Parent trigger. Joe Henderson from the Tampa Tribune on parent trigger: "In my opinion, it started from the flawed premise that it’s always the institution’s fault when a school fails." Tallahassee Democrat: "What we don’t need is to have for-profit corporations lobbying parents to shut down or privatize a public school." The Foundation for Florida's Future isn't giving up, reports StateImpact Florida.

Bad teachers. Language regarding student placement with unsatisfactory teachers, which had been part of the parent trigger bill, is approved as part of a charter school bill. Times/Herald.

Teacher evals. Lawmakers tweak the new system to ensure teachers are only rated on students they teach. Gradebook.

Teacher merit pay. In a setback for the FEA, a circuit court judge rules that SB736 does not violate collective bargaining rights. Orlando Sentinel, Associated Press, News Service of Florida.

Superintendents. The Palm Beach County School Board should quit worrying about former Superintendent Art Johnson, editorializes the Palm Beach Post.

Mentors. The Sarasota Herald Tribune writes up the mentors who helped Take Stock in Children scholars in Manatee: "A mentor is a mirror. A guide to the big picture. Someone who has walked in someone's shoes and gotten to where they want to be."

Parent trigger. Citing anonymous sources, Sunshine State News says Gov. Rick Scott helped kill parent trigger. Five GOP senators tell The Buzz he had nothing to do with it. Arne Duncan sorta kinda maybe a wee little bit endorses the concept of parent trigger, notes This Week In Education. Parents would have been at the mercy of for-profit charters because "parents of students in failing schools don’t necessarily have the skill sets to develop corrective plans," writes Florida Voices columnist Rick Outzen.

Tutoring. Lawmakers, including Sen. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, try but fail to keep the mandated program for low-income kids after all. Tampa Bay Times.

Virtual schools. Florida Virtual School doesn't get as much as it expected due to funding changes. Times/Herald.

Turnaround schools. An attempt to restaff a struggling Pasco elementary school doesn't draw many applicants beyond existing teachers. Tampa Bay Times.

Private schools. A Christian school in Orlando plans to begin drug testing students. Orlando Sentinel.

Charter schools. The City of Cape Coral Charter School System has a new superintendent. Fort Myers News Press.

Teacher pay. Teachers won't have to wait for raises, reports the Tampa Bay Times and Tallahassee Democrat. Lawmakers ultimately do the right thing, writes the Tallahassee Democrat. (more…)

Parent trigger. Another year, another defeat for the parent trigger. Coverage from Tampa Bay Times, StateImpact Florida, Orlando Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Tallahassee Democrat, Associated Press, Education Week, Sarasota Herald Tribune.

Marco Rubio. Visits a Tampa private school to tout his federal tax credit scholarship bill - and says nice things about public schools along the way. redefinED.

Teacher pay. Maybe teachers will get money for raises sooner rather than later after all. Miami Herald, Palm Beach Post, Orlando Sentinel, Associated Press.

School discipline. Hillsborough district officials are taking a closer look at the disproportionate number of suspensions for black males. Tampa Bay Times.

School turnarounds. Pinellas has five schools facing state intervention, but 11 other D schools may he headed that way, warns Superintendent Mike Grego, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Staff at the five must reapply for their jobs, reports the Tampa Tribune. (more…)

Parent trigger history repeated itself in Florida's Senate today. After deadlocking last year on a plan to let parents vote to take over struggling public schools, the Senate was offered a milder approach this year that put the parent trigger finger in the hands of the elected School Board in each county. It didn't matter. The bill again went down on a 20-20 vote.

Given that the Legislature is scheduled to adjourn on Friday and a parent trigger bill that passed earlier this month in the House contains more explicit language, the Senate vote likely signals an end to the fight for 2013.

The bill had been amended on Monday by a moderate Republican, David Simmons, to vest the final decisions about school turnaround strategies with school boards -- and not with parents. Sponsors were hoping the change would clear the way for approval on the floor. But key Republicans still voted against it. Most telling was the opposition of Jack Latvala, who voted in favor of the more stringent parent trigger bill last year as he was in the midst of fighting for votes to be elected Senate president. To date, Latvala has failed in that quest.

Marco Rubio. He's visiting a Tampa private school today to highlight his proposal for a federal tax credit scholarship. The Buzz.

Parent trigger. StateImpact Florida notes the Times/Herald story on the Sunshine Parents video and the parent trigger petition questions. So does Education Week, which includes a response from Parent Revolution. Senate vote on the parent trigger is expected today, reports Naked Politics. John Romano says the petition proves the narrative is true.

Teacher pay. StateImpact Florida writes up the compromise. South Florida teachers are disappointed with it, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel.  More from the Palm Beach Post, Orlando Sentinel, Northwest Florida Daily News, Tallahassee Democrat. Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee bureau chief Steve Bousquet says Gov. Rick Scott should veto the education budget to help teachers - and perhaps himself.

Teacher turnover. A study finds half of Duval teachers leave within five years. Florida Times Union.

Testing. Guidance counselors bear the brunt of FCAT test administration. Gainesville Sun.

Cyberbullying. Lawmakers pass a proposal to give school districts more power to deter bullies off campus and on line. Gradebook and Associated Press. (more…)

Parent trigger. Who are Sunshine Parents, a group tied to parent trigger? Tampa Bay Times. More on AnswerSheet. More questions about who signed or didn't sign a petition in support of parent trigger, reports The Buzz.

