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…)