Bathroom fights: The Duval County School District, the school board and Superintendent Nikolai Vitti are being sued over the district's policy that permits children to use the bathrooms that conform to their gender identity. The suit was filed by Wes White, a Republican running for state attorney, on behalf of Wryshona Isaac and her four children. The suit says the policy "denies her children a safe and supportive environment.” Florida Times-Union. Florida Politics. Washington and Holmes counties school officials say they will not follow the Obama administration directive urging districts to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms that conform to their gender identity. Panama City News Herald. The Collier County School Board is asking for input from the community to help set a bathroom policy for transgender students. All board members say the letter from the U.S. government was an "overreach." Naples Daily News.

Charters on notice: The Pinellas County School Board votes unanimously to cancel contracts with three Newpoint Education Partners charter schools in 90 days unless several financial and curriculum problems are corrected. Another charter school, Florida Virtual Academy, also was given notice because it has not met the requirements of a corrective action plan. The four schools have almost 1,000 students and collect $6 million in public money. Tampa Bay Times. WFLA.

School resegregation: The number of U.S. public schools that were both poor and racially segregated jumped from 7,009 in 2001 to 15,089 by 2013-2014, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office. Los Angeles Times. Education Week.

Girls rule: For the first time, girls outscore boys on the National Assessment of Educational Progress national test of technology and engineering literacy among eighth-graders. Washington Post. THE Journal. (more…)

Bathroom access: The Marion County School Board approves a policy to ban transgender students from using the bathroom based on their gender identity. The measure goes into effect today. Ocala Star Banner. Earlier Tuesday, the ACLU of Florida issued a letter warning the board that the policy would harm students and "violate Title IX sex discrimination requirements, violate the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution and jeopardize federal funding for the school district." Ocala Star Banner. WCJB.

LGBT policy: A divided Brevard County School Board is asking school officials to amend the district's nondiscrimination and equal employment policies to include protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students and staff. The revisions would be discussed at a public meeting before being voted on by the board. Florida Today.

Test scores: U.S. high school seniors' National Assessment of Educational Progress test scores dropped slightly in math and stayed about the same in reading, according to the 2015 Nation’s Report Card from the National Assessment Governing Board. Florida seniors' results mirrored the national ones, though Florida scored slightly higher than the national average in both subjects. Sunshine State News.

District overspending: The Broward County School District's police department has overspent its budget by about $2.5 million, prompting an audit and a request to the school board for more money. The department has just $50,000 left in its budget for this fiscal year, and $3.5 million in expenses that have not been paid. The financial problems were discovered in a review of the way the department handles personnel investigations. Sun-Sentinel.

School choice: Dismantling school choice would harm Florida students, schools and taxpayers, warns John Kirtley, venture capitalist and chairman of Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog. He was speaking to the Economic Club of Florida. The Florida Education Association and other groups have sued the state, challenging the constitutionality of the school choice programs. The case goes to a state appeals court in May. Step Up For Students administers tax-credit scholarships for about 80,000 low-income students, and also the Gardiner Scholarships for students with disabilities. Tampa Tribune. Miami Herald. Politico Florida. WFSU. (more…)

School suspensions: Suspensions in Florida K-12 schools dropped almost 13 percent from the 2011-2012 school year to 2013-2014, according to the Department of Education. That's a decline of about 54,100 students, from more than 425,600 to 371,500. WUFT. Pinellas County school officials will offer parents of suspended students the option of sending their child to an alternative district school to serve the suspension rather than miss schoolwork. Officials think that alternative could prevent students from falling behind and potentially dropping out of school. Tampa Bay Times.

Teacher shortage: The Florida Department of Education says there's a critical shortage of teachers in the state, especially for English, exceptional student education, reading, foreign language, English for speakers of other languages, science and mathematics. Included in the shortage figures are teachers who are hired to teach courses without the appropriate certification. More than 4 percent of the state's teachers are teaching out of field, and the percentages are higher in failing and low-income schools. Miami Today.

Computer science standards: The Florida Board of Education is considering adopting new computer science standards to be added to existing science standards. The board is scheduled to vote May 20 on the K-12 standards. Orlando Sentinel.

Sales tax holiday: Gov. Rick Scott signs off on a tax-cut package on Wednesday that includes the back-to-school sales tax holiday. Clothing, shoes and backpacks that cost $60 or less and supplies that cost less than $15 will be tax-exempt from Aug. 5-7. Palm Beach Post. Tampa Bay Times. Sunshine State News. News Service of Florida.

Earning extra money: The Pinellas County School District recently announced it would pay teachers up to $25,000 more a year to teach in five low-income, failing schools as part of a turnaround plan. What do the teachers have to do to earn the extra money? They would have to attend 30 hours of additional training, work a longer school day and teach in the Summer Bridge program. They also would have 36 hours in the extended learning program. The range of the pay raises is $18,000 to $25,000. Gradebook. (more…)

Testing alternatives: A bill allowing school districts to use alternatives to the Florida Standards Assessments tests didn't get through this year's Legislature. But Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, says he'll make another push for the bill in the 2017 legislative session. Politico Florida. Members of the Manatee Opt-Out movement plead with school officials to work with them. But they're told the district is obligated to follow the state statutes, which requires students to sit for the tests. Bradenton Herald.

Failing schools: A report by the NAACP's St. Petersburg branch calls on Pinellas County school officials to acknowledge they have failed to provide an equal education for black students. The report also says parents feel ignored by school leaders, and that Superintendent Mike Grego should step down if the five failing schools in the black community don't make dramatic improvements. Tampa Bay Times. Teachers at Oak Ridge Elementary criticize Alachua County Commissioner Bill Proctor’s claims that their school is failing its students. Proctor recently called on the state to take over six south Tallahassee schools that are "separate and unequal" facilities. Gainesville Sun.

Confederate flag: The Indian River County School Board declines to ban the display of the Confederate flag from school campuses. "We can't legislate morality," Superintendent Mark Rendell says. "Our job is to try to teach these kids how to be good, young citizens." TCPalm.

School choice: The Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options, based in Palm Beach County, is recruiting Hispanic leaders for training to lobby for school choice policies and run for elected offices. The group wants to start in Florida and then replicate the program in other states. Politico Florida.

Teacher evaluations: A change in the "deliberate practices" portion of teacher evaluations is responsible for a huge decline in the number of teachers who are rated "highly effective," Orange County School District officials tell the school board. The "deliberate practices" requires teachers and administrators to choose an area and then measure the teacher's improvement in that area. In the 2013-2014 school year, 81.2 percent of county teachers were rated highly effective. In 2014-2015, the percentage dropped to 2.4 percent. Orlando Sentinel. (more…)

Computer coding: A bill allowing Florida students to take computer coding to satisfy foreign language requirements has been weakened in the Florida Senate, which will vote on the measure today. The bill now says public schools may offer coding classes in place of foreign languages, but do not have to. Orlando Sentinel. Miami Herald. Politico Florida.

Teacher bonuses: Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, says the Senate is working on a package of its own priorities for teacher bonuses. Any differences in the bill with the House version will have to be negotiated. Politico Florida.

Alternative testing: A bill that would allow the use of alternatives to the Florida Standards Assessments, such as the ACT or SAT, is still awaiting a Senate committee hearing. And there is no companion bill in the House. Sunshine State News.

LGBT policy killed: The Brevard County School Board declines to adopt a proposed non-discrimination and equal employment policy for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the schools. Florida Today. (more…)