Hillsborough School Board candidates weigh in on religious holidays

During Wednesday's Hillsborough School Board forum sponsored by the Westchase Government Affairs Committee and World of Westchase, the northwest Hillsborough community's newsmagazine, candidates for District 1 and District 7 were asked about boundary shifts, budget cuts and failing schools.

One question focused on the board's controversial decision to adopt a secular calendar for 2007-08 and if that policy should be changed. Here are the candidates' responses:   

Pasco gets Colbert treatment

See here for a little context on the firing of Pasco's wizard/substitute teacher.

---Adam Smith

Times' student loan story spurs federal legislation

One man had felony convictions for safecracking, breaking and entering, and larceny. Another came to Florida with $2.8-million in unpaid debts, after the Michigan Bar Association rapped his "cavalier approach to other people's money." Yet both found a lucrative niche in the federal student loan business.

Today, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) said last month's Times story about Roger Wayne Morgan and Joseph Pursley inspired her to seek federal legislation that would require stricter background checks for those who seek to sell student loans with Uncle Sam's backing.

Read about it in the Times' education blog, The Gradebook.