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An update tonight on those controversial goals set by the Florida Board of Education. Last week the board adopted achievement goals for students based on their race. As Whitney Ray tells us, now the governor has jumped into the debate… he’s asking the board to rework its plan.

Maybe the goals should have been written more tactfully. Maybe they shouldn’t have been written at all, but with this vote, the State Board of Education set achievement targets for students based on their race.

Representative Darryl Rouson is outraged. The board is trying to get 74 percent of black students to read at grade level by 2018, but is setting a higher bar for Asian and White students. Rouson has three children in public school.

“I would not want any teacher of my children who attend public schools to have a different expectation or goal for them,” said Rouson.

One week after the board adopted the standards based on race the governor got into the debate. Tuesday Governor Rick Scott told the board to clarify their strategic plan.

Scott says the board needs to make sure its goals are for all races to achieve 100 percent proficiency. Scott writes “I would ask the board to more completely incorporate this recognition into its strategic plan so that we can focus on helping every student to achieve the highest level of success.”

At last Tuesday’s meeting the board did set a goal for all students to reach grade level in reading and math by 2022. In a one-on-one interview with Education Commissioner Pam Stewart last Friday, she told me in order to reach 100 percent proficiency, racial achievement gaps have to be addressed.

“We have to look at where our students are right now and how are we going to get all our students to proficiency,” said Stewart.

I asked the Department of Education for another interview to find out if the board plans to rework its goals, but the Department couldn’t make anyone available by our news deadline.

The Department of Education did send us this response from Chairman Gary Chartrand. Chartrand writes “The measurements will ensure that we are on track and can close the gap faster. To be clear the interim targets will not determine our success. The absence of an achievement gap will.”

The statement doesn’t address the issue of whether or not the board will rework its strategic plan.

Florida’s incoming legislative leaders are making ethics reform a top priority.

This week incoming Senate President Don Gaetz and Future House Speaker Will Weatherford both listed ethics reform as a top legislative priority. The two Republican leaders want members to disclose if they have a conflict of interest before they vote on a bill. They also want to stop lawmakers from taking government jobs after they serve. Dan Krassner is the directory of Integrity Florida, a government watchdog group devoted to ethics reform.

“Integrity Florida is encouraged that our incoming Senate President and incoming Speaker of the House are going to prioritize ethics reform and campaign finance reform. It’s been 36 years since Floridians have seen meaningful ethics reform come out of the capitol and we’re optimistic that 2013 is going to be the year,” said Krassner.

Integrity Florida is also encouraging lawmakers to stop Committees of Continuous Existence. CCEs can operate year round and often hide who contributes to their campaigns and what interest they serve.

The Florida Board of Education has set new goals for students based on their race. The board has a higher bar for Asian and white students, and sets less lofty goals for Hispanic and black students. As Whitney Ray tells us, critics of the plan call the different standards demoralizing.

With this vote, the State Board of Education sealed a plan, laying out expectations for students based on their race.

The board’s strategic plan calls for 90 percent of Asian students and 88 percent of white students to be reading at grade level or higher by 2018. The bar is lower for Hispanic students at 81 percent and lower still at 74 percent for black students.

“It is demoralizing,” said State Representative Alan Williams.

Williams says the board needs to rethink its strategy.

“The Board of Education should probably go back to the drawing board as it relates to this and really get some more input from other constituencies,” said Williams.

The goals weren’t set haphazardly; they’re actually based on an equation involving how different races of students are performing right now.

Sixty-nine percent of white students read at grade level, 53 percent of Hispanic students, and 38 percent of black students hit the mark.

In a one-on-one interview with Education Commissioner Pam Stewart, she told me only the six year plan has goals based on race. By 2022 the board wants all students at 100 percent proficiency in reading and math.

“The board very clearly has a goal that 100 percent of our students will be proficient. It is in our mission, vision statement and so when we look at that we have to look at where our students are right now,” said Stewart.

