Desegregation case: The NAACP Legal Defense Fund says the Pinellas County School District is not complying with the 1964 court order governing the district's anti-discrimination efforts. So the plaintiffs in Bradley vs. Pinellas County School Board are asking a federal court to intervene to force the district to give more help to struggling black students. Another plaintiff, in the case of Crowley vs. the Pinellas County School Board, made a similar decision in April. Tampa Bay Times.

School choice debate: School choice has turned traditional civil rights allies into opponents in Florida. On one side are ministers who say the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program gives students a chance at a better education. On the other side are the Florida NAACP and teachers unions who call the program unconstitutional because it takes money from public schools. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, administers the program. Miami Times.

Teacher bonuses: Amendments continue to be added to the teacher bonuses section of one of the two big education bills in the Senate. So the vote, which was expected Wednesday, is being put off while senators sort through the proposed changes. Miami Herald.

District grades: How can a school district get an A grade when it has so many C schools? That, and other questions about the state's grading formula, are explained. Tallahassee Democrat. (more…)

K-12 budget: The Senate and House make no progress on resolving their differences on education spending. Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, presented a final version of the bill to the House, but the cochair of the education budget conference committee, Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, apparently wanted to continue negotiating. So Gaetz ended the talks, and work on resolving the issues will continue in appropriations committees. "Most of the issues, although the entire budget's getting bumped, are closer than what it would seem," Fresen says. Politico Florida. News Service of Florida. Naples Daily News. Here's a status update on the major education bills in the Legislature. Politico Florida. The Senate's next president, Joe Negron, R-Palm City, expresses satisfaction at increasing school spending without relying on property taxes. Politico Florida.

No test glitches: No glitches are reported on Monday, the first day of statewide Florida Standards Assessments testing. Testing continues through May. Sun-Sentinel. Gulf Breeze students talk about the pressures of testing. Pensacola News Journal.

Opting out: Opt-out movement leaders predict more students will skip the Florida Standards Assessments tests that began Monday. In 2014, about 5,500 didn't take the exams. In 2015 that number was more than 20,000 - but that's just a tiny fraction of the 3 million-plus exams taken. Orlando Sentinel.

Pre-K questions: The man who helped create the state's  free, voluntary prekindergarten system now questions how the state is calculating readiness. David Lawrence Jr., chairman of the board of the Children’s Movement of Florida, says any assessments have to include early literacy skills. Pensacola News Journal.

Tornado days: As weather forecasting skills continue to improve, school "tornado days" are joining "snow days" in the education vocabulary. Forbes. (more…)

AP success: Nearly 58 percent of Florida high school seniors took one or more Advanced Placement exams in 2015, according to a College Board report. That percentage was second in the United States, trailing only the District of Columbia (70 percent). About 31 percent of Florida seniors scored 3 or higher on one or more of the AP exams. Only Maryland and Massachusetts had higher percentages of students passing the exams. Politico Florida. Orlando Sentinel. Naples Daily News.

Charters and choice: Two Senate bills, one on charter schools and the other on school choice, undergo significant changes and may get a vote today in committee. SB 524 deals with teacher bonuses, charter facilities financing, competency-based pilot programs and giving principals greater authority to make changes at struggling schools. SB 1166 would allow open enrollment for any student to attend any school with an opening, allow athletes to transfer and play immediately, and revamp charter school regulations. Step Up For Students. Politico Florida. Gradebook.

Computer coding: The Florida Senate passes a bill allowing Florida students to take computer coding to satisfy foreign language requirements. The bill now says public schools may offer coding classes in place of foreign languages, but do not have to. If a school does not, it "may provide students access to the course through the Florida Virtual School or through other means.” Miami Herald. Politico Florida. WFSU.

Alternative testing: State Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, says he was only checking when he asked the Department of Education's legal counsel if contracts hinged on the Legislature approving funding. He was told that was correct. Gaetz has pushed a bill that would allow schools to use tests such as the ACT and SAT instead of the Florida Standards Assessments. American Institutes for Research, the vendor that administers the FSA, has a six-year, $220 million contract with the state. Politico Florida.

