Detroit's (predominantly black) public schools are the worst in the nation, and it takes some doing to be worse than Washington, D.C. Only 3 percent of Detroit's fourth-graders scored proficient on the most recent National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) test, sometimes called "The Nation's Report Card." Twenty-eight percent scored basic and 69 percent below basic. "Below basic" is the NAEP category when students are unable to demonstrate even partial mastery of knowledge and skills fundamental for proficient work at their grade level. It's the same story for Detroit's eighth-graders. Four percent scored proficient, 18 percent basic and 77 percent below basic. Michael Casserly, executive director of the D.C.-based Council on Great City Schools, in an article appearing in Crain's Detroit Business, (12/8/09) titled, "Detroit's Public Schools Post Worst Scores on Record in National Assessment," said, "There is no jurisdiction of any kind, at any level, at any time in the 30-year history of NAEP that has ever registered such low numbers." The academic performance of black students in other large cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles is not much better than Detroit and Washington. ...more

December 26, 2009

The two chief executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could get paid as much as $6 million for 2009, despite the companies' dismal performances this year, which cost taxpayers more than $100 billion. ...more

December 25, 2009

Now that he has signed a five-year, $9 million contract to be Florida State's next head coach, Jimbo Fisher is looking forward to devoting all of his attention to several more pressing issues. ...more

December 21, 2009

Our government is out of control! There is no reason that a Hernando County commissioner's salary is a state mandated annual salary of more than $60,000 per year for a part-time job when the median household income of the county is $43,000 per year. ...more

September 30, 2009

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers put their franchise tag on receiver Antonio Bryant, they committed to paying him $9.88 million in 2009 - the average of the 10 highest receiver salaries in the National Football League. Most work-a-day types have no way to relate to an annual salary with a decimal point, so TBO.com created the Antonio Bryant Franchise Calculator. ...more

September 8, 2009

Since joining the Big East in 2005, the University of South Florida's coaches and athletic department staff members have been among the lowest paid of the six Bowl Championship Series conferences. ...more

April 1, 2009

Since joining the Big East in 2005, the University of South Florida's coaches and athletic department staff members have been among the lowest paid of the six Bowl Championship Series conferences. That is, with one notable exception: athletic director Doug Woolard. Woolard's annual salary of $421,950 makes him the nation's second-highest-paid AD in the BCS based on the percentage of his salary compared with the school's athletic department budget. ...more

March 31, 2009

More than half of the district office resource teaching positions are among the latest position cuts Supertendent Wally Cox is recommending to trim the budget. ...more

March 25, 2009

Gov. Charlie Crist drew chuckles Monday when he introduced Don Winstead as Florida's "stimulus czar" - the key official charged with riding herd over $13.4 billion in federal stimulus money expected by the state. ...more

March 24, 2009

Job prospecting within the insurance industry is growing year by year while unemployment continues to soar mostly everywhere else in the private sector. ...more

March 16, 2009