WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville
Open discourse has a checkered history on campus.
Read More »Recent UF academic freedom infringements follow trend of collusion against faculty, professors say
University of Florida reverses course, allows professors to testify regardless of compensation
The university’s beleaguered president, Kent Fuchs, said Friday in a campus-wide email that he was asking the school’s conflict-of-interest office to reverse its decision and permit the testimony. At least one of the professors confirmed that he was subsequently approved to testify.
Read More »What will replace the FSA? Florida educators hope it’s less punitive
The FSA, which had been in place since 2015 when it replaced the FCAT, won’t be administered starting next school year, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced in September. Educators have advocated for this for years and supported the decision, but now they contemplate what the next steps might be.
Read More »School bus drivers were always in demand. COVID-19 further strained the staff, parents and students
Local school districts including Alachua, Marion, Putnam and Bradford are recruiting bus drivers, which is not abnormal as many school districts hire year round. But the pandemic amplified the need with quarantine absences and a reduction in staff.
Read More »Florida Medical Marijuana Legislation Stalls As Public Employees Are Fired For Legal Use
Under current laws, agencies that receive federal funding, such as school systems, default to national laws that don’t allow medical marijuana use.
Read More »Lawmakers Abandon Efforts To Limit Popular Florida Scholarships For Specific College Degrees
Florida legislators reversed course on a plan that would have limited the state’s popular Bright Futures college scholarships after a public outcry and concerns by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Read More »Water Board Approves Pumping Ginnie Springs Water To Benefit Nestle
In the face of stark local environmental opposition, a state water board on Tuesday unanimously approved “with protest” about 1 million gallons daily for Nestle's bottled water business from one of the treasured natural springs along the Santa Fe River in north central Florida.
Read More »‘A Lot of People Are Frustrated’: Grocery Store Workers Push for Emergency Status
The always essential but traditionally undervalued group has become esteemed like never before in recent months.
Read More »Public Mistakenly Kept From Courtrooms As COVID-19 Precautions Set In At Courthouse
It remains unclear who gave the order to only allow defendants and litigators into the courtrooms, though a sign posted on the door of each one declared it was “for public safety reasons.”
Read More »North Central Florida Public Schools Take Sanitary Precautions Against COVID-19, But School Is Still On
With the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Alachua County announced this week, north central Florida public school districts did not have plans to close as of Wednesday.
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