Choice lawsuit dismissed: The Florida Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal by several groups that were challenging the constitutionality of the state’s tax credit scholarship program. The vote was 4-1. The decision upholds an appeals court ruling that the plaintiffs, including the Florida Education Association and the Florida NAACP, did not have standing to file the suit. About 98,000 low-income children are attending private schools with the help of the scholarships, which are funded by a law that permits corporations to donate money to the program and get a tax credit. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the scholarships. Miami Herald. Orlando Sentinel. Tallahassee Democrat. Gradebook. Associated Press. News Service of Florida. Politico Florida. redefinED. Florida Politics. Sunshine State News. Joanne McCall, president of the Florida Education Association, wonders who can challenge the Legislature on the tax credit scholarship program. “This ruling, and the decisions by the lower court, doesn’t answer that question,” she said in a statement. “We still believe that the tax credit vouchers are unconstitutional, but we haven’t had the opportunity to argue our case in court.” Florida Politics.

Charter law upheld: An appeals court upholds a Florida law that allows the Board of Education to overturn a local district's denial of a charter school application. The Palm Beach County School claimed in its suit that the law was unconstitutional because it infringed on local boards' power to approve or deny charter schools. The Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled that the Florida Constitution creates a hierarchy that gives boards local control, but gives the state board supervisory authority. The court also ordered the state's appeal commission to re-examine the case and send its justification for denial to the state Board of Education for another review. News Service of Florida. Palm Beach Post.

The Trump effect: The Brevard County School District is trying to prepare for the effect President-elect Donald Trump may have on local schools, but say it's hard to know exactly what it will be. “I’m just very unsure, very, very unsure what the presidential election means to the educational lives of next year’s kindergartners,” says Superintendent Desmond Blackburn. Some of Trump's stated goals are similar to what the district already does or is moving toward, but few details of how Trump's plan will be enacted have been released. Florida Today. Teachers unions in Florida and around the country are demonstrating in protests today against the Trump education agenda and the nominated education secretary, Betsy DeVos. Politico Florida.

Metric measurements: Florida high schools will become the first in the United States to use metric measurements for throwing and jumping events in track meets. Metrics have been used for all state high school running events since 1990. The change begins next month, and will be mandatory in 2018, according to the Florida High School Athletic Association. New York Times. (more…)

Finish-the-year pay: The Orange County School District reaches an agreement with 111 retiring teachers to work through the end of the school year. The teachers will be paid their current rate for the days beyond their retirement date, which is six days before the end of the school year. Orlando Sentinel.

Charter school query: The St. Johns County School District is investigating “allegations of irregularities” in First Coast Technical College’s administrative and reporting practices. FCTC is a charter school. An employee is alleging that FCTC, a charter school, encourages students to do poorly on the Tests Of Adult Basic Education so they could be eligible for a scholarship. St. Augustine Record.

Graduation rate dips: The Lake County School District says it has to improve its graduation rate, which has fallen about three percentage points in two years and is now below the state average of 75.8 percent. School officials say data entry mistakes and a loss of interest by students are contributing factors. Daily Commercial.

District goals: The Indian River County School District received an A grade from the state, but it still needs improvement in student discipline, elementary reading proficiency and fifth-grade English, Superintendent Mark Rendell says in his state of the district speech. TCPalm. (more…)