I am grateful; grateful to have a roof over my head, a warm bed to sleep in and food on a table I am grateful to own. Looking at unemployment rates in Florida right now, I hope you are too?

I am grateful; grateful for the wonderful and solid educational foundation that moved me from high school to college, to Peace Corps service and a non-profit career. I wonder, will Florida's current elementary, middle and high school students be able to say the same about their educational futures and careers in years to come?

I'm from Massachusetts. When I was a kid, I used to love the beginning of spring; not just because the weather in my northeastern state started to warm up but also because when spring arrived so did the traveling carnival circuit. Each year, at the end of April, truckloads full of people bringing disassembled tilt-a-whirls and ferris wheels, would pull into a big empty parking lot to unload their cargo and set up for a week long of carnival fun. One game I always looked forward to playing at the carnival was the shell game, the one with the three coconut shells and the coin. To play, I'd offer a coin to the "masterful shell-handler" and watch intently as the shells were shuffled around, all the while keeping an eye on the shell I thought contained my hidden coin. Eventually, at game's end, I was left with a choice; pick the right shell with the coin or lose the game and forfeit the coin.

Well, shell games at carnivals are one thing, and one small coin is just that; one small coin. But, how would you feel if instead of one small coin, millions, even billions of federal stimulus dollars were being shuffled around by Florida's lawmakers in the state's own sort of shell game? Read Article Here and tell us what you think below.

Florida business groups are starting to show support for the Florida gambling revisions.

Needing to close a $6 Billion budget gap, the House and Senate are unsure of their next move; support the change or knock it down?

The Orlando Sentinel states, "the House plan would generate $373 million next year and $282 million a year after that, according to an economic analysis."

As debate on higher education budgets begins in the House and Senate this week, uncertainty abounds. In an attempt to prepare for impending cuts, administrators at Florida State University released a draft of a proposal yesterday that could mean the elimination of twenty-one degree programs. Jayne Standley, President of FSU's Faculty Senate, says, "these cutbacks don't have to happen. The Legislature could solve this problem by solving the revenue problem in Florida." Do you agree?

In the Summer of 2007, The Florida School Boards Association passed around an idea; an idea that would be voted upon unanimously and then eventually tabled, an idea to sue the state of Florida. Should the lawsuit have been tabled? What do you think?

Somehow, someway Florida has to solve its most challenging problem; a $6.1 billion budget deficit. With ample cuts already proposed for statewide health care programs like Medicaid, a tobacco tax could be Florida's best bet in regards to shoring up its health care budget. Read editorial opinion here.

With all the talk going on from different circles on the state of education in Florida, it's hard to know who to trust. Newspapers, blogs, TV pundits, and politicians all paint very different pictures of where they think the state is headed. What about our education system? Do you feel like it's broken beyond repair?

T.K. Wetherell shares his thoughts on the state of things. We hope you will share yours as well.

Florida citizens just did an amazing thing: 71% of you just called for a $1.00 a pack tax increase for off-brand cigarette makers.

Florida's Guardian Ad Litem program is a statewide agency that represents abused, abandoned and neglected children in the court system and community. Currently, over 6,000 children are in need of a Guardian ad Litem volunteer but the ability to provide a voice for these children could be severly hampered if a proposed 23 percent reduction to their program budget is approved. Read article here.

In regard to Florida's Medicaid managed-care plans, "Florida is lagging considerably behind the rest of the nation," states Richard Sorian of the National Committee on Quality Assurance in Washington, D.C. To read more, click here.