Today I was asked during a radio interview on WUWF if the suspected sexual assault at Tate High School had triggered our cover story, Tarnished Turnaround. It didn’t, but it spurred me…
A School District that gets it right
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is the public school system (Pre-Kindergarten through 12th Grade) for Montgomery County, Md., a suburban area just outside Washington, D.C. MCPS is the 16th largest school district…
Blog predicts PNJ front page
It doesn’t happen often that this blog publishes first the front page articles of the next day’s 20-page daily newspaper. Yesterday we gave you the actual hurricane report from Colorado St. and…
Tarnished Turnaround: Overnight comments
Our investigative report on Warrington Middle School and the under-reporting of crime and violence in the Escambia County Public School District has already gotten over a dozen emails. Here are two of…
Buzz: Jim Paul asked to run
A source close to Jim Paul told me tonight that the former superintendent has been approached to run in 2012. Many of the teachers that were ardent Malcolm Thomas supporters in 2008…
Tate High is only the tip of the iceberg
Tate High School isn’t the only problem school for the Escambia County Public School District. The first year of Superintendent Malcolm Thomas’ turnaround of Warrington Middle School was filled with allegations and…
Floridians disapprove of Scott, 4-1
“Today, Scott is a four-letter word to many Florida voters, but political popularity can change with time,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “The experience of…
Hurricane predictions are in –Five big ones
Colorado State University storm prognosticators Phil Klotzbach and William Gray call for 16 named storms, including nine hurricanes. They predict five of those hurricanes will be major systems, with winds greater than…
Gangs in Okaloosa, Walton counties
The Okaloosa-Walton Gang Reduction Task Force presented yesterday to the Okaloosa County Commission a detailed description of criminal gangs active in Okaloosa and strategies to curtail their activities. Four of the most…
Moby against reduced sentence for Manley
PNJ columnist Mark O’Brien comes out today against Thelma Manley getting a reduction of her 10-year sentence, ignoring the much shorter sentences that others have gotten for far greater white collar crimes….
School board members could lose salaries
Legislation has been proposed by the Senate Education Committee which will eliminate school board members’ salaries for anyone elected, or re-elected, in 2012 and beyond. Instead, they will get $100/mo. stipend. Hmmm,…
LeMieux to run for U.S. Senate
Former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, who served for 16 months after he was appointed to finish the term of Mel Martinez, announced this morning that he will seek the Republican nomination to…
School Violence & Crime rankings
At what high school was a student or teacher most likely to be a victim of battery-2009-10: Escambia High School. Which high school was least likely to report that battery to law…
How safe is your child’s school?
The Florida Department of Education tracks crime and violence incidents on the school campuses. If the schools have accurately entered the data into the FDOE database (and there is some question as…
Tea Party: Statehouse is ground zero
Viewpoint by Katharine DeBrecht from The Tea Party Review: I find this interesting since average Florida citizens funds our state government through sales taxes. The tax cuts being discussed impact the corporations….
Buzz: Hayward to sign Levin firm
Mayor Ashton Hayward is set to hire a group headed by the Levin Papantonio Law firm to represent the City of Pensacola in its claims against BP.
Class-size requirements may be gutted
The Florida Legislature is looking at a way to get around the class-size amendment. Two-thirds of the 849 core classes offered in elementary, middle and high schools —classes like calculus, anatomy, zoology…
Amazing Grace on being the fool
Actress, poet and artist Grace Zabriskie spent the past week on the University of West Florida campus as an artist-in-residence. Last night, she fielded questions on her career and her professions at…
Buzz: Lawmakers worse than Spring Break
The word I get from Tallahassee is that our lawmakers are like college kids on Spring Break, They have no restraints. Lobby money is flowing like ATM cash from daddy’s bank account….
“Merit” pay could be based on flawed system
Florida Tribune: Florida’s new performance pay law would put in place a evaluation system that has been questioned nationally. The teacher evaluation portion of the bill turns on a statistical method that…
