PTA drops out of suit: The Florida PTA has dropped out of the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state's tax credit scholarship program. PTA officials say they still oppose the scholarships, but will direct their focus elsewhere. The Florida Education Association, state NAACP and other groups are continuing an appeal of a court ruling that they do not have standing to sue over the program. Step Up For Students, which sponsors this blog, helps administer the program. Politico Florida.

Nurse shortage: Orange County schools are struggling with a shortage of nurses. The district has just one registered nurse per 3,836 students, which is far below the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendation of one nurse per school. Bringing the district up to that standard would cost about $3 million a year. Orlando Sentinel.

Academies in peril: Four single-gender academies are losing money and have until Dec. 12 to submit turnaround plans to the Duval County School District. Valor Academy of Leadership, a middle and high school for boys, and Virtue Arts and Science Academy, a middle and high school for girls, have collectively spent about $330,000 more than they've collected as of the end of September. Officials from Profectus Learning Systems, the school’s nonprofit operator, say enrollment isn't what they expected it to be. Florida Times-Union.

Home visits: Carlton Palmore Elementary principal Badonna Dardis sends flyers to parents offering to visit one student's home a month. She got 226 responses, which is more than half the enrollment at the Lakeland school. Visiting each of the 226 would take Dardis 18 years. Lakeland Ledger. (more…)

Hiring freeze: The Hillsborough County School District is freezing teacher hiring as part of its austerity measures. The current 140 vacancies will be filled by educators who have been working outside of a classroom. The district is trying to save $130 million this year, in a budget of $2.8 billion. The Gibson Consulting Group is being paid $818,000 to help the district find ways to cut spending. Tampa Bay Times. WFLA.

Contract agreements: The Palm Beach County teachers union and district officials agree on a contract that calls for an average raise of 3 percent for teachers. The starting teacher salary is bumped to $41,000, and the top of the pay scale goes up by about $1,700 to $78,645. Palm Beach Post. Manatee County school officials announce tentative contract agreements with the teachers' and service employees' unions. The agreements call for raises and no increases in health insurance costs for employees. Bradenton Herald.

Improvement ratings: The Florida Department of Education releases its school improvement ratings for alternative and special education centers. Gradebook.

Audit committee: If voters approve a sales tax increase for Manatee County schools, the district will give an audit committee an important role in tracking how the projected $30 million a year is spent. The audit committee will be made up of mostly retired certified public accountants who are volunteers. The school board says it will also consider sharing some of the proceeds with charter schools. Bradenton Herald. (more…)