School technology. StateImpact Florida takes a look at the One Laptop Per Child program.

Accelerated classes. In Pasco, enrollment is climbing fast in AP, IB and dual enrollment. Tampa Bay Times.

FCAT. Gains not as good as they sound, writes Shanker Blog. Three Pinellas elementary schools have among the worst math scores in the state, reports Gradebook.

Parent trigger. A distraction and faddish. Sherman Dorn.

Superintendents. The new Lee super is Naples High Principal Nancy Graham, but it's not clear whether she's temporary, reports the Naples Daily News. Tony Bennett's a fan of Pinellas' Mike Grego, reports Gradebook.

Ed summit. Speaking of Grego, he's among the speakers at the Florida Sterling Council's annual summit. StateImpact Florida.

Gifted students. Pinellas is eliminating programs for gifted students at a few schools in lieu of offering gifted services at all elementary schools. Tampa Bay Times.

School spending. Broward gets no legislative funding help for its technology and building needs, reports the Miami Herald. More from the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Broward wants to charge a developer $3.6 million in impact fees for four students, the Sun Sentinel also reports. (more…)

Tony Bennett. Interview with Alexander Russo.

School choice. Pasco Superintendent Kurt Browning is forming a high-level task force to examine expansion of district options, reports Gradebook. Miami-Dade is planning to expand its partnership with the academically rigorous Cambridge program from 20 programs in 16 schools to 100 programs in 86, reports the Miami Herald.

Charter schools. Manatee district officials stress the downside to parents considering the conversion of a magnet school to a charter school, reports the Bradenton Herald. More from the Sarasota Herald Tribune. A proposed Somerset Academy charter school, initially shot down by the Palmetto Bay Village Council, will be reconsidered. Miami Herald.

School spending. Florida ranks among the lowest per-pupil. StateImpact Florida. Associated Press.

School grading. Maine, don't hide your problems. EdFly Blog. Here's the message a second time, from former Board of Education Chairmen Phil Handy and T. Willard Fair in an op-ed for the Bangor Daily News.

School security. Wellington High in Palm Beach County bans backpacks in the wake of an alleged bomb threat, reports the Palm Beach Post. Orange will begin screening students with metal detectors after a high school student is arrested with a loaded gun in his backpack, reports the Orlando Sentinel. (more…)

Common Core. Tony Bennett promises the most aggressive deployment of Common Core in the country. StateImpact Florida.

Teacher raises. Guidance from the governor's office, reports Gradebook. Alachua teachers are getting a 2 percent raise., reports the Gainesville Sun.

Teacher conduct. Snoozing teacher, two day suspension. South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Teacher evals. Needs tweaking, says a panel that includes Duval Superintendent Nikolai Vitti. Florida Times Union.

School spending. StateImpact Florida takes a closer look at the state ed budget. The Broward school board decides to outsource most of the facilities department, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel. More from the Miami Herald. Pasco's still looking for ways to fill a projected $26.4 million deficit, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Flagler's decision to eliminate some paraprofessionals draws criticism, reports the Daytona Beach News Journal. (more…)

Parent trigger. Parent trigger is not worth the fuss, writes Orlando Sentinel columnist Beth Kassab: "We're wasting time with political gamesmanship over a bill that both sides are making a bigger stink over than it's worth."

Tony Bennett. New Indiana Superintendent Glenda Ritz accuses former super Tony Bennett, of wasteful spending on technology. Indianapolis Star.

English language learners. The growing challenge of growing numbers of ELLs. Associated Press.

Teacher retention. Pinellas is looking at ways to better recruit and retain teachers at high-needs schools. Finally. Gradebook.

Teacher evaluations. The Florida Education Association is planning to file suit over the new eval system, with details coming today. Gradebook and Orlando Sentinel.

Teacher pay. Miami-Dade teachers get performance-based bonuses - and cheer. Miami Herald. (more…)

Virtual schools. In an Orlando Sentinel op-ed, U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Winter Garden, politely suggests to the Florida Legislature that cutting funding for Florida Virtual School is a bad idea.

Charter schools. Many charter schools struggle under the state's funding system to spend enough in the classroom, reports the Daytona Beach News Journal. Parents of struggling Bradenton Charter School plea with Manatee board members to keep the school open, reports the Bradenton Herald.

Magnet schools. The possibility of new ones is under consideration in Pinellas as the district looks at potential remedies for 11 struggling schools. Tampa Bay Times.

Parent trigger. Education Commissioner Tony Bennett suggested changing the bill to give school boards final say reports StateImpact Florida. The bill is a "simplistic sham," writes the Palm Beach Post.

Diplomas. The House unanimously passes a bill to provide alternative pathways to graduation, including more emphasis on career education, and sends it to Gov. Rick Scott. Coverage from Tampa Bay Times, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel, Associated Press, Tallahassee Democrat.

Board of Education. The Tampa Bay Times documents the downfall of former board member Akshay Desai's health care business.

Educator conduct. Four Orange County staffers are disciplined after making disparaging comments on facebook about students with disabilities. SchoolZone.

Testing. FCAT time again, notes the Daytona Beach News Journal. Preparing for the FCAT and other tests online has been a challenge, writes the Tampa Bay Times. Testing time is eating into computer use, reports the Palm Beach Post. A prime example of testing going too far, writes Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell. (more…)

Legislature. The Senate Education Committee looks like it's done for the session, meaning bills like Sen. Jeff Brandes' micro-credits idea are stranded and maybe dead. Gradebook.