Stewart also says students won’t notice a difference in the classroom, but critics say the message alone promotes division.

The board didn’t just set goals based on race. By 2018, the board wants large overall gains in math and reading. Right now only 57 percent of ALL Florida students read at their grade level and 58 percent are proficient in Math. The board is raising the bar to 83 percent for reading and 82 for math.

Election supervisors are warning voters tonight. They say this year’s long ballot could mean long lines on Election Day. There are 11 proposed amendments on the ballot and as Whitney Ray tells us, if voters decided to read them all in the booth on Election Day people could be waiting hours to vote.

It’s not the most compelling writing, but the 11 ballot questions on the November ballot could drastically change the Florida Constitution. The language is technical. The font is small. In total the amendments take up three pages on the ballot.

It took me 14 minutes and 10 seconds to read them all. Now imagine everyone trying to read them in the voting booth on Election Day. The lines could be enormous. That’s why Chris Cate with the Division of Elections says start researching now.

“Definitely read the sample ballot before you get to the polling place it’s really going to help you know what you are getting into before you vote,” said Cate.

Cate is also encouraging people to vote early or request an absentee ballot. Some elections supervisors are taking it a step further.

“Instead of waiting for early voting to begin on October 27th, people are coming here to the office. They are requesting absentee ballots here. They are voting them here in the privacy booths we’ve set up,” said Ion Sancho, Leon County Supervisor of Elections.

This is the first election in Florida where there has been an organized effort for in-person absentee voting. It comes as early voting is cut from two weeks to one.

Nearly two million Floridians have requested absentee ballots, 147-thousand absentees have already been returned. To study up on the constitutional amendments you can visit knowyourvotecounts.com and click on the amendment link at the bottom of the screen or request a sample ballot from your supervisor of elections.

Award winning actor and Seinfeld star Jason Alexander is in Florida asking college students to vote for President Barack Obama. Alexander is just one of dozens of celebrities endorsing the president. Mitt Romney is also getting celebrity backing. But as Whitney Ray tells us, it may not matter that much.

It was politics with a side of humor at Florida State University Wednesday. Jason Alexander, who played George Costanza on Seinfeld, spoke to a crowd of students, asking them to vote for President Barack Obama.

Alexander told the students, government spending is the best way to save the economy. As for Mitt Romney’s plan of spending cuts and tax breaks, Alexander says it would bring “shrinkage” to the economy.

“I don’t anticipate it working again so yes, there could be significant shrinkage and it won’t be because he was in the pool,” said Alexander.

Celebrities are lining up behind both candidates. Romney has his own comedian, Jeff Foxworthy.

And who can forget this moment from Clint Eastwood?

“What do you want me to tell Romney? I can’t tell him to do that,” said Eastwood to an empty chair at the RNC in August.

But do celebrity endorsements even matter? I spoke with a political science professor here at FSU who says not really.

Carol: No, no evidence of that what so ever.
Reporter: What if the celebrity is really funny?
Carol: no.

Professor Carol Weissert says celebrities may not sway votes, but they can bring excitement to campaigns, especially among young voters.

“I think that the Obama administration is really trying to get out the youth vote,” said Weissert.

We found one undecided voter at the Alexander event.

“We’ll I wouldn’t have come out here if he wasn’t here so It could have a big impact,” said Eric Reiner, a sophomore at FSU.

After leaving FSU, the Seinfeld star headed to the University of Florida, in hopes of bringing laughs (nat) and securing votes for the president.
Alexander isn’t new to the political scene. He also traveled, speaking on Obama’s behalf, during the 2008 election cycle.

A huge victory for the children of illegal immigrants. A federal court ruled people born in Florida to parents who are illegal should be allowed to pay instate college tuition. As Whitney Ray tells us, the ruling could create a budget problem for state colleges and universities.

Thousands of US Citizens, who were born in the US and graduated from Florida high schools are being denied instate tuition. The reason, their parents are here illegally.

