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Unequal Futures: Florida's universities admit far fewer students from low-income areas

Unequal Futures: Florida’s universities admit far fewer students from low-income areas

Admissions at Florida universities have become increasingly competitive for all applicants in the last decade. But an investigation found it’s even harder for students from low-income families, who are disproportionately Black, to be accepted than for their wealthier peers. Students at high schools that serve poorer communities struggle to gain admission and they’re less likely to enroll in Florida’s public universities than their peers in wealthier communities, according to University of North Florida professor Mary Borg, who analyzed three years of data from the state university system. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

DeSantis takes aim at teacher union dues

Gov. Ron DeSantis has signaled that he will make a priority of passing a long-debated proposal that would prevent teachers from having union dues deducted from their paychecks. DeSantis supported the proposal Monday during a speech in Orlando, describing it as “paycheck protection legislation.” The Florida Education Association and other teachers unions backed DeSantis’ Democratic challenger, Charlie Crist, in the Nov. 8 election, with Miami-Dade County teachers union leader Karla Hernandez serving as Crist’s running mate. [Source: News Service of Florida]

Judge to hear lawsuit over Florida’s ‘intellectual diversity’ college campus surveys

Nearly two years after the controversial measure passed, a federal judge next month will consider the constitutionality of a Florida law that requires conducting surveys on state college and university campuses about “intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” and includes other changes that opponents argue violate First Amendment rights. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker is scheduled to start a trial Jan. 9 in a challenge by the United Faculty of Florida and other plaintiffs to a 2021 law approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis. More from the News Service of Florida and the Tampa Bay Times.

Florida’s nursing pipeline is broken as many would-be nurses fail their exams

As Florida struggles with a growing demand for nurses, its system for training them has a serious problem. Every year, thousands of nursing school graduates fail at the finish line, unable to make the final milestone required to become licensed. Registered and practical nurses must pass the National Council Licensure Examination before they can practice anywhere in the United States. And Florida nursing students are failing at a rate higher than anywhere else in the nation. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Florida lawmakers seek to require social media safety education in public schools

A state lawmaker is again trying to require Florida's public schools to teach social media safety. The education would not just remind students of potential dangers but that posts can come back to damage a person's reputation. "Twenty years from now, if a photo resurfaces or a thing you said online that was really bad comes back — it can haunt you," Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, said. That's just one of the reasons Burgess said Florida's public schools should be teaching students how to protect themselves from bad actors, like predators or cyberbullying, and perhaps bad posts too. [Source: WPTV]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Thousands of students homeless across Central Florida, new numbers show
New numbers obtained this week show thousands of Central Florida students don’t have a place to call home. That doesn’t necessarily mean their family is living on the streets. It can also mean their family lives in a temporary space like a motel, shelter or share a home with other families. The Homeless Services Network of Central Florida tracked how many students fall into that category in Seminole, Orange and Osceola counties and found 9,000 students fall into that category as of November.

› Florida Senate President suggests expanding LGBTQ education law to higher grade levels
Senate President Kathleen Passidomo has signaled support for a potential expansion of Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” law, which drew heavy opposition this year from critics who labeled it the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the law in March, amid a controversy that centered mainly on a provision that bars classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. Also, the law requires that such instruction be age-appropriate, in accordance with state academic standards in higher grades.

› Female trainer who made history in the NHL just graduated from FIU with a doctorate
When Aisha Visram told her parents, who migrated to Toronto from Tanzania in the 1980s, that she would be an athletic trainer, they didn’t get it. Now they’re happy not only because Visram, 37, made history in January when she became the first woman of color to work as an athletic trainer on a National Hockey League game day bench and the first woman to serve in that role in 20 years, but also because she graduated this week from Florida International University with a doctorate in athletic training.

› South Tampa parents organize against school rezoning proposals
Hillsborough County’s school boundary plan is beginning to meet with resistance, and it is starting in South Tampa. Hundreds have signed an online petition protesting the possible movement of students from Plant High and Coleman Middle — both crowded and with A grades from the state — to C-rated Jefferson High and Pierce Middle.