Charter schools. The Miami-Herald writes about a push by parents to keep their F-rated charter school open. The Cape Coral charter system hires an interim superintendent. Fort Myers News-Press.

Special needs. Duval parents win a court fight with the district over appropriate education for their daughter with autism. But what's next? Florida Times-Union.

Lawsuits. Florida Education Association Vice President Joanne McCall explains the union's decision to sue the state over SB 850 in a Tampa Tribune column.

Teacher quality. The Duval school board signs off on a plan intended to draw highly rated teachers to schools where they are needed the most. Florida Times-Union.

Retention. A New York Times article on third-grade retention notes improved reading scores among Florida's fourth graders.

Campaigns. The Sun-Sentinel sizes up the field running for Palm Beach County school board. Seminole County school district employees who campaigned for a sales-tax initiative could face disciplinary consequences. Orlando Sentinel.

Vals and sals. Pasco schools will keep their honorary titles for graduates, at least for the time being. Tampa Bay Times.

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Charter schools. What happened to the Ben Gamla charter school in Pinellas is a "study in bad charter school governance." Choice Words. Parents try to figure out what to do now that a struggling charter school in Deland is closing. Daytona Beach News Journal. Ditto for the parents of a charter school in Lutz. Tampa Tribune. After 22 years in traditional public schools, a local principal is hired to lead the city of Cape Coral charter school system. Fort Myers News Press.

Homeschooling. The Palm Beach Post takes a look at Space of Mind, a pricey but fascinating home-school school that insists it's not a school.

Tax credit scholarships. The number of parents seeking them grows in Highlands and beyond. Highlands Today.

School grades. Education Commissioner Tony Bennett is recommending another year of a "safety net" provision so grades don't drop more than one letter grade. Tampa Bay Times, Miami Herald, Palm Beach Post, Orlando Sentinel, Florida Times Union, Tampa Tribune, TCPalm.com, Associated Press. Other states are watching the goings-on. Miami Herald. Another story on how everyone is expecting grades to drop. Sarasota Herald Tribune.

VPK. Needs to be more focus on pre-K for poor kids. Pensacola News Journal.

Common Core. The Tallahassee Democrat offers an overview of the big challenges and potential payoffs ahead. (more…)

Parent trigger. Citing anonymous sources, Sunshine State News says Gov. Rick Scott helped kill parent trigger. Five GOP senators tell The Buzz he had nothing to do with it. Arne Duncan sorta kinda maybe a wee little bit endorses the concept of parent trigger, notes This Week In Education. Parents would have been at the mercy of for-profit charters because "parents of students in failing schools don’t necessarily have the skill sets to develop corrective plans," writes Florida Voices columnist Rick Outzen.

Tutoring. Lawmakers, including Sen. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, try but fail to keep the mandated program for low-income kids after all. Tampa Bay Times.

Virtual schools. Florida Virtual School doesn't get as much as it expected due to funding changes. Times/Herald.

Turnaround schools. An attempt to restaff a struggling Pasco elementary school doesn't draw many applicants beyond existing teachers. Tampa Bay Times.

Private schools. A Christian school in Orlando plans to begin drug testing students. Orlando Sentinel.

Charter schools. The City of Cape Coral Charter School System has a new superintendent. Fort Myers News Press.

Teacher pay. Teachers won't have to wait for raises, reports the Tampa Bay Times and Tallahassee Democrat. Lawmakers ultimately do the right thing, writes the Tallahassee Democrat. (more…)

School recognition funds. About 1,700 schools will get about $134 million, reports Gradebook. More from SchoolZone, Miami Herald, South Florida Sun Sentinel, TCPalm.com, Florida Times Union, Naples Daily News.

Charter schools. Palm Beach Post: "Palm Beach County has pledged to help a nonprofit charter school sell $10.5 million in mostly tax-exempt bonds so it can open a new campus in Juno Beach — a move that has upset County Commissioner Paulette Burdick, who questions whether the county should aid privately run charters that pull students away from the public school district." More on Cape Coral charter schools asking the Lee County school district for facilities funding from NBC2.

Pre-K. Florida's pre-K isn't the reason its students are surging ahead of Nevada's. Heartland Institute.

Parent trigger. Lakeland Ledger weighs in.

Zero tolerance. Despite changes in the law, thousands of students are still arrested in Florida schools every year for minor infractions. StateImpact Florida.

FCAT. Time again for students to "brace" for the "dreaded" test, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel. This year, teachers and students better prepared for tougher writing standards, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

Grad rates. Another report notes Florida's rate is low but improving. SchoolZone. (more…)

Tax credit scholarships. Tampa Bay Times columnist Robyn Blumner doesn't like U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio's proposal for federal scholarships.

Charter schools. Tampa Bay Times columnist John Romano bemoans the number of charter schools that close because of low enrollment (but curiously doesn't mention traditional public schools that don't get closed despite the same problem). The Cape Coral City Council will consider a resolution asking the Lee County School Board to share capital funding with the city's  charter schools, reports the Cape Coral Daily Breeze. More from the Fort Myers News Press.

Virtual schools. Expanding digital education is a top issue in the coming legislative session. The Florida Current.

Jeb Bush. In education, "he has a record of making messes," the Palm Beach Post editorializes (just days after two more credible, independent reports find Florida students leading the country in progress).

Parental engagement. Duval Superintendent Nikolai Vitti wants to import a Parents Academy program similar to one he worked with in Miami-Dade. Florida Times Union.

Education leadership. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune profiles Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, the chair of the Senate Education Appropriations Subcommittee.

Teacher evaluations. The first year of statewide teacher evaluation data using the complicated the VAM formula shows the big difference in progress for students with the highest-rated teachers versus the lowest-rated teachers. StateImpact Florida.

