Florida has a new education commissioner: Pam Stewart, a career educator widely viewed as capable and accomplished but not a crusader.

The state Board of Education voted 7-0 Tuesday to hire Stewart to replace Tony Bennett, the nationally known former commissioner who resigned abruptly last month after media reports suggested he rigged school grades in Indiana to benefit a politically connected charter school.

For a full decade, Florida education leaders flexed their ed reform muscles when it came to landing commissioners, choosing either big names or politically potent ones or both. But with Stewart, they opted for a more low-key leader - one they hope will offer a steady hand during a turbulent time.

"We're at a pivotal time in Florida education, and so we're going to look to you to work diligently to lead us through," said BOE Chairman Gary Chartrand.

"I'm cognizant of the times that we're in and the critical nature of the work that we're doing," Stewart said immediately after the vote. "We've got to get it right. I am committed to getting that right."

Stewart, who was appointed interim after Bennett’s departure, is the fourth permanent commissioner under first-term Republican Gov. Rick Scott. She is arguably the least polarizing schools chief since Florida went to appointed commissioners in 2003; the one with the deepest ties to what reformers sometimes call the “education establishment"; and the one with the least direct connections to former Gov. Jeb Bush. In Florida, commissioners are technically appointed by the BOE but none have been hired without the blessing of the sitting governor.

Unlike with the last three commissioners, the board opted Tuesday not to do a national search. The past two searches yielded fields that many education observers considered weak, and a third sub-par pool would have put a deeper stain on Florida’s ed reform rep. Over the past 15 years, Florida students have netted some of the sharpest gains in the country with NAEP scores, AP results and grad rates. But in recent years, their often-overlooked rise has been further overshadowed by high turnover in the commissioner’s office and highly publicized problems with the state’s accountability system.

"This is a critical year. We've had our changes and some people might want to call it turmoil," said board member Barbara Feingold. "I think you can get us with stability and with clarity to the right place."

Stewart faces serious challenges. (more…)

Education commissioner. The Florida Board of Education appears poised to hire interim commissioner Pam Stewart to permanently replace Tony Bennett instead of launching the third search in two years. Associated Press. Common Core, school grades and new tests aren't on the agenda. Miami Herald.

Common Core. Lawmakers face growing resistance as they return to Tallahassee next week for the first round of committee hearings in advance of the 2014 session. StateImpact Florida. Common Core will be the bedrock Florida needs for a world-class education, writes former Florida Board of Education member Roberto Martinez in the Miami Herald. The Naples Daily News writes up state Rep. Debbie Mayfield's bill to halt Common Core.

Charter schools. Lawmakers should drop the model charter school contract and give districts more say over charter applications. Orlando Sentinel. The Palm Beach County school district moves to immediately shutter a troubled charter where a student allegedly went missing for a few hours. Palm Beach Post. The Sarasota Military Academy charter school offers a firearm safety course. Sarasota Herald Tribune.

Private schools. A new private school for students with disabilities opens in Sarasota, with student funding coming from McKay vouchers. Bradenton Herald.

Education spending. The Florida Board of Education's proposed budget calls for $15.1 billion in spending next year, $65.3 million less than the current spending plan. StateImpact Florida. The Pasco school board will consider a budget that is $1.079 billion, up 5.11 percent from last year. Gradebook. In Lake, impact fees aren't keeping up with growth. Orlando Sentinel.

Teacher pay. Pinellas Superintendent Mike Grego touts $32 million worth of teacher pay raises this year in a new video. Gradebook. Hillsborough teachers and support staff could get 4 percent raises under a tentative deal with the district. Tampa Tribune. Leon teachers ratify a new contract that includes a $2,182 across-the-board pay raise. Tallahassee Democrat. (more…)

Charter schools: A 14-day count shows Broward County charter schools gained 4,300 students this year while district-run schools dropped by 2,500 students. Sun Sentinel. Manatee County's Imagine School has a new leader focused on improvement. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The Hillsborough County School District should continue to monitor charter schools for fees and other charges passed along to students. Tampa Bay Times.

Texting & driving: Broward and Palm Beach county schools organize their distracted driving campaigns to coincide with a state law that bans texting while driving. Sun Sentinel.

Teacher pay: Nearly 13,000 Orange County public school teachers will have to keep waiting for their raises after the local teachers union rejects the district's offer. Orlando Sentinel. The Seminole County school district proposes a $1,350 pay hike for all teachers, but the union wants raises that on average would come close to $2,800. Orlando Sentinel.

Success story: Middleton High School once was on academic life support following a string of six consecutive state-issued D grades. Now the school’s principal and two students are about to participate in a national conference focused on turning around failing schools. The Tampa Tribune.

