Florida private schools will get safety alerts just like their public school counterparts, under a bill passed by the Legislature last week and expected to be signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott.

Passed unanimously in both the House and Senate, the bill requires police departments and other emergency response agencies to notify private schools about major incidents like bomb threats and SWAT team raids, as long as the schools opt into a notification program. The Florida Catholic Conference led the charge for the legislation, which, though non-controversial, had fallen short of passage in recent years.

"The bill's passage was a banner day for us," James Herzog, the conference's associate director for education, wrote in an email. "We had advocated for it during the past three sessions and even made it our spotlight education bill during the past two 'Catholic Days at the Capitol.' It was an example of how even a good and simple idea requires careful advocacy and perseverance by supporters to make it to the 'finish line' ... "

This year's bill was buoyed by a focus on school safety in the wake of the shootings in Newtown, Conn.  It was sponsored by Sen. Joe Negron, R-Palm City, and Rep. Mike La Rosa, R-St. Cloud.

There are more than 2,000 private schools in Florida, with total enrollment last year of 316,745. More background on the bill here.

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…)

Parent trigger. The House parent trigger bill clears a second committee in face of growing opposition. Coverage from redefinED and The Buzz. The parent trigger is all about privatizing, editorializes the Bradenton Herald (though the piece appears to be word for word the same one that ran in the Palm BeachPost.)

School choice. Once again, there are far more applicants than slots at the "fundamental schools" in Pinellas, meaning lotteries will leave many parents unhappy. Gradebook.

Charter schools. Florida Virtual Academy, a network of online charters run by K12 Inc., will not seek to open three schools in Central Florida next years as it originally hoped, reports the Orlando Sentinel. A STEM-oriented charter on Marco Island is moving out of a church and into new digs, reports the Naples Daily News.

Graduation requirements. The Orlando Sentinel gives a thumbs up to plans for alternative diploma routes that tie into career education.

Teacher pay. Gov. Rick Scott takes a dig at House Speaker Will Weatherford for not supporting Scott's proposed across-the-board hike in teacher pay, reports The Buzz. More from the Associated Press. Lawmakers wrestle with how much to set aside and what constraints to put on it, reports the Tallahassee Democrat. Growing numbers of teachers are taking second jobs, reports the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

Testing. The Board of Education votes to create a task force to help districts reduce duplication as they create a massive number of end-of-course exams. Tallahassee Democrat. (more…)

The call came on the first day of school, first thing in the morning, from another private school a few blocks away. An intruder had just tried to break in. He took off before police arrived.

Mary Staley, the principal of St. Paul Catholic School in Leesburg, Fla., knew she had to err on the side of caution. She ordered her school locked down.

“You have to think worst possible scenario,” Staley said.

Luckily, police caught the guy quickly, and nothing bad happened. But Staley said it would have been far better if police rather than a cautious neighbor had notified her.

In Florida, there is no requirement for emergency response agencies that routinely contact public school districts about major incidents - fires, SWAT team raids, you name it – to do the same with private schools. At a time when the definition of public education is expanding, it’s a reminder of old dividing lines. But bills to change that got their first hearings before House and Senate committees Tuesday, and cleared both.

The identical bills – SB 284 by Sen. Joe Negron, R-Palm City, and HB 369 by Rep. Mike La Rosa, R-St. Cloud - would require emergency agencies that already notify districts to also notify private schools. Only private schools that voluntarily opt in would be affected.

“I think it would be excessive to require emergency personnel to go identify every school,” Negron told the Senate Education Committee. But “if it’s simply a matter of putting them on the list, I don’t think that’s unreasonable so they’re treated with the same parity as public school.”

The committee voted unanimously for the bill. So did the House Choice & Innovation Subcommittee with its counterpart. (more…)

Teaching to the test. The FEA is rallying members to a petition started by UFS Professor/blogger Sherman Dorn. Gradebook.

Charter schools. In a vote along party lines, the House Choice and Innovation Subcommittee approves a bill that would allow charter schools to move into unused district buildings. redefinED. Coverage also from the Palm Beach Post, Tallahassee Democrat, Gradebook, StateImpact Florida.

Poverty. South Florida Sun Sentinel: "More than half a million kids under 18 in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties live in low-income households that earn up to 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University reports. For a single mom and child, that translates into an income of $30,260 a year or less."

School security. A jury orders the Palm Beach County School Board to pay $1.7 million in a case involving a mentally challenged, 3-year-old girl who was sexually attacked by a 15-year-old ninth grader on a school bus in 2007, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel. More from the Palm Beach Post. A Hernando County middle school teacher on paid administrative leave since last April is on a keep-off-campus list generated by district officials after the Newtown tragedy, reports Hernando Today. Osceola will beef up police presence at elementary schools, reports SchoolZone. The video of a girl beating another girl on a Pasco school bus gets posted on Facebook; arrests ensue, reports the Tampa Bay Times. An 11-year-old, special needs student in Duval either falls or jumps out of a school bus and sustains life threatening injuries, reports the Florida Times Union.

Teacher evaluations. The Florida Times-Union files suit against the Department of Education to force the release of teacher evaluation data. (more…)

Common Core. To conservatives: "I suggest you give up the bashing of a critically important reform simply because your political enemy endorsed it." EdFly Blog.

