Education is on a lot of minds this week.
First and foremost, the looming state budget cuts. Newspapers across the state report the state legislature may have to cut up to $3 billion from the budget. Who will bear the brunt of it?
Students. Several school districts across the state are planning hire freezes or simply cutting staff. Class-size requirements may be amended. And that's not even counting the crisis facing state colleges.
Meanwhile, the Uhurus, angry at what they see as the disenfranchisement of black students, want to bypass the public school system all-together. In this week's Creative Loafing, I take a look at their plan to create an Afrocentric charter school.
So, how are legislators dealing with this education crisis? By proposing a law to require students to pull up their sagging pants, of course!
And we wonder why half of Florida high schools are called "dropout factories," by the U.S. Department of Education.
This article appears in Mar 12-18, 2008.