Stories

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Opinion April 26, 2011

New teacher pay law stifles student learning

By Cal Colgan | jcolgan@flagler.edu

Class is about to begin. Today’s lesson starts with a simple question: How effective are state tests at determining student performances?

Ah, good. You realize this is a loaded question. After all, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test is one of the most controversial standardized tests in the Sunshine State’s public schools. Since its passage in 1996, the FCAT has garnered praise from lawmakers and harsh criticism from teachers and their advocates.

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Opinion April 25, 2011

Merit pay hurts teachers, taxpayers

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.

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Opinion April 25, 2011

Newt, a social conservative, I don’t think so

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.

Opinion April 25, 2011

College life in a landmark

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.

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Opinion April 25, 2011

Florida educators hurting because of government

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.

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News April 25, 2011

Passion drives local project to negate human impact on right whales

By Caroline Young | gargoyle@flagler.edu

Day one of whale spotting with the Marineland Right Whale Project- it was a chilly, nebulous February morning. I took a windy bike ride to the St. Augustine pier and thought for certain the whale-spotters would cancel because of the weather.

But I was five minutes early and the last to arrive. When I walked up to the group of older people with raingear and binoculars, there was no sign of plans changing.

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Opinion, Top Stories April 21, 2011

Mental disorders or mad gifts? Reflections from a dysfunctional graduate

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.