“I was born in Florida. I went to high school in Florida. I want to go to college in Florida,” Renator Lherisson.

Renator Lherisson is one of those students. He was born in Miami, but his Father, died while still a citizen of Haiti. Renator had no idea his fathers status would effect how much he pays for college.

“I applied like everybody else expecting that I would be paying instate fees and then they told me I would have to pay three times the amount,” said Renator.

Out-of-State tuition is about 700 dollars a credit hour, compared to 200 from instate students. The higher rates brought Renator and dozens of other students to the state capitol earlier this year to ask lawmaker for help. They didn’t get it.

While the students lost the battle in the state legislature, they won a federal court case. The judge ruled, charging the students more violates the 14th Amendment of the US constitution, which says everybody born in the US is entitled to equal protection under the law.

But that ruling could put a huge dent in education funding, costing the state an estimated 200 million dollars. We asked Governor Rick Scott how he planned to handle the budget problem.

“The Department of Education and the lawyers there are looking at that case. You know, you want to treat everybody fairly,” said Scott.

The State Board of Education met in Orlando Tuesday. The case was on their agenda, but without a written order from the judge discuss of an appeal was postponed.

The state could appeal the decision. If they do the instate tuition provision could be put on hold. If the state doesn’t appeal, Florida universities and colleges may have to rework their budgets next semester. Students who’ve paid out-of-state tuition, but are legal Florida residents may also be entitled to refunds.

The rush is on to register voters before tomorrow’s 5PM deadline. But as Whitney Ray tells us, if you haven’t registered by then there’s one last chance to sign up to vote.

County election offices around the state are buzzing with activity as the deadline to register to vote in the General Election fast approaches.

Floridians have until 5PM Tuesday to fill out one of these applications and secure their chance to vote in the general election. Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho says the foot traffic and the phone calls are nonstop.

“We are going to be out as late as we can legally to make sure that if you want to turn in that voter registration application you can do that,” said Sancho.

But if you do miss the 5PM deadline, you can stop by the post office and mail the applications before midnight and it will still be counted.

But don’t’ try the same trick with absentee ballots.

“Absentee ballots have to be in our physical possession by 7PM November the 6th Election Day,” said Sancho.

Ballots began mailing last week, which mean votes are already pouring into to elections offices. Division of Elections Spokesman Chris Cate says Florida voters have several options for casting a ballot.

“Beginning October 27th, from that Saturday to the following Saturday, you are going to be able to cast a ballot early at an early voting location. Sites are going to be open up to 12 hours a day,” said Cate.

As the deadline to register approaches Democrats continue to build upon their registration advantage, outpacing Republicans for eight straight months. As of October 6th, there were 4.7 million registered Democrat in Florida compared to 4.2 million Republicans.

No party affiliation and third party groups are also seeing a boost in members. The latest data available shows 2.8 million Floridians are registered NPA or with a smaller party.

The Florida Supreme Court will decide if it’s legal for electric companies to charge customers for nuclear power plants that haven’t been built. Two companies, Florida Power and Light and Progress Energy already are. As Whitney Ray tells us, a suit before the court today claims the companies have no intention of ever building the plants.

Since 2009 Florida Power and Light and Progress Energy customers have paid for two nuclear power plants yet to be built. A 2006 law allows companies to charge customers more than a decade before the plants produce one watt of electricity.

The legality of the law was challenged in the state’s highest court Thursday. A lawyer for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy told the court, the plants will never be built.

“The argument is these utilities don’t intend to build, they have not demonstrated the intent to build,” said Attorney Gary Davis.

Attorneys for the power companies say they will build the plants as soon as they finish the permitting process.

Progress Energy Attorney Steven Grimes: It’s incredible how difficult it is to get a COL (Combined Operating License).
Barbara Pariente: It’s incredible how expensive it is, somebody is making a lot of money.

