Nancy Velardi, president of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, talks with WMNF about education concerns in Florida.

Nancy Velardi, president of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, talks with WMNF about education concerns in Florida.
We reprised “Ask The Trainer,” in which listeners are invited to call or email questions for dog trainer Glen Hatchell to answer about their dogs or cats, particularly involving behavioral issues.
Just one week into the school year, Pinellas County Schools is short nearly 400 teachers and personnel, according to the local school district. While Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is trying to recruit former cops, firefighters, veterans, and other first responders to fill the massive teacher shortage across the state, teachers in Tampa Bay say that… Read more »
Academic freedom is under attack. Over the past 2 years, the DeSantis administration has undertaken a complete reform of education policies constraining academic freedom by passing SB 7044. In the state colleges and universities, professors are concerned. MidPoint interviews the President of the faculty union at USF and a USF History professor to learn why.
Florida’s Dozier School for Boys was open for 111 years in Marianna, Florida, and had a long history of terror, abuse, and disappearances. The school closed in 2011, but the search for the bones and identities of over 50 boys in unnamed graves still continues. This week on Midpoint forensic anthropologist and author Erin Kimmerle spoke about the search and her new book, We Carry Their Bones. Her work also formed the basis for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead.
Bertha Vazquez, ScieneSaves education director, discusses why science literacy is vital to sustainability
The Florida Department of Education’s rejection of 54 mathematics textbooks just doesn’t seem to add up. The claims of “indoctrination” through social-emotional learning, or the alleged inclusion of “prohibited topics” like critical race theory have narrowed the choices and raised concerns about the future of educational freedom. To discuss the issues with MidPoint, Dr. India White and Raegan Miller joined host Shelley Reback.
First, it was ‘Don’t Say Gay’. Now, the news gets stranger in Florida as DeSantis condones the rejection of math textbooks. In addition, the topic of women managing men and their microaggressions brings up the biases that many overlook, or even enable in the workplace. The Surly Feminists discussed these topics on this week’s Surly… Read more »
Freddy Barton, executive director of Safe and Sound Hillsborough, a community-based intervention program intended to prevent violence in Hillsborough County joined WaveMakers on April 19.
President Trump’s former Education secretary Betsy DeVos and her family have donated $280,000 to support Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
Following reports of antisemitism in USF’s Greek Life organizations, Holocaust Survivor Helga Melmed shared her story with students on the effects of hate and ignorance.
As the state of Florida waits for the “Don’t Say Gay” bill to pass into law with the signature of Gov. DeSantis, the push-back has been loud. On MidPoint this week, host Shelley Reback, along with Tampa Pride program coordinator Debbie Ducko, trans activist Andrew Klumb, and his mother, anti-bullying and LGBTQ children’s advocate Leanne Klumb, invited everyone to Say Gay.
Members of USF’s Students for a Democratic Society protested the U.S.’s intervention in Ukraine as well as sanctions on Russia.
The U.S. Education Secretary has spoken with LGBTQ students in Florida. He says he supports students even if their governor does not.
As Florida’s legislative session draws to a close, it is time to take inventory and review what has emerged from the Capitol. From the headline-topping bills to the under-the-radar legislation, MidPoint host Shelley Reback, is joined by Tampa Bay Times’ William March and State Rep. Andrew Learned to review the good, the bad, and the ugly of this year’s session.
The Pasco school district’s health policy is about $11 million in debt because of COVID-related claims by unvaccinated employees.
The Parental Rights in Education, or “Don’t Say Gay” bill, passes the Florida Legislature; the US Department of Education weighs in.
WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS AHEAD, READER DISCRETION ADVISED In the field outside USF’s library on Tuesday, the orange signs read “ABORTION VICTIM PHOTOS AHEAD.” Handing out pamphlets and engaging students in conversation were activists calling for an end to all abortions and what they describe as ‘ageism’. Listen to the full story here: Their organization is… Read more »
The news from all over the globe has not only been bleak, it’s bordered on downright terrifying. Whether the location is across the globe or in our backyard, it affects the whole of society. This week on Surly Voices, hosts Liz, Donna and Amina wade through the quagmire of dark news.Listen to the full episode… Read more »
Dangerous amendments to Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill is the latest trend among the ‘censorship and surveillance’ legislation that’s been passing through the Florida government this session. Nadine Smith of Equality Florida and Florida State Representative Anna Eskamani joined MidPoint host Shelley Reback to discuss what this legislation means for the state.