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…)

Testing troubles: Bandwidth has been expanded, security upgraded and testing software improved. But, experts warn, there's no way to guarantee trouble-free computerized testing when the Florida Standards Assessments writing tests begin Feb. 29. Tampa Bay Times. Tampa Tribune.

Testing dispute: State business leaders are avoiding direct criticism of Gov. Rick Scott over the state Department of Education's decision not to raise the passing scores for the Florida Standards Assessments. But they're continuing to push for higher standards. Politico Florida.

School grades: About 5 percent of the state's schools received a different final grade than they did when simulated grades were released in December. Politico Florida. Sixty-six South Florida schools received F grades, a record high. Broward County had 29, Miami-Dade 20 and Palm Beach 17. Sun-Sentinel.

District police force: The Orange County School District is budgeting $1.5 million to start its own police force. The mission is to enhance security through measures such as campus checks and weapons screenings, and to work with local law officers already patrolling the schools. Orlando Sentinel.

School uniforms: The debate over school uniforms is a topic of conversation in Escambia County. Earlier this month, dozens of girls at Washington High School were ordered to change clothes after coming to school in leggings that didn't meet the dress code. Pensacola News Journal.

Charter schools: Somerset Academy's plans for three charter schools can move ahead after the state Board of Education overturns decisions by two school districts denying the applications. Somerset can start a middle school in St. Lucie County and an elementary and middle school in Indian River County. The districts can appeal the decision. TCPalm. A proposed charter school in Collier County is delaying its opening until August 2017. Collier Charter Academy officials have squabbled with residents over its proposed location in Golden Gate Estates. Naples Daily News. (more…)

K-12 budget: The Florida Senate Education Appropriations Committee proposes raising the K-12 education budget by $650 million, to $20.3 billion, which is about $150 million more than Gov. Rick Scott requested. The proposal would increase per-student funding from $7,107 to $7,249. Still to be determined is how much of the money comes from local property taxes. Miami Herald. Politico Florida. News Service of Florida.

School recess: A Florida House education subcommittee unanimously passes a bill that requires 20 minutes of recess a day in the state's elementary schools, in addition to the required physical education instruction. The bill does not allow recess to be withheld for disciplinary reasons. Orlando Sentinel. Miami Herald. Politico Florida. Lakeland Ledger. Pinellas County School Superintendent Mike Grego says starting in August, every county elementary school will have 20 minutes of recess daily, or at least on days when students don't have physical education. Tampa Bay Times.

Prayer dispute: The Liberty Institute, a law firm that specializes in religious liberty issues, is representing Cambridge Christian of Tampa in a dispute with the Florida High School Athletic Association over praying before a football game against University Christian School in December. The Liberty Institute has demanded a written apology from the FHSAA for what it calls a “gross violation” of the law by prohibiting the schools from saying a prayer over the public address system. The FHSAA has 30 days to respond. If it doesn't, the school says it will take the issue to federal court. Fox News. Tampa Tribune. Tampa Bay Times.

School uniforms: After hearing objections from dozens of parents, the Volusia County School Board delays a vote on requiring school uniforms for all K-12 students. The board did make one change to the proposal by adding jeans to the list of acceptable clothing. Daytona Beach News-Journal. (more…)

Parent trigger. Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, files a bill similar to last year's, drawing immediate fire from the Florida Democratic Party. News Service of Florida. More from the Tallahassee Democrat.

More tutoring oversight. The U.S. Department of Education is disturbed by what the Tampa Bay Times found with Florida's state-mandated tutoring program, reports Gradebook. Pinellas Superintendent Mike Grego asks Education Commissioner Tony Bennett to scrap the program completely, Gradebook also reports. The Miami-Dade school district also wants the mandate repealed, reports the Miami Herald. A tutoring company owner in Miami-Dade pleads guilty to 47 counts of fraud and grand theft and is sentenced to five years probation, the Herald also reports.

Charter schools. South Florida Sun Sentinel columnist Michael Mayo writes about the money feud that's pitting the successful Pembroke Pines charter school system against the Broward school district.

More Rubio vouchers. StateImpact Florida logs it in.

Teacher absenteeism. Florida teachers collectively have one of the lowest absentee rates in the country, according to a new Center for American Progress report, notes Gradebook. But with 29.1 percent missing at least 10 days in a 180-day year, it is still high.