Bennett lobbying: Former Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett is now registered as a lobbyist in the state. Bennett, who resigned in 2013 during a charter school controversy, represents companies that specialize in Common Core implementation and alternative teacher certification programs. Florida Politics and AP. (more…)

Teacher bonuses: State Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, says the reason the Senate has allocated no money for teacher bonuses is that the program has not yet been fully vetted. Miami Herald.

Budget dissent: Senate Appropriations Chairman Tom Lee, R-Brandon, adds his name to the list of legislators who oppose Gov. Rick Scott's plan to boost education spending largely through local property taxes. Scott's $507 million increase in K-12 spending is reached mostly by collecting $427.3 million more from Floridians through property taxes. Tampa Bay Times.

Sales tax hike: A majority of Palm Beach County School Board members want to join the county to ask voters to approve a 1-cent sales tax hike. A decision is expected Feb. 17. Palm Beach Post. Sun-Sentinel.

School scheduling: Martin County school officials are considering switching middle schools to a block schedule of three 85-minute periods and one of 45 minutes. The plan would save an estimated $800,000 by eliminating 15 teaching positions, officials say. TCPalm.

Safety and uniforms: If Alachua County wants a $180,000 grant from the state for school security cameras, it will have to conform to state rules and require solid-color collared shirts as part of school uniforms. Gainesville Sun.

Testing the disabled: A woman whose 15-year-old daughter has cerebral palsy tells the Sarasota County School Board that she has concerns over state and local testing requirements for disabled children. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (more…)

Black suspensions: An investigation of more than 600,000 punishments in Pinellas County schools from 2010-2015 shows that black children are suspended at a much higher rate than in the other six large Florida districts, and four times the rate of other children based on their share of the school population. And more than half of those suspensions are for loosely defined offenses such as "not cooperating" and "class disruption." Tampa Bay Times.

Homeless students: More than 71,000 students in Florida public schools were homeless in the 2013-2014 school year, or 3.74 percent of the total. Orange County has about 7,000 homeless students, and Brevard, Seminole and Volusia each have about 2,000. Florida Today.

K-12 funding: State Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, wants fellow legislators to consider other options to boost spending for K-12. Gaetz has been critical of Gov. Rick Scott's education budget, which puts most of the burden of raising additional dollars on Florida residents through property taxes. Miami Herald.

Vouchers in courts: Several school voucher advocate groups are lobbying the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a Colorado case to determine the constitutionality of spending public dollars for tuition at private, religious schools. Many states, including Florida, have so-called Blaine Amendment prohibitions in their constitutions against spending state tax revenue on religious institutions. Education Week. (more…)

School testing: A Polk County teacher's resignation over her frustration with testing is going viral. Wendy Bradshaw wrote, in part, "Like many other teachers across the nation, I have become more and more disturbed by the misguided reforms taking place which are robbing my students of a developmentally appropriate education." Lakeland Ledger. President Obama's call to cut back on school testing is not enough to make a difference for Florida, the Sun Sentinel editorializes. And it probably won't change much. State Impact Florida. Florida's performance in the most recent round of testing assessments is not as bad as it seems, according to a Sarasota Herald-Tribune editorial. Standardized testing is failing its mission, argues the Ocala Star-Banner in an editorial.

Teacher pay: Volusia County teachers resume bargaining over salaries with the school district today. The teachers are lobbying for a 5 percent boost. Daytona Beach News-Journal. A bill setting a statewide minimum salary for teachers isn't the best approach, writes Scott Kent, opinion page editor of the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

School district funding: Hillsborough County's school district is optimistic it can close a funding shortfall of $142 million. Tampa Tribune. Leon County School Board member Alva Striplin is concerned about the school system dipping into reserves. Tallahassee Democrat. St. Johns County voters will decide Tuesday on a half-cent sales tax increase to support school district capital projects. St. Augustine Record. The Manatee County School Board has delayed asking the county to reinstate school impact fees, a decision the superintendent says could cost the system $1 million a month. Bradenton Herald.

Charter school funding: Should five Indian River County charter schools receive the same per-student funding as other district schools get? A mediator is being called in to help resolve the dispute. TCPalm. (more…)