Did voucher rally merit more news coverage?

MARCH 25, 2010

The organizers of yesterday's voucher rally in Tallahassee, pictured above, say 5,500 people turned out. We don't know how many thousands are in the photo, but we do know that's a lot of people. And we do know news coverage was fairly limited. Most papers mentioned it only in passing, if at all. Only the Tallahassee Democrat did a full story.

Maybe that's justified, given other big news of the day, especially the Senate's passage of the tenure bill. But then again, when's the last time you saw thousands of parents and students turn out for ANYTHING education-related in the state of Florida? We're not saying they're right or wrong; we're just saying that's a whole lot of people showing up in person to tell lawmakers what they want.

It'll be interesting to see how many people turn out for today's rally in favor of more funding for public schools. And how it's covered.

Posted by Ron Matus at 8:12:07 am on March 25, 2010 in

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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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