Charter schools. The highly successful Pembroke Pines charter school system says it deserves a share of the Broward school district's capital improvement dollars, reports the Miami Herald. The Pinellas school district will vote yet again Tuesday on whether to shutter the long-troubled Imagine charter school in St. Petersburg, reports the Tampa Bay Times. A Palm Coast charter hopes to bounce back from an F, reports the Daytona Beach News Journal.

Teacher evaluations. Senate President Don Gaetz says the new evals may be too complicated and, combined with other big changes in education, could put the system at risk of imploding, reports the Florida Current. Washington Post ed blogger Valerie Strauss uses Gaetz's comments to tee off on Florida ed reform.

More on teacher pay. Gov. Rick Scott's proposal runs up against competing demands, reports the Tampa Bay Times. It "would provide welcome relief" but doesn't make up for "all of the damage this governor has done to public education," writes the Times editorial board. Cash shows respect, writes Times columnist Dan DeWitt. It'll help show teachers are valued, writes the Pensacola News Journal. Give Scott credit for supporting merit pay and across-the-board raises, writes the Daytona Beach News Journal. His commitment needs to be more than a one-time gimmick, writes the Palm Beach Post. A good thing no matter the motivation, writes the Gainesville Sun. Transparent pandering, writes the Panama City News Herald. "Met with skepticism," reports the Tampa Tribune. Lawmakers should be careful about both teacher raises and a proposal to transform the state retirement system, writes the Ocala Star Banner.

Satanists. They like the school prayer bill Scott signed last year. Really. Coverage from Tallahassee Democrat and Associated Press. (more…)

There is now a House companion to a Senate bill in Florida that would require private schools to get safety alerts just like public schools.

Rep. Mike La Rosa, R-St. Cloud, filed HB 369 Monday. It's a counterpart to SB 284, filed by Sen. Joe Negron, R-Palm City. Both bills would require emergency response agencies to notify private schools about bombs, fire threats and other major incidents just like they do now with public schools. Only private schools that opt into a school district's emergency notification policy would be affected. (More here).

School safety is expected to be a leading education issue in the Legislature this year in the wake of the tragedy in Newtown, Conn. The session begins March 5.

PolitiFact on PIRLS. PolitiFact looks into Gov. Rick Scott’s statement about how well Florida fourth-graders fared on the recent PIRLS results. The ruling: Mostly True.

Charter school funding. Palm Beach district officials are upset by state budget proposals that would once again give a modest amount of capital outlay money to charter schools and none to district schools. Palm Beach Post.

Class size reduction. Some Broward school board members are worried the district is pushing more students into AP classes to avoid class-size penalties. South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Economies of scale. The Orange County School District joins with other big districts across the country to buy food together and drive down costs. SchoolZone.

School security. A defense expert gives South Florida teachers a day-long session on how to react to armed intruders in their classrooms, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel. A Flagler mom pays for an armed deputy to patrol her child's school, reports the Daytona Beach News Journal.

School spending. Refinancing debt could ease Brevard’s budget crisis. Florida Today.

Testing protest. Is anybody in Florida going to kick it up a notch? Gradebook.

Mentors. A Winter Haven program links students with professionals. Lakeland Ledger.

ESE lawsuit. The latest from Hillsborough. Gradebook.

No honeymoon for Bennett. Especially from the teachers union, reports WCTV. The new commissioner should resolve the bureaucratic limbo over concordant test scores needed for graduation, editorializes the Tampa Bay Times.

Pensions. It’s a political issue for 2014 now that the Florida Supreme Court has ruled against the teachers unions, writes the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

Writing. After last year’s reality check with FCAT writing, many schools changed their approach. Tampa Bay Times.

Teaching. Tampa Tribune columnist Steve Otto says the system is driving out good teachers like his wife.

Testing. Wendy Howard with the Florida Alliance for Choices in Education offers a defense of it in this Orlando Sentinel op-ed.

Scare tactics? How bleak is the budget situation in St. Lucie really? TCPalm.com

What really happened? A forensic audit of Manatee’s fiscal problems leaves unanswered questions. Bradenton Herald.

Perfect storm. A combination of factors led to Brevard’s budget crisis. Florida Today. (more…)

California: A parents group in Los Angeles is using the state's landmark parent trigger law to force the school district to reform a low-performing school. (Los Angeles Times). More from the Associated Press and Education Week. A national report finds the state continues to lead the nation in charter school growth, despite funding disparities and access to facilities (Huffington Post). Oakland district officials say the American Indian Model Schools, a charter network touted for its academic successes, suffers from "corrupt fiscal practices" and should be shut down (Oakland Tribune).

Michigan: A new report finds the typical Michigan charter school student school gained more learning in  a year than a district school peer, amounting to about an additional two  months of reading and math learning (The Detroit News).

Texas: Key state lawmakers are looking at the franchise tax on businesses as a vehicle to fund private-school scholarships for low-income students (Austin Business Journal). Critics of a proposed voucher program say all it will strip the public school system of funding and state leaders should instead restore $5.4 billion cut from education in 2011 (KUT News). Similar arguments in stories from KX11.com and the Associated Press.

Florida: Magnet schools continue to grow on the school choice landscape (redefinED). A new bill would require emergency response agencies to notify private schools just like they do public schools (redefinED). In response to the Newtown tragedy, private schools and charter schools are considering additional security measures too (redefinED).

Georgia: Tax credit scholarships are used at private schools that bar gay students (New York Times). (more…)