Teacher evaluations. The Florida Times Union objects to the Florida Education Association's request to intervene in the newspaper's suit against the Department of Education for withholding teacher eval data. (more…)

Private schools. What happens to private school records when private schools close? Sometimes, they disappear. Palm Beach Post.

Charter schools. The Broward school district is taking a closer look at how much it charges charter schools for bus transportation after a citizens task force complains the district is losing money on the deal and subsidizing the competition. Miami Herald. (The district is considering other ways to reduce busing costs, too, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel.) A K-8 charter school that teaches boys and girls separately is proposed for Palm Beach Gardens, reports the Palm Beach Post.

School choice. The Palm Beach district gets 17,500 applications for about 9,000 district choice seats. Palm Beach Post.

Digital education. Florida's mandates on digital offerings brings opportunities and challenges, editorializes the Palm Beach Post.

Privatization. The Volusia school district is right to consider outsourcing custodial services to save money, editorializes the Daytona Beach News Journal. The move could save about $5 million a year, the News Journal reports.

Florida's progress. Matt Di Carlo at the Shanker Blog: "Again, Governor Bush and supporters of his reforms have some solid evidence to draw upon when advocating for the Florida reforms, particularly the grade-based accountability system. The modest estimated effects in these high-quality analyses are not as good a talking point as the “we quadrupled the number of A-rated schools in six years” argument, but they are far preferable to claiming credit for what’s on the scoreboard after having changed the rules of the game."

Pace of change. Sweeping changes to teacher evaluations, academic standards and testing have district officials on edge and lawmakers considering changes. Tallahassee Democrat. (more…)

More on school security in Newtown aftermath. Miami Herald. South Florida Sun Sentinel. Orlando Sentinel. Florida Times Union. Florida Today. Pensacola News Journal. In Pinellas, rumors of coming violence prompt Superintendent Mike Grego to email principals, and in Hillsborough, bullets on buses, reports Tampa Bay Times here and here.

School district image. A review by an outside agency suggests the Palm Beach County school district needs to a better job communicating and marketing itself, according to the Palm Beach Post. (As far as I know, no response yet from either the district or the Post to this EAG report last week on questionable district spending.)

More school district image. The Clay County School Board approves the hiring of a second public relations officer – a family friend and supporter of new Superintendent Charlie Van Zant Jr., reports the Florida Times Union.

Superintendent search. In Polk. Lakeland Ledger.

STEM. It’ll take guts and resources for state education leaders to finally make science education a priority, writes FSU physics professor Paul Cottle in this op-ed for the Orlando Sentinel.

Charter teacher pay. Trustees for Lake Wales Charter Schools want better pay and benefits to retain teachers, reports the News Chief.

Can’t fire her. The Sarasota school district loses its third bid to fire a teacher found not guilty of abusing developmentally disabled students, reports the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

Teacher evals. Alachua County teachers raise their concerns at a forum with three lawmakers, reports the Gainesville Sun.

The head of one of Florida’s two statewide charter school support groups is stepping down to lead a more targeted effort. Cheri Shannon, president and CEO of the Florida Charter School Alliance, is leaving at the end of the month to lead University Prep, a new charter network she says will focus exclusively on low-income students. To some extent, she’ll be coming full circle, having once run a charter school in Kansas City, Mo., that served students who were predominantly black and high poverty.

“This is my passion, my mission. ... I felt called, for lack of a better word, to come back in and do that work,” Shannon told redefinED. “This is where I want to end my career, making a difference in the lives of kids who deserve a difference.”

Shannon joined the alliance in April 2011 as its founding CEO. A former associate superintendent in the Kansas City school district, she has years of experience in both traditional school districts and the charter sector.

Her new venture already has four charter school proposals in the pipeline, including one scheduled to go before the Pinellas County School Board on Tuesday. The school boards in Broward and Palm Beach counties have already signed off on the University Prep applications in their districts. The application in Hillsborough is scheduled to go before that district’s board next month, Shannon said.

The Pinellas proposal is for a K-8 school in St. Petersburg with a projected, first-year enrollment of 694 students. The plan is to open next fall. (To read more about the application, go to page 318 of the school board agenda packet.)

The proposal stands before an interesting legal backdrop - a 2010 settlement from a class-action lawsuit that accused the Pinellas district of failing to educate black students in violation of the state constitution. Under its terms, the Pinellas school board set an aspirational goal of having at least 500 spaces in charter schools available for black students. (more…)