Florida Courier - December 7, 2012

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PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID DAYTONA BEACH, FL PERMIT #189

Florida journalist explores race and the media in new book B1

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VOLUME 20 NO. 49

www.flcourier.com

DECEMBER 7 - DECEMBER 13, 2012

IN THE 13th GRADE BY SARAH GONZALEZ, MC NELLY TORRES AND LYNN WADDELL FLORIDA CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING

Shakira Lockett was a pretty good student in elementary, middle and high school. The Miami-Dade County native says she typically earned A’s and B’s in English classes – though math was a struggle. Still, she got through her high school exit exam with a passing grade and went on to graduate from Coral Gables Senior High School in 2008. She went straight to MiamiDade College. Then, something unexpected happened: She flunked the college placement exams in all three subjects – reading, writing and math. PHOTO BY SAGETTE VAN EMBDEN That didn’t mean she It took Shakira Lockett, 22, four years to earn her associates’ degree couldn’t attend the school; from Miami-Dade College – a process that usually takes only two years. all state and community col-

Elections supervisors under fire

Many of Florida’s high school graduates are unprepared for tougher college courses. That’s costing state taxpayers millions of dollars every year. leges in Florida have an opendoor policy, which means everyone is accepted. But it did mean she had to take remedial courses before she could start college-level work.

Tree time

How to pay? The “Aim Higher” initiative, unveiled at a press conference in the Capitol including most of the presidents and student body leaders of the state’s 12 universities, enters into a growing debate over how to fund higher education in Florida. According to the university system, $118 million would equate to a tuition increase of 15 percent, the maximum the schools are allowed to ask for under the state’s differential tuition law. Several universities had used that law in recent years to offset deep state cuts in higher education funding, though the consensus over the size of those tuition increases cracked last summer under pressure from Gov. Rick Scott. The new funding should be tied to performance measures, the university presidents said, lining up with the premium that some legislative leaders have placed on education accountability.

Lines ‘unacceptable’ In many locations, voters stood in line for several hours waiting to cast ballots, and the state wasn’t called for President Obama until several days after the election ended. “Long lines are unacceptable in Florida for performance,” Detzner told a state Senate panel, one of two legislative committees taking up the election performance Tuesday. Speaking to meetings of both the House and Senate ethics and elections committees, Detzner said he didn’t want to prejudge what had caused the breakdowns at some polling locations in the state. But he offered a menu of possibilities. “When you look at underperformance, it could be an administrative issue, it could be an issue about judgment about turnout, could be an issue about locations of the early voting sites, it could be manpower issues, and it could be technology,” Detzner said. He also indicated the length of the ballot, which included several legislatively-authored proposed constitutional amendments, could have caused some of the long waits.

ALSO INSIDE

See GRADUATES, Page A2

University presidents pledged Wednesday not to increase tuition next year if the Florida Legislature agrees to plow another $118 million into the State University System’s budget. But leaders at the University of Florida and Florida State University would not pledge to stop pushing for legislation that would allow them to increase tuition by virtually unlimited amounts.

TALLAHASSEE – Local supervisors of elections came under fire Tuesday as lawmakers began probing what went wrong in the 2012 elections, with state officials singling out five who reportedly deserve special scrutiny for their performance. Secretary of State Ken Detzner told lawmakers he would visit supervisors of elections in Broward, Lee, MiamiDade, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties as part of his own inquiry into the lengthy lines and other problems that plagued the November balloting. Detzner said he would also meet with the Hillsborough County supervisor of elections, whose performance is not under fire.

See SUPERVISORS, Page A2

Lockett, now 22, spent a year and a half taking remedial classes before she could start her first college-level class to count toward her degree in mass communication and journalism. The seven extra courses cost her $300 each. “It makes you feel dumb,” Lockett said. “And you ask yourself, ‘Is there something

BY BRANDON LARRABEE THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS

Attention also fell on the number of early-voting sites that were open in some areas after those lines also swelled. A staff analysis showed a wide disparity between the number of voters per early-voting site in Florida’s 12 biggest counties. Pinellas County, for instance, opened only three early voting sites, which equates to one per 210,506 vot-

Felt ‘dumb’

Universities seek more money for tuition freeze

CHRISTMAS SEASON 2012

Legislators unsure about solving voting problems

Early-voting problems

“When they told me I had to start a Reading 2 and Reading 3 class, I was like, ‘Serious?’” Lockett said. “Because I’ve always been good at reading.” Remedial classes do not count toward a college degree. Each class runs an entire semester. And students cannot enroll in college classes until they pass all their remedial courses.

Money from health care

OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/MCT

The annual U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree was lit during a ceremony Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Many Floridians are buying and trimming their own Christmas trees as Christmas Day approaches.

SNAPSHOTS NATION | A3

More of the same: White males to head House committees

Boy Scouts resisted background checks

FLORIDA | A6

Bolden’s future as NASA chief uncertain

FINEST | B5

Meet Viola

Senate Appropriations Chairman Joe Negron, R-Stuart, told reporters Wednesday that he would like to shift additional funding from health care into education areas, potentially allowing the university system to compete with top-notch public schools like the University of North Carolina, the University of Virginia, the University of Texas, the University of Michigan, and the University of California, Berkeley. Scott issued a statement praising the universities for focusing on the concept of “value” in higher education, but notably did not specifically mention the universities’ request for additional funding. The leaders of FSU and Florida dismissed questions dealing with whether they would continue to seek “preeminent university” legislation, vetoed by Scott last year, allowing schools that meet certain standards to raise tuition by virtually unlimited amounts.

COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A FREE BLACK MIND | A4 COMMENTARY: MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN: KINDERGARTNERS NEED MORE TIME TO LEARN | A5


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