FPL Attorney Raoul Cantero: Why are we going to spend all this money on licensing? We spent 27 million dollars just on licensing.
Peggy Quince: The people have actually spent that.

Customers have already paid an estimated one billion dollars. The companies say the plants will be built around 2022.”

The amount customers are charged changes from year to year, but right now the average Progress customer is paying $3.00 dollars a month. FPL customers pay $2.20.

Some of the money has already been used to repair old plants. FPL says the savings are already showing up in bills.

“Customers are already saving money for the vast majority of what’s been approved,” said Cantero.

But consumer advocates says the power companies are making the most off the deal and if it goes sour they can walk away and the customers won’t be refunded.

By the end of the year FPL says repairs made to old plants with part of the nuclear cost recovery money they’ve collected will save their customers an estimated 7.8 million dollars a month.

Tuition increases in Florida are complicated. There’s a 15 percent annual cap on tuition hikes.

For three of the past four year’s state lawmakers have raised tuition an average of seven percent. Then the University Systems Board of Governors has responded by raising it to the full 15 percent. Former Florida Governor Bob Graham says that’s now how it’s supposed to work. Graham is suing the legislature. His Attorney Robert Gibson argued before the Florida Supreme Court today that the legislature has no authority to raise tuition.

“Those state which have had constitutional government for 150 years, they set tuition. There is no case in the country to the contrary,” said Gibson.

A 2002 constitutional amendment championed by Graham created the University System’s Board of Governors.

Tonight President Barack Obama and Republican Challenger Mitt Romney will square off in the first of three debates leading up to the election. Many see this as a must win for Romney who is trailing in the polls after a rough September. Capital Correspondent Whitney Ray caught up with former Presidential Nominee John McCain who debated Obama in 2008 and has more on what Romney needs to do to win.

The last Republican to go toe-to-toe with President Barack Obama in a primetime debate says this time Obama can be beat.

“After I lost I slept like a baby. Sleep two hours wake up and cry. Sleep two hours wake up and cry,” said McCain.

Senator John McCain is in Florida stumping for Republican Nominee Mitt Romney.

“The President doesn’t lead,” said McCain.

McCain’s visit comes hours before Romney faces Obama in the first of three presidential debates.

The debate comes as this leaked video has Romney down in the polls. In it Romney tells a crowd of donors, 47 percent of the country is too dependant on entitlements. Many see the debates as Romney’s last chance. McCain disagrees.

“Nothing is must win, but obviously we want to see Governor Romney do well and we believe that he will do well. We can not underestimate the fact that President Obama is an excellent debater,” said McCain.

Since the President has a lead in the polls some political scientists say he should play defense in the debates and just try not to make any mistakes, but here at the Florida Democratic Party Headquarters, they’re saying the president should take nothing for granted.

Party Chairman Rod Smith says the president will tout recent economic successes.

“He should have a conversation with the American people about things that are on their mind. How is the economy looking? People are starting to feel better about the economy,” said Smith.

Both campaigns are lowering expectations for the debates, but no matter what happens both candidates will claim victory. There are three presidential debates and one debate for the vice presidential candidates. The first debate is tonight at 9:00. The final debate is in Boca Raton on October 22nd.

The Florida Democrats are calling Republicans on the carpet for cuts made to education.

Republicans control the state house, senate and governor’s office. They restored a billion dollars to education this past session. But Democrats say it’s too little too late. The billion dollar boost came one year after a 1.3 billion dollar reduction in education spending. Democrat Bob Graham, a former Florida Governor, says years of budget reductions coupled with tuition increases, are weakening the state university system.

“Education has lost the value that it used to have. Instead of the state being the principal funding for our state universities we’re trying to shift it off to students,” said Graham.

Republicans say they’ve done the best they can with dwindling state budget revenues and add they were able to balance the budget without raising taxes. As for the 1.3 billion dollar cut in funding a year ago. They blame that on the state running out of federal stimulus dollars.

