With millions at stake, tutoring lobby goes into action – Every year for nearly a decade, private tutoring companies have made millions in Florida because the federal government required school districts to hire them. That was in danger of changing last February, when the state won freedom from mandated private instruction for poor children in the state’s worst schools. At the end of last year’s legislative session, Florida lawmakers quietly voted to keep the money flowing. The moment marked a major victory for the tutoring industry, but, as the Tampa Bay Times reported on Sunday, it also ensured the survival of a program that is shot through with cheating, opportunism and fraud. The Miami Herald
Eyeball wars: Eye doctors see long fight in ‘eyeball wars’ — A longstanding battle between the state’s ophthalmologists and optometrists, known as the “eyeball wars,” is happening once again in Tallahassee. Optometrists and ophthalmologists are hoping to end a decades-long fight over whether optometrists can prescribe drugs for eye patients. Sun Sentinel
Alachua County, Fla., to consider rules on texting by commissioners – The Orange County Commission has faced public scorn since the revelation that several commissioners exchanged texts with lobbyists regarding a sick-pay initiative that would have required many employers to offer paid sick time to their workers. The measure was voted down last September, preventing it from coming before voters on the ballot. The Gainesville Sun
Florida’s phone/cable taxes may get overhaul – Floridians pay some of the highest communications services tax rates in the nation (one industry analyst pegged the rates at fourth-highest). The revenue has recently been declining, pressuring local governments and limiting the state’s ability to build and maintain schools as well as state college and university facilities. Lawmakers are considering changes to clarify a system that was intended to be “simplified” when it was put in place barely a decade ago. The Gainesville Sun
Pope Benedict XVI says he will resign – Citing advanced years and infirmity, Pope Benedict XVI stunned the Roman Catholic world on Monday by saying that he would resign on Feb. 28 after less than eight years in office, the first pope to do so in six centuries. The New York Times
