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Let’s Run A Real Education Experiment
Florida spends about $9,335 per public-school student through its main funding formula. Average private-school tuition is about $13,800. So before we decide private schools produce better results, there is a question worth testing: what would happen if public schools had comparable resources?
The comparison gets more complicated because public and private schools often operate under different rules. Public schools serve students with widely different needs, provide transportation and specialized services, and operate under statewide testing and accountability requirements. Private schools receiving voucher money have different admissions, staffing, testing, and service obligations.
Research does not provide a simple answer that one system always produces better outcomes. Some private-school and voucher programs show gains, others show little difference, and some have produced worse academic results. Once researchers account for differences in family income, parental education, previous achievement, and other factors, much of the apparent private-school advantage can shrink.
So the essay proposes a thought experiment: fund public schools at something close to average private-school tuition while keeping their public obligations intact, or run the test in reverse by asking voucher schools to educate students for the voucher amount under comparable standards. Maybe the real difference is not public versus private education. Maybe it is what happens when one kind of school is simply better funded.
Politics
All the hot-button topics about government, state, local, and federal the courts, and the election.
Daniela Simic Has Been Preparing for This Job for Years
Daniela Simic’s campaign is built around something school board races could use more of: deep experience with schools themselves. She has spent about 25 years in education, from the classroom to district leadership, with years of PTA and community work layered on top of it.
Her fundraising tells its own story. Simic and Brittany Lyssy have raised roughly the same amount from outside donors, but Simic reached that total through far more contribution transactions, a lower median donation, and broader support from individuals, educators, labor groups, and community organizations.
The race gives District 2 voters a clear factual comparison in background, donor base, and connection to Hillsborough’s schools. The full piece looks at Simic’s record, the people backing her, and the experience she brings to one of the largest school systems in the country.
Science
This includes discussions on scientific topics that include the environment, weather, medicine, and space.
Society
We lump a lot under this category including crime, corruption, education and hate groups. This category runs the gamut.
Culture
Posts on cultural activities such as theater, art, holidays, and music.
Religion
This is our section for articles related to religion, especially Methodism, and the Evangelical movement.
What Are We Going to Do Now?
Essay 3 of a series examining where we are at 250 years
That question is easy to ask but far more difficult to answer. It is tempting to surrender to cynicism, retreat into anger, or simply conclude that one person’s voice no longer matters. Yet history tells a different story. Every major step toward a more just America began because ordinary people refused to believe that tomorrow had to look exactly like yesterday.
This concluding essay in my 250th Fourth of July trilogy is not about despair. It is about responsibility. It is a personal reflection on the kind of citizen I have decided to be, regardless of the political climate, and an invitation for each of us to consider the role we will play in writing America’s next chapter. Because history will move forward. The only question is whether we will help hold the pen.
Technology
Discussions on software, hardware, apps, and gadgets.
LGBT Issues
Here we discuss the politics of the LGBT movement, stories of events in the community, and anything else related to the LGBT community.
Fun Stuff
This is a bit of a collection of stories about family, food, friends, and travel.
The Economy
Here are topics on the economy, trade, and business.
Trump Wants the Midterms to Be About Trump
Donald Trump has looked at a 34 percent approval rating and reached a comforting conclusion: Americans have not seen enough Donald Trump. His super PAC is preparing midterm ads built around his record, his speeches, and clips of Trump praising Trump. Apparently, the nation has suffered from a shortage.
The ads will tout stock-market highs, factory output, falling overdose deaths, and other signs of the “Golden Age.” Families will still see grocery bills that keep climbing, gasoline near $4.09 a gallon, and a job market that lost ground in July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has yet to buy anyone’s groceries.
Trump wants voters to treat the midterms as though his name appears on every ballot. They should accept the invitation. Then they should ask every Republican incumbent whether Trump’s record belongs to them too, which votes lowered costs back home, and why the greatest economy in history remains so difficult for most people to find.
When Justice Outruns Wisdom
“I told her I was ready to give up. I wasn’t. I was frustrated.”
What began as a communication bottleneck in a church office became a lesson in leadership. When drafts moved without review and a public link went live incorrectly, urgency surged. The concern was legitimate. The tone was not. Justice rose quickly. Wisdom lagged behind. Where has urgency outrun wisdom in your week?
In this new essay, I contemplate what the Stoics understood about anger, discipline, and leadership—and why the same dynamic I saw in myself is evident at the highest levels of national leadership. Anger is a signal. It is not a strategy. Wisdom must organize justice, or institutions begin to fray.
Read: When Justice Outruns Wisdom.
Steel-Toed Integrity
When something breaks in the real world, you don’t call a politician to give a speech; you call someone with a toolbox to fix it. That is the leadership Brian Nathan offers Senate District 14. A Navy veteran and IBEW electrician who chose Tampa as his home during the Great Recession, Brian brings a craftsman’s perspective to a political system that is deeply broken.
Read about Brian’s vision for “steel-toed integrity”—a philosophy born on the job site that prioritizes practical solutions for working families over political theater. He is running to fight for affordable housing, good-paying local jobs, and quality education.
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Articles related to places important to me or the places we visit.
Media
Covers things like the web, blogging, Radio and television, and print media.
Places
Here we talk about topics specific to Tampa, Kings Mountain, and other places I've lived or visited.
