Accountability: A look at why the accountability piece in former Gov. Jeb Bush's overall education program seems to be eroding. The Cato Institute. State education officials stall on a records request for a  school-by-school breakdown of school grades that would show how each school fared under the original grading formula. Tampa Bay Times. Duval County School Board members criticize Superintendent Nikolai Vitti's projections for student growth. Florida Times-Union.

Budgets: The Escambia County School Board adopts a tentative $553 million budget and sets the millage rate. Pensacola News Journal. The Polk County School Board sets its first public hearing for the $754.9 million budget at month's end. The Ledger. Sarasota County property taxes are set to rise to help with increased school costs. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Leon County Schools Superintendent Jackie Pons unveils a $281-million spending plan. Tallahassee Democrat.

Common Core: Florida education leaders look at creating the state's own Common Core State Standards tests. The News Service of Florida. Duval County teachers prepare for the new standards. Florida Times-Union. Five Florida Republican leaders ask GOP members to support the new Common Core State Standards. StateImpact.

Teacher pay: Collier County teachers gather to plan their next move following the school board's decision to freeze salary increases. Naples Daily News.

Safety: Collier County school officials call a recent bus accident that injured a student a tragedy, but say the district's transportation system is regularly reviewed for safety. Naples Daily News. New gates and fences are going up at some Hillsborough County schools that officials deemed too accessible. Tampa Bay Times. Sarasota County schools cut back on police resource officers due to finances. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Teacher conduct: Four teachers from Broward and Palm Beach counties lose their licenses for misconduct ranging from bank fraud to child abuse. Sun Sentinel.

Back-to-school: The Florida Department of Health is offering Broward County students free immunizations. Sun Sentinel. Target and The Salvation Army team up to outfit students for school. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (more…)

Online learning. Broward College creates Broward College Online. South Florida Sun Sentinel. Flagler considers distributing thousands of laptops to high school students next year. Daytona Beach News Journal. Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, tells the News Service of Florida (subscription required) that it didn't get traction on its top priority last spring but will continue to push for it: moving the state "to a one-to-one student-to-technology-or-digital-device ratio by 2016."

Dual enrollment. Add the Pensacola News Journal to the list of papers writing on the cost shift to districts for dual enrollment.

Teacher conduct. Parents file a second lawsuit against a Coconut Creek preschool after allegations that students were molested by a music teacher. South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Teacher pay. The Collier County School Board will decide whether teachers get a raise in the wake of a special magistrate's recommendation in favor of it. Naples Daily News.

Early learning. Ninety community leaders gather in Pensacola to stress its importance. Pensacola News Journal.

School discipline. Expulsions down a lot in Hillsborough. Tampa Bay Times.

STEM. Hundreds of students participate in STEM-focused summer camps organized by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Stetson University and Daytona State College. Daytona Beach News Journal.

After months of reports that some Florida public schools are limiting or denying students access to Florida Virtual School, the state’s chancellor of public schools is putting districts on notice.

“School districts may not limit student access to courses offered through the FLVS,” Pam Stewart wrote in a recent memo to superintendents. “Since the Florida Legislature passed legislation in 2013 that impacts the funding of school districts and FLVS will receive, it is important that you remember the statutory requirements.”

As redefinED has noted, the new funding formula has left fewer state dollars for both districts and Florida Virtual School and resulted in an unintended consequence: a dramatic drop in enrollment for Florida Virtual School, the nation’s largest provider of online classes. Some districts immediately started steering students away from Florida Virtual School, while at least a few charter schools told students they would have to pay for Florida Virtual School courses.

That’s not acceptable, Stewart wrote. The memo also said districts cannot require students to enroll in district courses in the same subjects as FLVS courses; restrict students to only FLVS courses for electives; or limit the number of FLVS courses students can take.

It’s not clear what the consequences will be if districts engage in such practices. State Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, who led the charge for the funding change, did not respond to several requests for comment in recent weeks.

National. A new study from CREDO shows charter schools improving nationally, compared to traditional public schools, but with results varying widely from state to state. National coverage in the New York Times, Washington Post, Hechinger Report, Charters & Choice, Associated Press, Huffington Post. State-level coverage in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Salt Lake City Tribune, Tampa Bay Times, Detroit News, Newark Star Ledger, The Morning Call, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, New Orleans Times Picayune.