Turnaround schools. A number of schools in Pinellas and Hillsborough face prescriptive state intervention plans because they continue to struggle, reports Tampa Bay Times. Finding the right applicants to re-staff Lacoochee Elementary, a similar school in Pasco may be tough, the Times also reports. But don't give up on it, writes a volunteer in a Times op-ed. More from the Tampa Tribune.

Charter schools. Lawmakers agree to give charters $91 million for construction and maintenance, reports the Tampa Bay Times. The Lakeland Ledger writes up the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools report on the research showing academic gains for charter students. An appeals court sides with the Seminole school district in its decision to deny a charter school application, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

Career academies. An aerospace academy at Boynton Beach High School has big plans. Palm Beach Post.

Vouchers. Bad. Gainesville Sun.

Teacher pay. The House and Senate reach a compromise that Andy Ford applauds. The Buzz. More from Associated Press and Tallahassee Democrat. (more…)

Indiana: Lawmakers expand state's school voucher program to allow more children to be immediately eligible. (Associated Press). The legislature may forgive $12 million in loans to nine failing charter schools (Associated Press).

Washington, D.C. : Charter advocates make their annual plea to district officials for equitable funding (Washington Post). Malcolm E. "Mike'' Peabody saw improving the city's schools as a civil rights issue, which led him to found a powerful pro-charter advocacy group in 1996 called FOCUS -Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (Washington Post).

Florida: Florida Virtual School is already taking a hit with enrollment as lawmakers debate bill that ultimately cuts funding to the program (redefinED). More from the Orlando Business Journal and the Associated Press. Gov. Rick Scott signs the Career and Professional Education Act, what some lawmakers call the most "transformational" education bill of the 2013 legislative session (Tallahassee Democrat). The parent trigger bill moves to the Senate floor, but likely will see more drama with last-minute changes (redefinED). And the parent trigger debate continues to churn controversy, with a video said to be from a mysterious grass-roots group that turns out to be Parent Revolution (Miami Herald).

Pennsylvania: The Philadelphia school district plans to open a virtual academy to lure back students and families (Education Week). If 21 charter schools get their wish - to add 15,000 new charter students in the next five years - the Philadelphia school district could be faced with losing millions in funding (NewsWorks). And now the district says it can't expand charters due to a $300 million budget shortfall (CBS Philly). Mother of a son with autism plans to open the Pennsylvania Autism Charter School with a goal to eventually return students to regular classroom (Express-Times).

Illinois: Parents of charter school students have formed a new group, Charter Parents United, to advocate for more equality - especially concerning public school funding (Chicago Tribune). Gov. Pat Quinn has cut off state funding to the United Neighborhood Organization, the state's largest charter school operator, due to allegations of corruption (CBS Chicago). (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. Parent trigger is headed to the Senate floor, with growing potential for drama. Coverage from redefinED and The Buzz. The latest from Diane Ravitch's blog.

Charter schools. The Pinellas County School Board agrees to sell the site of a former middle school to a charter school venture started by Cheri Shannon, former head of the Florida Charter School Alliance, reports the Tampa Bay Times. More from the Tampa Tribune. Lawmakers adopt language that would reign in the kind of abuses that happened last year at an Orlando charter, reports Gradebook. The International Studies Charter Middle/High School in Miami is ranked No. 2 in Florida and No. 15 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report's annual ranking of top high schools, reports the Miami Herald.

Teacher quality. A piece of the parent trigger bill regarding ineffective teachers is attached to the teacher eval bill, just in case parent trigger doesn't pass. The Buzz.

Teacher evals. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan urges Florida to make its teacher eval system better, reports the Associated Press. In an editorial, the Ocala Star Banner agrees but also says: "A full generation of Florida schoolchildren have gone through the FCAT process, and in spite of the many political, mechanical and bureaucratic foul-ups along the way, Florida is making remarkable and steady educational progress. That is largely thanks to its teachers and local school officials."

Teacher conduct. The Hillsborough County School Board reverses an earlier decision to stop posting the names of employees facing suspension or dismissal. Tampa Bay Times.

Turnaround. In an attempt to jumpstart struggling Lacoochee Elementary, Superintendent Kurt Browning is replacing the entire staff. Tampa Bay Times.

Religion. The Hillsborough School Board is again wrestling with what religious materials are okay for students to circulate. Tampa Bay Times. (more…)

Florida’s parent trigger bill is headed to the Senate floor after another predictable party-line committee vote. But odds are rising that this year’s model will bring as much last-minute drama as its predecessor did last year, when several Republicans broke rank to kill the measure.

In the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, bill sponsor Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, said a recent amendment giving school districts - and not the state - the final say in a school’s turnaround plan likely would be modified.

Proposed by Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, the amendment altered the original bill’s final arbiter, the state Board of Education, and made it more acceptable to parent trigger critics. But parent trigger supporters said it watered down the bill’s intent, which is to let parents have a bigger role in determining the best way to improve their children’s schools.

Stargel said Tuesday that neither she nor Simmons – nor the majority of the education appropriations committee that passed it April 11 - really wanted that language in the bill.

“We would not want parents to come together to work so hard to get 50 percent of the parents (to support a turnaround plan), and just have their voices taken under advisement, if you will,’’ she said.

Still, she said, any changes would happen after Tuesday's vote. That raised concerns among some committee members, most notably Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater.

“So that would lead me to conclude that you’re going to remove that exemption at some point in time – or attempt to remove it,’’ he said.

Answered Stargel: “We’re going to modify this bill going forward, but we’re not sure in what way.”

The committee voted 12-6 in favor of the measure, with Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto absent. The Fort Myers Republican had filed an amendment the day before, calling for the state to remain the final arbiter, but Stargel withdrew the proposal. (more…)