Tampabay.com
APRIL 10, 2008

Miami-Dade to join state college pilot

UPDATE: Senators just added Polk community college to the pilot.

Miami-Dade community college would be added to a state pilot project that has community colleges concentrating on four-year bachelor's degrees, under changes to a Senate bill (1716) headed for a floor vote next week. Also involved in the state college pilot would be St. Petersburg, Okaloosa-Walton,
Daytona Beach, and Indian River community colleges.

House Speaker Marco Rubio is from Miami-Dade; incoming speaker Ray Sansom's district includes Okaloosa, and Senate President Ken Pruitt's district includes Indian River.

The bill, like the House companion to be considered by the policy and budget council this afternoon, creates the Florida College System of community colleges offering 2- and 4-year degrees and creates a task force to recommend an approval process for four-year degree programs at community colleges and "state colleges."

The aim is to deal with the state's workforce needs.

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Gradebook features education articles and insights on schools in Florida, focusing on Tampa Bay area schools. What's the latest from the Florida Department of Education? How is the FCAT being used to compare Florida schools? What's going in on in Tampa Bay schools? Get an insider's view from the Times education reporting team.

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Rebecca Catalanello covers Pinellas County schools. E-mail her: rcatalanello@tampabay.com.

Tony Marrero covers Hernando County schools. E-mail him: tmarrero@tampabay.com.

Marlene Sokol covers Hillsborough County schools. E-mail her: sokol@tampabay.com.

Ron Matus covers Pinellas County schools. E-mail him: matus@tampabay.com.

Jeffrey S. Solochek covers Pasco County schools. E-mail him: solochek@tampabay.com.

Kim Wilmath covers the University of South Florida. E-mail her: kwilmath@tampabay.com.

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