Florida's Latest News

DeSantis awards $6.5 million to launch Career Pathways program

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday allocated $6.5 million to a series of Florida universities to launch the Career Pathways for Public Service Initiative.

The initiative will enable students to prepare for jobs relating to local governance and public service beginning in the ninth grade while taking courses that teach the effectiveness of government and the principles of our state and country.

The effort is a component of DeSantis’ broader Civic Literacy Excellence Initiative, which aims to create civics curricula and aid in adopting Florida’s updated civics and government requirements in K–12 public schools.

“It was great to award $6.5 million to create civics academies through three of our nation-leading state colleges,” said DeSantis. “This first-of-its-kind program will teach our future leaders foundational American values as they prepare for careers in public service.”

Hurricane preparedness is expensive. Emergency managers and community leaders seek a solution

This June, Valencia “Vee” Gunder’s organization, The Smile Trust, organized its first hurricane preparedness event. Gunder and her staff prepared 200 kits full of supplies like water, battery-operated fans and first aid kits. They planned to give these away to neighboring families of its Miami headquarters.

“We ran out of supplies,” Gunder laughed. “People were asking, when are you all going to come back?”

People generally know the list of things they're supposed to have stocked up for a storm, Gunder explained. But for low-income people and people in marginalized communities, getting those supplies is sometimes an unreachable goal. She is just one of many in Florida who are working to make hurricane preparedness more inclusive to all, regardless of cost or accessibility.

DeSantis Signs Curriculum Transparency Bill into Law

The DeSantis Administration has prided Florida in being dubbed the, "Education State."  Now, Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has signed yet another education bill into law, this time to improve curriculum transparency for Florida parents.

Last legislative session in Florida was highlighted by statewide education policies.  While the governor slashed FSA testing, Republican lawmakers mostly focused on giving parents more authority in their children's education, namely the Parental Rights in Education bill that was targeted by Democrats across Florida.

When signing the bill into law, Gov. DeSantis claimed that parents not only have a role but have a "fundamental role," in their child's education.

"What we're going to be doing today is sign, probably the strongest curriculum transparency legislation in the country," said DeSantis,  adding the bill, "will require transparency with respect to the materials that are being taught in classrooms, or are available in school libraries."

Florida gas prices hit five-week low, dropping 62 cents per gallon

A few weeks ago, Florida gas prices were threatening to hit $5 per gallon. Now it’s dropping closer to $4.

The average price for a gallon of fuel in Florida hit $4.27 per gallon on Sunday, according to AAA, The Auto Club Group. That’s down 62 cents per gallon from an all-time high of $4.89 in June, and below the national average of $4.52 per gallon.

The news is far from all rosy. Sunday’s average statewide price was up from $3 per gallon this time last year, and experts are predicting the price of fuel will rise again by this fall. But amid record inflation spikes across the economy, Florida’s five-week streak of falling gas prices comes as a slight relief.