Florida is the focus of a new multi-state campaign aimed at restoring the voting rights of former felons. The president of the NAACP is in Florida calling for the automatic restorations of civil rights. As Whitney Ray tells us, he’s being joined by a famous former felon and Yale graduate who had to wait 30 years to cast a ballot.

Before his fame on the silver screen Charles Dutton was a middle school dropout, who killed a man in a street fight at 17. Dutton claimed self-defense, the courts called it manslaughter.

But Dutton turned things around. After being released from prison, he graduated from Yale and began his acting career with roles in Rudy, Alien 3 and dozens more. Despite all his success, Dutton wasn’t allowed to vote because of his past conviction.

“I was released from prison in 1976. That might surprise some of you, 1976. I was only allowed to vote until 2007,” said Dutton.

Tuesday Dutton joined the NAACP in a multi-state effort calling for the automatic restoration of civil rights. Dutton says laws that keep former felons from voting are racist and that’s why he volunteered to have his face printed on billboards.

“Being denied is sacrilegious. Basically I agreed to do that because; I’m a little pissed off,” said Dutton.

The NAACP is sponsoring the billboard campaign in Florida and several other states where former felons have to wait between two to seven years before they can ask the state to restore their rights.

“In this country we believe that everybody has the right to vote and we believe in second chances,” said NAACP President Benjamin Jealous.

In 2007, Florida made civil rights restoration easier and tens of thousands had their voting rights restored. But in 2011, Governor Rick Scott and the state cabinet slowed the restoration process. Since then only 78 people have had their rights restored.

An estimated 500-thousand Floridians are waiting to have their civil rights restored. The NAACP’s isn’t trying to change laws before this election, it’s clearly too late. The group is targeting lawmakers in hopes of passing legislation next year.

Do you know what you’re eating? Food activists say you probably don’t.

Food and Water Watch, a group calling for more transparency in grocery stores held a protest at the state capitol today. They’re asking lawmakers to pass a bill requiring food companies to label genetically engineered foods. Pricilla Hudson says it’s information consumers deserve.

“Is it really a free society? We are being told you can buy this, but we are not being told what is in it. So I have to wonder, what’s in our food that they are not telling us? If it is all healthy and good stuff, label it,” said Hudson.

There’s a proposal on the ballot in California this fall for voters there to decide if food companies should label Genetically Engineered foods. There are no studies linking GE corn, soy and other crops to diseases, but activists fear the effects will be seen in the near future.

A change in state law that could have drastically altered the outcome of the Casey Anthony trial goes in to effect today. The new law makes lying to police about a missing child a felony. As Whitney Ray tells us, had the law been in place before the Anthony Trial, Casey might be behind bars today.

Casey Anthony is a free woman. She finished her probation in August and her last known location is being kept from the public for her own protection.

“We are still not releasing that information just in case. We could be jeopardizing somebody’s life, somebody’s security,” said Ann Howard, a spokesperson with the Department of Corrections.

Casey was found not guilty of murdering her daughter Caylee last year. The acquittal sparked public outrage. Casey didn’t report Caylee missing for an entire month and was convicted on four counts of lying to police, a misdemeanor, until now.

Monday, a new law inspired by the Anthony trial, went into affect. Had it been in place before her trial, Casey could be in prison serving 20 years for lying to police.

From now on people who lie to police trying to find anyone under the age of 16 can be charged with a third degree felony, carrying a penalty of five years behind bars.

FDLE Special Agent Supervisor Carol Frederick says the new law gives investigators a better shot at finding missing kids quicker by helping to eliminate false leads.

“If somebody has reported a child missing, it is a serious matter and we all look. We don’t want people to cry wolf,” said Fredrick.

Even though Casey isn’t behind bars, she’s still paying for the death of her daughter. She’s broke and death threats have forced her to live in hiding.

When lawmakers began working on this legislation, it was called Caylee’s law. But the title was quickly changed. The sponsor wanted to make sure people knew it was being drafted broad enough to protect all Florida children.