School testing: Pasco County School Superintendent Kurt Browning says he'll lobby the Legislature to allow school districts to choose whether to administer the Florida Standards Assessments tests by computer or with pencil and paper. Browning thinks switching back to the old model will be easier on students and allow districts to shorten the testing time. Gradebook. Two Lake Nona High School administrators are reprimanded for not following school policies when preparing for Advanced Placement exams. More than 300 exams had to be retaken, at a cost of $14,715 to the district, because desks in the testing room were placed 4 feet apart instead of the required 5 feet. Orlando Sentinel.

Longer days: The school day will last an extra hour a day for 312 of the state's elementary schools that posted poor reading scores. Thirty-four of the schools are in central Florida. Orlando Sentinel. Marion County has eight of the state's lowest-performing schools. Ocala Star Banner.

School discipline: The Duval County School Board approves changes in the student code of conduct that are expected to cut back on out-of-school suspensions. The board also approved stiffer penalties for students who fight on buses. Florida Times-Union. (more…)

Job cuts urged: A consultant tells the Hillsborough County School District that it should cut 1,761 jobs over the next five years to save $404 million. More than 1,000 of those job cuts would come from the teaching staff, which the Gibson Consulting Group says is larger than comparably sized districts. The report does not include any cutbacks of administrators. School officials will begin conversations about the report with two labor unions this week. Tampa Bay Times.

School nurse shortage: Florida has just 1,300 school nurses for more than 4,170 public schools. It would need to triple that number to meet recent guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The group says every school should have a nurse. Orlando Sentinel.

Repairs needed: The Palm Beach County School District needs about $1.2 billion to make "critical" building repairs that were put off during the recession, according to a report by the Maintenance and Plant Operations Department. School roofs and windows, classroom lighting and fire alarm systems all reportedly need attention. The study comes as the district is asking voters to raise the county sales tax. Palm Beach Post. Sun-Sentinel.

Retention fallout: Manatee County School Superintendent Diana Greene says it would be a "massive understatement" to say she was "angry, frustrated and disappointed in the FLDOE's lack of leadership on this extremely important issue" of retaining third-graders who did not participate in state standardized testing. Greene also released an email she received from the Department of Education when she asked about retention. Gradebook. About 15 parents and students protest against the Sarasota County School District's promotion policies. Superintendent Lori White says third-graders who refuse to take the Florida Standards Assessments or an alternative test can be promoted if they show mastery of the state's benchmarks in several other tests. Some districts allow promotion through a student's portfolio of work. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (more…)

Low graduation rates: Thirty percent of Florida's high schools were considered to be "low-graduation rate high schools" in 2014, according to a report by America’s Promise Alliance and other advocacy groups. Only Alaska and New Mexico were worse. Politico Florida.

Pre-K spending: Florida ranks just 39th in spending on pre-kindergarten, according to the annual State of Preschool Yearbook from the National Institute for Early Education Research. The state spends $2,304 per child. The national average is $4,489. The state's enrollment fell by 3 percent, or 3,744, from 2013-14 to 2014-15. Florida Times-Union.

IG urged for district: Broward County School Board member Laurie Rich Levinson wants the district to hire an inspector general to investigate fraud, waste and mismanagement in the district. An outside auditor made that recommendation five years ago after a grand jury report found widespread corruption and misuse of money. The idea was not supported then, but recent financial problems in the district led Levinson to suggest it was time. Sun-Sentinel.

Superintendent under fire: The St. Petersburg NAACP is calling for the resignation of Pinellas County School Superintendent Mike Grego, alleging that he has not taken responsibility for the problems at five predominantly black, failing elementary schools in St. Petersburg or come up with a plan to improve them. Grego says he has no plans to resign. Tampa Bay Times.

Charter debt forgiven: Newpoint Education Partners is forgiving the nearly $1 million debt it says it is owed by Windsor Prep Academy, according to a lawyer for the school. Newpoint was indicted last week by an Escambia County grand jury on grand theft and money laundering charges. The Pinellas County School Board will vote next week on a proposal to terminate the contracts with Windsor Prep and two other Newpoint charter schools in the county. WFLA. (more…)

Trying to compete with teachers unions for influence. The Miami Herald looks at growing political contributions from charter and virtual school interests, and frames the story this way: “Some observers say the big dollars foreshadow the next chapter of a fierce fight in Tallahassee: the privatization of public education.” Last Friday on redefinED, Doug Tuthill argued that the term “privatization,” as typically used in ed debates, is misleading.

Florida Supreme Court and vouchers. Two separate columns in recent days cited the Florida Supreme Court’s 2006 decision to overturn vouchers as a reason behind efforts to convince voters to deny the retention of three justices. South Florida Sun-Sentinel columnist Michael Mayo here. UF law professor Joe Little in the Tallahassee Democrat here.

State Board of Education is wrong. So says the Tampa Bay Times, in this editorial about the board’s decision to set race-based achievement goals that include steeper rates of progress for low-income and minority students. More coverage in the Orlando Sentinel here.

Complaints about private school in Pasco. WTSP-Ch. 10 talks to parents who say officials are doctoring tests and report cards at Zephyrhills Christian Academy, a private school that accepts McKay vouchers for disabled students.

Superintendents and tax-credit scholarships. St. Johns County Superintendent Joe Joyner relays his concerns to the Florida Times Union.

New teacher evals cause angst in Pinellas. Tampa Bay Times story here.

Voucher tsunami. (This story from the Topeka Capital-Journal is a couple weeks old, but I didn’t see it until this weekend.) A leading state lawmaker in Kansas, Rep. Marc Rhoades, says vouchers are on their way to the Sunflower State, and he references programs in Milwaukee and Florida: “In my opinion, it’s like a tidal wave that’s coming, and I don’t know that the education establishment can withstand it forever.”