Accountability: Orange County school leaders set a goal for the district to return to an A grade by 2014-15, get 80 percent of schools to a grade of B or higher, and get 65 percent of students performing proficiently in math, reading and writing. Orlando Sentinel. Polk County Superintendent of Schools Kathryn LeRoy unveils a metrics system for principals to reach academic goals. The Ledger.

Funding: Florida has the second-largest per pupil increase in education spending for the 2013-2014 budget year, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. StateImpact Florida.

Attendance zones: Despite repeated complaints from parents at Jamerson Elementary, it appears that the Pinellas County School Board doesn't plan to budge on changing the school's feeder pattern, says the Tampa Bay Times.

Common Core: State House Rep. Debbie Mayfield (R-Vero Beach) on why she filed a bill to stop Florida from implementing the new standards: “It’s going to make us stop and take a look at what it is we’re really doing.'' Florida Today. A Hernando County magnet school librarian offers Civics in Action, or CIA, a new focus to help prepare students and the school for Common Core. Tampa Bay Times.

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Board of Ed: Florida public school educators want more per-student funding and more money for technology, teacher training, dual enrollment courses and algebra camps for rising 9th graders, according to a preliminary budget request the State Board of Education is considering next week. Sun Sentinel.

Common Core: New K-12 education standards are reshaping classroom instruction to better reflect the realities of college and the workplace, the Broward County school district says. Sun Sentinel. House Speaker Will Weatherford says he supports high academic standards, but tells StateImpact Florida that critics raised some legitimate concerns about Common Core.

Tony Bennett: A guest post in Education Week  says the only people who believe the former Florida Education Commissioner was exonerated are those who agree with him.

Charter schools: Palm Beach County School Board members approve plans for a city-run K-5 charter schools that calls for 600 students and is set to open next year. The school will focus on raising reading levels among the city's children. Sun Sentinel. Pinellas County school officials determine there was no evidence of "cherry picking'' students at a newly opened charter school in St. Petersburg. Tampa Bay Times.

10-day count: Some Treasure Coast students may not be in the same classroom where they started the school year about three weeks ago and others could have a different teacher as districts analyze data from the enrollment counts taken after the first 10 days of school. TC Palm.

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Rick Scott: Florida's governor is in the middle of a tug-of-war over education that could reshape the state's schools while also turning upside down the 2016 presidential race. Associated Press.

Tony Bennett: Sunshine State News reports that it was Tony Bennett's successor in Indiana, Glenda Ritz, formerly head of the teachers union in Washington Township schools, who turned over Bennett's emails to the Associated Press.

Charter schools: Palm Beach County school district officials recommend the board approve a 90-day termination notice for two iGeneration Empowerment Academy schools after a last-minute location change and a host of fire code problems. Palm Beach Post. McKeel Academy schools in Polk County give up making their own meals in favor of a food service company's healthy offerings. The Ledger. After two Fs, Imagine Middle School in Pinellas County asks the state for a waiver to stay open. Tampa Bay Times.

Teacher raises: About 100 Orange County teachers frustrated by the slow pace of bargaining over raises crowd into a school board meeting to encourage board members to "fund what you value." Orlando Sentinel.

9/11: Four Duval County high school seniors in a Junior ROTC class share memories of the terrorists attacks. Florida Times-Union.

Dropouts: The Orange County school district tries a new dropout prevention program that has officials knocking on parents' doors and re-registers 224 students. Orlando Sentinel. The No. 1 reason students drop out of high school? Classes aren't interesting. Orlando Sentinel.

Contamination: At least four Miami-Dade public schools will have soil samples tested for contamination from an old city incinerator. Miami Herald.

50th anniversary: Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, a private Catholic high school for girls in South Miami-Dade, opened 50 years ago in two rooms and today serves 824 students. Miami Herald.

Teachers: Many new teachers feel overwhelmed because they are often assigned to the most difficult schools. StateImpact Florida's continuing series, Classroom Contemplations, looks at one teacher who left her school to work with death row inmates.

Bullying: A 12-year-old Lakeland girl is found dead in what her family is calling an apparent suicide after she endured more than a year of online bullying. The Ledger. A 13-year-old Polk County student starts a nonprofit organization in reaction to the bullying he endured because of his diagnosis of Tourette's syndrome, and garners national attention. The Ledger.

Budgets: The Polk County School Board approves a $758.3 million general fund budget focused on student achievement, struggling readers, Common Core curriculum standards, and low-performing schools. The Ledger. The Lee County School Board OKs a $1.3 billion budget for the 2013-14 school year. Fort Myers News-Press. The Pinellas County School Board unanimously approves a $1.3 billion budget for 2013-14 that includes pay raises for teachers and a smaller tax rate for property owners. Tampa Bay Times.

