TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Adjunct or part-time professors from multiple states stop in Tampa today on their "#FreeCollegeNow" bus tour.

The group is traveling through Florida cities asking voters to support political candidates who favor tuition-free college and student loan forgiveness. Organizers say the higher education system is broken, in Florida and across the nation, leaving too many people in debt.

Ryan Christopher Rilea, an adjunct professor from Central Florida, says he works four part-time jobs; his college debt is twice his yearly income and he doesn't receive benefits. He says his situation is far from unique.

"We need to address and recognize we have a student loan debt crisis in our society,” says Rilea. “We would like to see some of those debts reduced or to have some sort of relief. And I think we need at least a $15 minimum wage and union rights for all campus employees, absolutely."

Tuition-free college has been a subject of national debate, garnering support mostly from Democrats, while Republicans have pushed legislation that would cut the amount of student financial aid to save federal dollars. Tennessee was among the first states to offer free college tuition.

Rilea says Florida's cuts to higher education and tuition increases in the past decade are leaving too many people living in or near poverty – both students and their instructors.

"When I'm talking and engaging with my students, we find that their situation is very similar, they're having to absorb lots of debt. The book costs, textbook costs are exorbitant,”says Rilea. “Almost, at least, $120 per class you take, on top of everything."

Florida adjunct faculty members and other low-wage workers invited their peers from other states to join them on this nine-city bus tour. It runs through Aug. 2, with stops in Gainesville, Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville, Sarasota and more.


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Registration is open for the next information session for the Doswell School of Aeronautical Sciences at Texas Woman's University in Denton, where students accepted into the program will study to earn their pilot's license.

The school is the only woman-focused university nationwide with a professional pilot's program.

Clinton Grant, director of the school, explained the program.

"Once they go through all of the steps to get into the program and the semester starts within a week or so they're in an airplane flying," Grant noted. "It's not something they have to wait later as their junior (or) senior years before they get into it. We start them as quickly as we can. So it's a lot of fun."

The program is limited to 25 students in the fall and spring semesters. The next information session is April 11.

During the information session, Grant pointed out he tries to weed out the students who may not be serious about becoming a pilot. In addition to tuition and fees the cost of flight training could exceed over $100,000 and it can take up to seven years to earn a pilot's license.

"Most flight students, they'll become flight instructors," Grant observed. "They turn around and start teaching students to fly and that's how they build their hours. And then once they reach a certain amount of hours they'll be eligible to be employed by a regional carrier."

The aeronauts program is still in its infancy. The first classes were held in the fall of 2024. Grant added as they grow, they will have more options for students.

"We're going to get into some of the air mobility things as well as operations management or aviation management," Grant outlined. "There's a demand in the area for that. So, we will be heading in that direction next."

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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A strike set to begin today has been averted at Western Michigan University, Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine, known as WMed.

Its resident physicians reached a tentative deal with the medical school last week.

For nearly eight months, about 200 residents and fellows had been negotiating for improvements in working conditions, including higher salaries and stipends, and more time off.

Mitchell Batchelder - an organizer and field representative with the Resident and Fellow Alliance, the union representing the residents - said the strike notice seemed to prompt a greater willingness from WMed management to reach an agreement.

He emphasized several key aspects of the deal.

"They secured a three-year contract with guaranteed wage increases in each year," said Batchelder. "They got a meal stipend - you know, they're working 24-hour shifts and they need access to fresh, healthy food in order to bring their best while they're working those 24 hours."

He added that the agreement marks a historic milestone as the first private-sector medical resident contract in the state of Michigan.

Batchelder also stressed the impact such a contract could have on W-Med's future, as well as the community.

With this agreement in place, he predicted the institution will not only retain its current top-tier residents, but also attract new talent.

"From a long-term perspective, for these hospitals in Kalamazoo and for the community, this is a really, really great thing," said Batchelder. "Because it can be really hard sometimes to retain and attract qualified health care professionals. And I think this allows them to have an even stronger pitch to those folks."

Batchelder said he believed this private sector deal could also have a significant national impact on unions and labor laws - highlighting what he describes as the imbalance in current regulations.

He noted that many U.S. labor laws are structured in a way that tends to favor employers.



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This has been "National March Into Literacy Month" but it may become tougher over the summer to "march" into a public library and ask for help finding a good book.

An executive order signed this month by President Donald Trump requires staff and funding cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the agency funding libraries across the country.

One in five Maryland adults has low reading skills, according to the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and 36% of fourth graders read below grade level.

Sandy Keaton, 2025 conference chair for the State of Maryland Literacy Association, said building reading skills can start in the home and parents play a large role in their kids' reading journey.

"The best way to promote literacy is for you to be a reader and for your children to see you being a reader," Keaton emphasized. "The second thing I would say would be to read with your child. You can have him or her read a page to you, then you can read a page. You can have him or her read the entire page."

Nationally, Maryland's literacy rate is in the middle of the pack among states, at 28th.

The library cutbacks come as the National Center for Education Statistics found national reading scores had their largest decline in more than 30 years. Those declines were worse for already low-performing students.

For adults, Keaton suggested starting with a book you like or that is about one of your interests, and go from there.

"If they wanted to continue to build on that knowledge, there are so many exhibitors and vendors that have books that not only will help younger children but will also help the adults," Keaton added.

Keaton recommended librarians as a great resource for all ages to get into reading. They are trained to help people pick books to match their reading level and interests.


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