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Florida’s school choice option is leaving some public classrooms with fewer students

It’s been a controversial topic in Florida that’s been growing for years, and now that school choice and Florida’s voucher system are entrenched, more and more students and their families are moving their kids from public schools to private schools or even home schooling to increasing levels.

As school districts across Florida are returning to classes for the new school year, there are fewer students in some of those public districts. Several media outlets have analyzed the student populations of public school districts, and the move to private schools or home schooling is on. It’s becoming a matter of the extent of the shift that is underway.

The Tampa Bay Times just published a report that concluded public school districts across the Sunshine State are experiencing a decline in enrollment. Florida’s expanded school voucher system is apparently having an impact.

The Florida Department of Education (DOE) school choice website is rather blunt. The state is there to help parents move their students from public schools to private schools or charter schools if they choose to do so. And then there’s the option of homeschooling, too.

“The mission of the Office of K-12 School Choice is to support quality public and private educational choice programs by providing information and assistance to promote successful outcomes for students, families, institutions and communities,” the DOE School Choice website states.

New report shines light on how Manatee development, hurricanes impact mangroves

New data released by Suncoast Waterkeeper shows the effect of hurricanes on mangrove ecosystems and strengthens the argument for increased mangrove conservation.

Suncoast Waterkeeper, a local environmental group, recently finished its second year of the “Mangrove Ranger” program, which aims to more efficiently survey mangrove ecosystems. The group’s overall mission is to use community engagement and environmental monitoring to bolster protection and restoration efforts for local waterways.

The group’s 2025 mangrove mapping data showed how some mangrove sites suffered devastating impacts from the 2024 hurricane season, while others are on the road to recovery.

Executive Director of Suncoast Waterkeeper Abbey Tyrna said a lot of other ecosystems, like seagrasses, are more commonly monitored than mangroves, yet mangroves play a key role in a region’s recreation and economy. This monitoring gap led to the creation of Suncoast Waterkeeper’s Mangrove Ranger program.

“This program is a proactive approach to surveying the mangroves and inventorying them as we know that they have become vulnerable to development and sea level rise,” Tyrna said.

Tampa is the best city for foreign businesses, a report says

Roy Levy knew Tampa was a great spot for his Israel-based drone company’s new office.

"Being from Tampa [and] being from Florida adds a lot to who we are,” said Levy, the U.S. General Manager of XTEND.

XTEND is one of the nearly 500 international businesses that call Tampa home. And according to a report from the Financial Times and Nikkei, that home is the best spot for them.

The Financial Times named Tampa the top city in the country for foreign-owned businesses. Analyst Johnathan Vincent said the report considers seven categories.

This year, one of those is new.

"The final category we added this year was trade war resilience because of the sort of scale of disruption to the trading system and the tariffs imposed on foreign goods,” Vincent said.

He said Tampa is less reliant on foreign trade and it imports and exports less than other major cities.

Tropical Storm Erin forms, forecast to become major hurricane. Here are the possible tracks.

Tropical Storm Erin formed Monday in the eastern Atlantic and is forecast to track west in the direction of the U.S., increase in strength and likely become the season’s first hurricane.

Erin is still many days away from land and the forecast contains a lot of uncertainty. For the next two days, dry air and mild sea-surface temperatures will “keep the small vortex in check,” the National Hurricane Center said. But warmer waters will eventually fuel strengthening.

By Saturday, about the time it reaches the eastern Caribbean, Erin is forecast to reach major hurricane status, with sustained winds exceeding 110 mph.

Erin would be the first Atlantic hurricane of the season and is the fourth tropical storm. The average date for the first hurricane is Aug. 11.

As of 11 a.m. Monday, Erin was located 280 miles west-northwest of the Cabo Verde Islands off the coast of Africa. It was moving west at 20 mph with sustained winds of 45 mph.