National. Charter school waiting list nears 1 million nationally, according to a new survey from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (The Charter Blog). More from the Los Angeles Daily News.

Ohio. Lawmakers move to expand vouchers statewide for low-income students, beginning this fall with 2,000 kindergartners and expanding one grade level each year. (Friedman Foundation)

Wisconsin: Lawmakers expand vouchers statewide but with an enrollment cap of 500 the first year (Education Week). State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers criticizes the proposal (Journal Sentinel). Democrats predict a backlash (Wisconsin State Journal). Private schools in Madison consider whether to participate (Wisconsin State Journal).  Same with schools in the Wausau area (Wausau Daily Herald). A key lawmaker leaves the door open for another stab at a voucher for special-needs students (Wisconsin Reporter).

Indiana. Voucher supporters are giving a thumbs up to the expansion that begins Monday (Evansville Courier & Press). The Louisville Courier Journal raises questions about whether private schools have the capacity to absorb additional students.

New Jersey: Gov. Chris Christie plans to sign off on the state budget, saying he'll bring back the fight for school vouchers next year (Newark Star-Ledger). Newark Mayor Cory Booker reiterates his support for school choice in his bid for U.S. Senate (Associated Press). Teachers and parents criticize the decision by Education Commissioner Chris Cerf to put the kibosh on a virtual charter set to open this fall (Newark Star-Ledger). (more…)

Catholic schools. Yet another Catholic school closes, this one in Palm Beach County, with many students turning to charter schools. South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Charter schools. One in east Hillsborough will close after multiple issues, reports the Tampa Tribune. Dayspring Academy in Pasco, co-founded by state Sen. John Legg, wants to expand to two more campuses, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

Virtual schools. A struggling teen in Hernando takes 10 online courses in a comeback surge to graduate on time. Tampa Bay Times.

Accountability. Florida has taken steps to prevent gaming of the system. EdFly Blog.

Common Core. The Council of Chief State School Officers opposes delays in accountability requirements as states adjust. StateImpact Florida.

Teacher pay. Pasco Superintendent Kurt Browning says the Leg didn't increase funding enough to give teachers the raises that Gov. Rick Scott envisioned. Gradebook.

Teacher conduct. A Polk teacher who said she and her father were dying was apparently lying so she could skip school. WFTV. (more…)

Charter schools. Excel Leadership Academy in West Palm Beach makes its case to stay open before an administrative law judge, reports Extra Credit. The Daytona Beach News Journal looks at a struggling charter in Flagler.

Virtual schools. The Palm Beach Post looks at the potential financial hit to Florida Virtual School from recent legislative changes. Education Week offers a short write-up on Florida's online expansion.

School rankings. Take some with a grain of salt, some with a truckload, writes Matt Di Carlo at the Shanker Blog. Three Marion high schools are among the best in U.S. News & World Report, reports the Ocala Star Banner.

School closures. Dozens rally against proposed closures in Brevard. Florida Today.

School spending. Increased funding from the Legislature still may not be enough to get Marion out of a hole, reports the Ocala Star Banner. The school board in financially troubled Manatee takes a closer-than-usual look at contracts and spending, reports the Bradenton Herald.

Teacher evals. The Quick & The Ed offers a legal analysis of the recently filed lawsuit. (more…)

Florida is moving ahead with plans to bring school choice to the class level, but will study the issue before taking a deep dive.

The heart of a “course choice” proposal by Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, (SB 904) was rolled into a digital learning bill (HB 7029) and passed by the House on the final day of session last week. It’s expected to be signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott.

The bill directs the Florida Department of Education to hire a contractor to review the state’s approach to online learning and make recommendations on funding, access and accountability. It also says the new course choice program will be up and running in 2015-16.

“We’re taking a measured approach to implementation,” Brandes said. “We want to implement based on data, based on science and research. We’re really going to allow the data to drive how we go into this.”

The DOE must hire a contractor by Aug. 30. The contractor’s report is due to Gov. Scott and legislative leaders next February.