Teacher testimony. Megan Allen, Florida's 2010 Teacher of the Year,  testifies movingly before Congress about the impact that budget cuts will have on high-needs students. Answer Sheet. (more…)

Florida reform duel. At Jay P. Greene’s Blog, researcher Matthew Ladner responds to a recent critique of Florida’s reforms from Matt Di Carlo at the Shanker Institute. If you want a serious discussion of what’s working or not in Florida, including the impact or not of school choice, these guys are among the ones to read. Ladner’s conclusion: “The problem for Florida reform skeptics, in short, is that there simply isn’t any other plausible explanation for Florida’s gains outside of the reforms. … With large aggregate gains and plenty of positive research, the reasonable course is not to avoid doing any of the Florida reforms, but rather to do all of them.”

School security. Superintendents discuss the issue with the Senate Education Committee, reports the Tampa Bay Times. More from SchoolZone. Committee chair John Legg says he’s not hot on the idea of arming teachers, reporters News Service of Florida. Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gaultier says he's not hot on the idea of armed officers in every elementary school, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Broward school board members worry about the cost of extra school resource officers, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Cape Coral charter schools hire one, reports the Cape Coral Daily Breeze. The Hillsborough school board shoots down Superintendent MaryEllen Elia’s plan for armed guards in every elementary school, with some calling it overboard and too expensive, reports the Tampa Tribune. More from the Tampa Bay Times.

Charter school growth. Florida adds 67 charter schools this year, helping the national number top 6,000, according to new numbers from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, reports SchoolZone. More from StateImpact Florida.

Better Burger vs. Bigger Burger. School boards have too big a conflict in interest in approving charter schools. EdFly Blog.

Sushi. Culinary students at Coral Gables High learn how to make it. Miami Herald.

Teacher evaluations. The Pinellas school board tweaks its state-mandated system, but still doesn’t like it. Tampa Bay Times.

Teacher pay. More on the merit pay court challenge. Tallahassee Democrat.

Teacher input. Get more of it. Tampa Bay Times.

Teacher turnover. Too much of it. Fort Myers News Press. (more…)

Tony Bennett. On his first day on the job, he meets with superintendents and the Florida Association of District Administrators and says he is an “unapologetic advocate for school choice,” reports the Tallahassee Democrat. More from The Buzz. His first comments on the “Commissioner’s Blog” here. Interview with StateImpact Florida.

Charter school funding. More than 1,000 people turn out for a meeting called by Pembroke Pines charter parents to demand equal funding for charter schools, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

School spending. If the Broward school district wants to get the money to repair old schools, it will have to restore trust with voters and overcome a “long and lousy history of stunningly bad behavior,” editorializes the Miami Herald: “The district has been plagued by cronyism, mismanagement and a culture of dishonesty. In a scathing grand jury report released almost two years ago, jurors said they found the district so thoroughly corrupt, so reckless in its spending of taxpayers’ money, they would have recommended abolishing the school board completely if the state Constitution didn’t require its existence.” In Manatee, a forensic audit finds “incompetency -- not criminal or illegal activity -- caused a $3.4 million budget deficit that rocked the public trust,” reports the Bradenton Herald. More from the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

School prayer law. “For the Satanists, it was a godsend,” writes Palm Beach Post columnist Frank Cerabino.

Cold water on the party. Former state Sen. Dan Gelber says there isn’t much for Florida to celebrate in the latest Education Week rankings. Florida Voices.

Murmurs. School administrators wanted to hear more from Gov. Rick Scott, writes Tampa Bay Times columnist Steve Bousquet.

Merit pay challenge. A hearing on the FEA’s challenge of SB 736 is set for Wednesday in Leon County Court. SchoolZone. (more…)

Tony Bennett. The Orlando Sentinel hopes the new commissioner, who begins work today, “treads with discretion.” The Associated Press recalls his tenure in Indiana and ties to Jeb Bush.

Expand school choice now! Sort of. The Tampa Bay Times means options under district control: “The broader answer to improving public education in Pinellas is not a massive expansion of fundamental schools. It's raising the quality of all schools. But increasing the seats for fundamental schools and popular magnet programs to more closely match demand is a discussion district leaders should begin. Otherwise, they risk losing more families to charter schools and private schools — and further undermining broad support for public education.”

Slow down on charter schools. The Palm Beach Post says in one editorial that the Legislature should prioritize traditional public schools over charters. It says in another that the Palm Beach County district’s decision to transfer a troubled principal into administration will give lawmakers an excuse to continue favoring charters.

Checking out choice. In Alachua County, 600 middle school students turn out to see career academy options, reports the Gainesville Sun. In Duval, magnet students spread the word about their programs to prospective students, reports the Florida Times Union. In Miami-Dade, tens of thousands of parents are expected to apply for hundreds of magnet programs, reports the Miami-Herald. In Manatee, the Rock Your Robot Fair lets parents know about STEM options in public and private schools, reports the Bradenton Herald. (In Collier County, businesses urge students to explore STEM, reports the Naples Daily News.) The Tampa Bay Times annual school search section for Pinellas includes information about public and private options, including tax credit scholarships.

Amendment 8. The ACLU saw the proposed amendment, which despite perception had little to do with private school vouchers, as part of a "wide-ranging assault" on Floridians' rights last year by Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-led Legislature, reports the Florida Current.

“Sagging schools.” Tampa Bay Times business columnist Robert Trigaux: “Beneath the top tier of students, our schools at all levels are struggling to educate our kids. Businesses need to help more. And the state needs to spend less time bragging about the educational system and admit it needs assistance.” (more…)