Charter schools. About 300 charter schools students lobby lawmakers for charter school funding, reports Naked Politics. Rep. George Moraitis, R-Fort Lauderdale, says he wants to remove a provision in his charter schools bill requiring districts to share unused facilities with charters, reports The Buzz. Pasco district officials debate errors in charter schools applications, reports Gradebook. The teachers at a closed-down Miami-Dade charter school earned state recognition money for an improved school grade, but district officials are having trouble finding them, reports the Miami Herald.

Magnet schools. The Polk school district is considering creating a K-12 arts system with an elementary and middle school in Lake Wales, where all the other schools are community-run charters. Lakeland Ledger.

Class size. Broward's progress in reducing class sizes to meet state law is resulting in some negative tradeoffs, like ballooning AP classes. Miami Herald. More from the South Florida Sun Sentinel. (more…)

Virtual school. Florida Virtual School supporters fear a tweak in how per-course funding is calculated will result in big cuts. The Buzz and Tallahassee Democrat.

Charter schools. A Palm Beach County charter school is appealing the school board's decision to close it, saying the district didn't do enough to help it, writes the Palm Beach Post. Converting a Lake County Montessori school into a charter would be a good thing, writes Orlando Sentinel columnist Lauren Ritchie.

School security. Gradebook: "A bill that would require Florida schools to have an armed officer on campus unless a principal designates an employee with a concealed carry permit to have a weapon has passed its first hurdle in the state House." More from The Buzz,  Miami Herald Sarasota Herald Tribune, Associated Press.

The Florida model. South Carolina should pay attention to what Florida is doing; the Palmetto State spends more per student and yet its average performance for all students is below the average for low-income students in Florida. Charleston City Paper.

Diploma options. The House Education Committee likes the idea. StateImpact Florida. (more…)

Charter schools. Tampa Bay Times: "Stop the giveaway to charter schools." A charter school company is interesting in buying property at one of more of the three schools that the school board recently voted to shut down next year, reports Florida Today.

Will Weatherford. StateImpact Florida talks to him about his education views - and his own nontraditional education background.

Parent power. Lawmakers are showing strong, bipartisan support for legislation that would give the parents of special needs students more say in their children's education, but groups like Fund Education Now are opposed. Miami Herald.

Testing. Valerie Strauss's Answer Sheet devotes space to a Florida case involving the FCAT and a student who is profoundly disabled.

Teacher pay. In a meeting with the Tampa Bay Times editorial board, Gov. Rick Scott stands by his across-the-board pay plan.

Teacher conduct. Florida Times Union: "An Atlantic Beach Elementary School teacher who used depictions of minstrel caricatures of African-Americans, blackface and a lynching for a second-grade coloring assignment last month said she has used the material for the past three years." (more…)

Charter schools. The Tampa Tribune suggests a compromise is in the works on bills dealing with charter schools funding, facilities and accountability. Senate education leaders want a broader discussion about a proposal to give charter schools dibs on unused school buildings, reports Gradebook. Tampa Bay Times columnist John Romano lists support for "for profit charter schools" as another example of the Legislature not caring about popular opinion. A St. Lucie County School Board member raises the idea of converting a soon-to-be-shuttered school into a charter, reports TCPalm.com.

Private schools. The ones in Marion County are hurt by the recession, but the pain is mitigated by McKay and tax credit scholarships, reports the Ocala Star Banner. Unpaid volunteer teachers come to the rescue of a Brandon private school that experienced an enrollment dip. Tampa Bay Times.

Magnet schools. The Miami-Dade school district is looking to create a new MAST magnet school on one of the FIU campuses, but it hinges on funding from local communities. Miami Herald.

Parent trigger. The Panama City News Herald writes up Friday's vote in the House Education Committee.

The Florida model. Education Commissioner Tony Bennett and Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, are among those participating in Maine Gov. Paul LePage's education summit, reports the Kennebec Journal. More from WABI TV. (more…)

School security. The Legislature is looking at a range of school security proposals, including allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons on school grounds and allowing local voters to hike taxes to pay for school security measures, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Palm Beach Post columnist Frank Cerabino offers his take on the latter. Orlando Sentinel offers more on the latter. More from the Tallahassee Democrat.

School rankings. Asked whether they will be forthcoming this year, Gov. Rick Scott says he's working on it with Education Commissioner Tony Bennett. SchoolZone.

School closings. Tensions rise over Superintendent Kurt Browning's plan to close an alternative school, reports Gradebook. Then he changes his mind, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

School enrollment. Flagler and Volusia counties are seeing enrollment declines, reports the Daytona Beach News Journal.

School rezoning. The latest from Seminole. Orlando Sentinel.

School spending. The Brevard school board approves $30 million in cuts. Florida Today.

School prayer. Some in St. Johns County want it back in graduation ceremonies. St. Augustine Record.

School boards. The Lee County School Board asks the Department of Education to investigate ... the Lee County School Board. Fort Myers News Press.

Charter schools. The traditional media overlooks the good news in the state's new charter school report, writes EdFly Blog. The Pinellas school district is planning to sell a shuttered middle school building to a new charter school group, reports Gradebook. Two well-regarded charters that serve students with disabilities are expected to be renewed in Orange, reports SchoolZone. (more…)