By Alex Bonus | gargoyle@flagler.edu
Lawmakers are forcing failed reforms on failing schools, hoping two wrongs makes a passing grade.
The Student Success Act, signed by Gov. Rick Scott on March 24, ties teacher salaries to student achievement. Starting July 1, professional evaluators will rank teachers on a four-part scale to determine their eligibility for bonuses, pay raises and promotions.
By Mari Pothier | gargoyle@flagler.edu
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich seems to be playing that typical political game of do as I say not as I do.
Despite the fact that he has been married three times, Gingrich is pursuing a possible run for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination as a social conservative. But wait a minute. Aren’t social conservatives supposed to represent fundamental Christian values, one being the sanctity of marriage?
But good old Gingrich still thinks he is the man for the job.
By Kelly Gibbs | gargoyle@flagler.edu
When I moved to St. Augustine from Gainesville two years ago, I never dreamed I’d one day sit on a sidewalk shooting the breeze with two older black men taking pictures of a former slave cabin and sharing neighborhood gossip.
I was excited to find my own cheap apartment down the street from campus in Lincolnville in August 2009. I was told I was moving into a “mixed neighborhood” by my landlady, but didn’t understand the phrase.
By Caroline Young | gargoyle@flagler.edu
We heard one gun shot. Sounds of sirens ricocheted from buildings in downtown DeLand, a small Florida town.
“Dead-Land,” we called it.
By Mari Pothier | gargoyle@flagler.edu
Florida’s done it again, shooting itself in the foot when it comes to public education.
The state already struggles in this department, but Gov. Rick Scott signed into law the Student Success Act that will make standardized tests like the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test the basis for teacher evaluations and pay. Also with the act, new teachers coming into the system will not be able to receive tenure.
By James Webb | gargoyle@flagler.edu
Turns out Gov. Rick Scott is sticking to campaign promises of decreasing the deficit. After passing the Florida House 80-39 and gaining more momentum through the Florida Senate passing, 26-12, Scott signed the teacher merit pay bill into law last week.
What will this mean for taxpayers, teachers and students?
By Cal Colgan| jcolgan@flagler.edu
I am about to graduate college, and I can’t even sleep soundly in my own bed. My bedroom makes a homeless camp look like a palace: dirty clothes seem to creep out of every corner and nook. Papers, posters, Power Bar wrappers and old Arizona Tea cans cover the floor, and I create “walking space” just by shifting the pile of refuse from one end of the room to the other.
My room is a testament to my life: a disorganized, erratic mess. I’ve been this way ever since I can remember.
By Caroline Young gargoyle@flagler.edu
I looked up at my boyfriend’s face and then back down into my bowl where the dead bird was floating. It was day one of seven in my omnivorous experimentation after being a vegetarian since I was 12-years-old, which was ten years ago.
My first meal was organic chicken and dumplings. My boyfriend, who is a proud meat-eater and believes we are made to eat flesh, decided to order tofu. I am not sure if he was actually in the mood for the soy meat substitute that usually serves as one of my main sources of protein, or if this was some sick joke. Nonetheless, I had committed to eating this chicken, so I took my first bite.
By Cal Colgan | jcolgan@flagler.edu
The eggheads are at it again.
The New York Times recently review a book published by two professors called, “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses.” In it, the authors found 45 percent of current college students show no gains in critical thinking during their first two years at college. According to the Times article, the study also found that 32 percent of students surveyed did not take any courses with a significant amount of reading per week, and half of them did not take any courses with more than 20 pages of writing per semester.
In other words, the students want a degree, not an education.
By Victoria Hardina | gargoyle@flagler.edu
In one week I will be a senior at Flagler College. To be specific, I will be 18 and a senior at Flagler College. Usually I get mixed reactions when I tell people this. Most are surprised, many are in awe, but lately the response I get the most is ‘you are crazy!’
I’m starting to think they’re right.