In the meantime, Brandes said, the bill authorizes the state to go ahead and begin authorizing “massive open online courses” (better known as MOOCs) in four subject areas that require end-of-course exams: Algebra I, biology, geometry and civics. The state Board of Education must come up with rules detailing how potential providers would apply and be approved. (more…)

Virtual schools. The state investigation of K12 Inc. in Florida - which turned up three inadequately certified teachers - anchors a critical story in Maine by the Portland Press Herald. Education Week writes it up.

Parent trigger. Sen. David Simmons is proposing another compromise for parent trigger. Gradebook.

Common Core. StateImpact Florida talks to one activist mom who doesn't like it.

Education funding. AP reporter Gary Fineout looks at the behind-the-scenes battle on The Fine Print blog.

Paddling. A step backwards for Marion, editorializes the Ocala Star Banner.

School spending. Orange will still have $3 billion worth of work left to do when the district's half-penny sales tax runs out in 2015, reports the Orlando Sentinel. The possibility of school closures is surfacing as Manatee's budget woes continue, reports the Bradenton Herald. (more…)

Parent trigger. Rep. Joe Saunders, D-Orlando, writes in this Orlando Sentinel op-ed that parents should have the choice to keep their child with a teacher with a bad eval. In this Tampa Bay Times letter to the editor, Carlos Alfonso with the Foundation for Florida's Future dispels parent trigger myths furthered by Times columnist John Romano.

Online learning. Both the House and Senate agree on a new way of calculating per-student spending that will result in an $8 million cut to virtual education, reports The Buzz. Study funding for virtual courses rather than cut it for Florida Virtual School, editorializes the Orlando Sentinel. St. Petersburg College creates a MOOC for remedial math, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Nine Hillsborough schools are experimenting with BYOD, the Times also reports. The Helios Foundation and SRI International are working to create a Center for Digital Learning in St. Petersburg, the Times also reports.

Charter schools. Parents fight the closing of the struggling Bradenton Charter School. Sarasota Herald Tribune.

Dual enrollment. Community college leaders say they may have to restrict the increasingly popular program if lawmakers don't better fund it. Orlando Sentinel.

Common Core. The Glenn Beck-fueled notion that Common Core is a leftist plot shows "we have officially arrived at Crazytown." Beth Kassab.

School spending. After convincing voters that the Seminole school district was in a financial bind, district leaders now aren't sure whether they need to collect the extra tax money. Orlando Sentinel. (more…)

Editor's note: This piece ran in Monday's Gainesville Sun.

Parents with financial means long have chosen their children's schools by where they live or which private tuition they pay, but Florida is approaching a remarkable threshold in school choice. Last year, 1.5 million students — or 43 percent — attended something other than their neighborhood school. Of special note, 51,023 of the poorest among them are attending a private school at public expense.

This move toward customizing public education is owed to a simple proposition — that different children learn in different ways — and it represents an extraordinary commitment to equal opportunity. In Alachua County last year, 5,800 students chose magnet or choice programs or used open enrollment, and another 2,200 went to charter schools. This year, 335 low-income students are also attending private schools through state-backed scholarships.

That last learning option, called Florida Tax Credit Scholarships, gives pause to the Alachua League of Women Voters. Its respected president, Kathy Kidder, recently questioned the program's constitutionality and accountability. She cited a state Supreme Court case, the 2006 dismissal of a voucher given to students in schools judged to be failing, without noting two prominent U.S. Supreme Court precedents that affirm the scholarship's constitutionality.

The first, a 2002 case from Cleveland, rules that religious schools cannot be excluded from private voucher programs as long as the primary goal is education and parents aren't coerced into choosing. The second, a 2011 case from Arizona, finds tax credit scholarships to be in a separate constitutional arena altogether. In Arizona, the court ruled that tax-credited contributions are not government expenditures.

The more important measure, though, is educational progress. The $4,335 scholarship is available only to children in K-12 whose household income qualifies them for free or reduced-price lunch, and this year the average income is just 6 percent above the poverty line. Two-thirds of the students are black or Hispanic, and more than half live in households with only one parent. More striking, the students who choose the scholarship are the lowest academic achievers from the public schools they leave behind.

The encouraging news is that these same students, according to the latest annual standardized test scores, are achieving the same gains in reading and math as students of all income levels nationally. (more…)