Education reform. State Board of Education chairman Gary Chartrand champions reforms, and sometimes draws critics, in Jacksonville and beyond. Florida Times-Union. Pensacola outlets, including WUWF and Pensacola Today, look at the past 15 years of education reform in Northwest Florida.
School boards. A cadre of school board members around the state forms an alternative to the Florida School Boards Association. Pensacola News-Journal. Fort Myers News-Press.
Lawsuits. WFSU looks at the legal battle over tax credit scholarships. The program is administered by organizations like Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog and employs the author of this post. The scholarships help students, and the legal challenge is more complicated than the program's critics claim, Step Up's Jon East writes in the St. Augustine Record.
Community schools. Grant applications aim to turn a Pensacola middle school into a community school with wraparound services. Pensacola News-Journal.
Testing. Are Florida's schools ready for computerized testing? Tampa Bay Times. Recess reductions may be helping to fuel the testing backlash. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
STEM. A Sarasota high school retools its science classrooms. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. A state college invites elementary school students onto its campus for science experiments and more. Orlando Sentinel. Some parents are baffled by new math homework. Florida Today. A conference promotes STEM fields for girls. Naples Daily News.
GED. Fewer students are receiving the alternative credential, and tougher tests may help explain why. Tampa Tribune.
Class size. Recent comments by former Gov. Jeb Bush rekindle a debate over Florida's class size amendment. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Poverty. Competing proposals in Washington could affect funding for high-poverty schools. Fort Myers News-Press.
College. A lack of college-prep courses can be a barrier to Florida's Bright Futures scholarships. Lakeland Ledger.
Discipline. Escambia schools need to get tougher on classroom violations, which affect learning for well-behaved students, an Escambia school board member says. Pensacola News-Journal. Southwest Florida schools fare well in a study of juvenile arrests. Fort Myers News-Press.
School construction. NIMBY neighborhoods beat back school construction proposals. Orlando Sentinel.
Superintendents. Duval school board members debate a contract extension for Nikolai Vitti. Florida Times-Union. Manatee's superintendent asks the school board not to renew his pact, which expires in two years. Bradenton Herald. Will school board meddling scare off applicants for Palm Beach's top post? Palm Beach Post.
Oversight. The Marion school board won't require background checks for a tax oversight panel. Ocala Star-Banner.
Administration. New documents shed light on the ouster of the Manatee school district's in-house investigator. Bradenton Herald.
Security. Walton County fortifies school entrances. Northwest Florida Daily News.
Calendars. Proposed legislation would allow Florida school districts to start classes earlier in the year. Palm Beach Post.
