pdf)
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