Charter schools. A new study shows they receive about $2,130 less in funding per student than district-run schools. StateImpact. Next week is National Charter Schools Week. Extra Credit.

Tax credit scholarships. Advocacy groups are mobilizing against legislation expected to come up for discussion today in the Senate. Sentinel School Zone.

School grades. An A-F revamp passes the House on the 15th anniversary of Jeb Bush's original A-Plus Plan. Associated Press. Orlando Sentinel. Florida Current. Times/Herald. Pinellas schools receive school recognition bonuses. Tampa Bay Times.

Private schools. A Christian school in Clearwater plans to expand to accommodate growing enrollment. Tampa Bay Times.

School safety. Lawmakers increase penalties for sex offenses committed by school workers. Tampa Tribune. Gradebook.

Funding. Palm Beach County school district officials oppose the Legislature's latest education budget. Palm Beach Post.

Weather. Schools close in Northwest Florida amid widespread flooding. Panama  City News Herald. Pensacola News-Journal.

Accreditation. Duval schools retian their seal of approval for another five years. Florida Times-Union.

Labor. Pasco school district officials prepare for contract negotiations with their employees. Gradebook. It should not have taken years to remove a teacher from the classroom, the Tampa Bay Times editorializes.

Does Sen. Bullard, a teacher and local union rep, have a conflict of interest too?

I was a news reporter for 20 years. I appreciate what good journalists do. But I’m often perplexed by the selective scrutiny that permeates so much education coverage in Florida, particularly when it comes to school choice issues.

The latest example: An “investigation” by an Orlando TV station into the "cozy connections" between Florida state lawmakers and rapidly expanding charter schools. WFTV-Ch. 9 raised conflict-of-interest questions this week about lawmakers who work for charter schools and who have backed legislation that generally promotes charter expansion. It  singled out incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel; Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami; and John Legg, R-New Port Richey, a state rep headed to the state senate.

First off, this is old news. The ties between all three lawmakers and charter schools have been well publicized. In fact, they were among a bigger handful of lawmakers cited last December in a front-page Tampa Bay Times piece on the same issue. Curiously, the TV station kicked off its story with the same anecdotal lead as the Times did, one involving Legg and the Pasco County School Board.

More important, the station neglected to mention that a number of other lawmakers have strong if not direct ties to school districts. Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, heads the state superintendents association. Former state rep and now Sen. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, is a public school teacher and local union rep. Two newly elected  Democratic state reps, Mark Danish in Tampa and Karen Castor Dentel in the Orlando area, also teach in district schools. Should teacher-lawmakers be voting on state budgets that could affect how much they’re paid? Should they vote on legislation that could impact how they’re evaluated? (more…)