Cell towers: Collier County school board members hear from concerned citizens about a cell phone tower planned for a local elementary. Naples Daily News.

Technology: An Escambia County high school is the recipient of 40 new computers donated in honor of a pioneering principal. Pensacola News Journal. For the first time, Hillsborough County public school students can – with permission from their teachers – use personal devices like smartphones, tablets and laptops in the classroom. The Tampa Tribune.

Conduct: A Hillsborough County high school student faces a weapons charge after he shows a gun to a classmate. The Tampa Tribune.

Tony Bennett: A new report finds the school grading formula changes that former Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett made in Indiana in 2012 were “plausible” and “consistently applied” to all schools. StateImpact Florida. More from Tampa Bay Times. More from the Associated Press. The report showcases the problems with implementing a radically new school-rating system. Education Week. "We finally have a resolution,'' writes Rick Hess for Education Week. "The headline: Bennett exonerated.'' What if Tony Bennett was right and the Associated Press got it wrong? writes a guest columnist for Journal & Courier.

School discipline: A Broward County student's expulsion for bringing a taser to school to stay safe sparks discussion about the district's discipline policy. Sun Sentinel.

Charter schools: Proponents of the nontraditional public schools in Palm Beach County say their growth may be easing crowding in district-run schools. Palm Beach Post. The Palm Beach County School Board votes this week on a charter school application from the City of West Palm Beach. Palm Beach Post. Central Florida school boards will consider nearly three dozen charter school applications in the coming weeks. Orlando Sentinel.

Teacher raises: St. Lucie and Martin county school teachers may see less of a pay raise than expected.  TC Palm. Brevard Public Schools and its teachers union will go before a special magistrate later this month to decide teacher salaries. Florida Today.

Tutoring: Changes at the state level have given the Lee County school district and others across Florida more control over tutoring services, also known as supplemental education services or SES. Fort Myers News-Press.

Superintendents: Hillsborough County Superintendent MaryEllen Elia receives high praise and highly critical marks in her annual eval. Tampa Bay Times.

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Ed summit: Education leaders from across the state convene for a three-day conference that could shape the future of teaching, testing and a school-grading system. Palm Beach Post. More from the Orlando Sentinel, Associated Press, Tampa Bay Times. Long before the summit, former Education Commissioner Tony Bennett had made it clear he might recommend Florida shift gears and pick a new replacement for FCAT other than PARCC. School Zone. Interim Education Commissioner Pam Stewart tells reporters her goal for the summit is to listen. StateImpact Florida.

Common Core: Tampa Bay Times' columnist Dan DeWitt confirms that Common Core State Standards will not allow the federal government to mine the DNA of unsuspecting students among other criticisms of the new measures.

PTA: A Weston parent-teacher association is reinstated after it was shut down for paying members $10 an hour to volunteer and for keeping shoddy financial records. Sun Sentinel.

Charter schools: The Coalition of Boynton West Residential Associations is not supporting Broward County's proposed construction of Trails charter school because there are too many schools in the area, the group says. Sun Sentinel. Lake Wales Charter Schools grapples with a good thing: an increase in enrollment. The Ledger.

Class size: Duval County has a plan that includes giving teachers extra pay if they choose to teach another  class and moving teachers from under-enrolled schools to schools that enrolled  more students than anticipated. Florida Times-Union.

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Even for Florida, a state that has put education policy on overdrive for 15 years, Monday’s summit was remarkable: Three dozen education leaders, business leaders and lawmakers, all but locked in a room to hash it out over the state’s contentious approach to standards, testing and accountability.

Gov. Rick Scott called the three-day event at St. Petersburg College after a tough summer for those who back Florida’s current vision of education reform. The goal, if reachable, might be even more remarkable: A common road map for an education system that has generated some of the biggest academic gains in the nation over the past 15 years yet has also been subject to relentless criticism and, more recently, self-inflicted wounds.

The participants, who also included teachers, parents, superintendents and school board members, politely hinted at the divisions during introductions.

Florida’s accountability system “has had a great deal to do with rising student achievement,” said Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, who was House speaker when the heart of the system was installed under former Gov. Jeb Bush. “I hope we don’t take a step backwards.”

“Florida has been on the right course,” said Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. But “it doesn’t mean we’ve done everything right.”

Now, he continued, we have the opportunity to fix the rest.

The state's fledgling teacher evaluation system, one of four areas targeted for discussion, also surfaced as a sore point.

Teachers "don't trust the system," said Joanne McCall, vice president of the Florida Education Association.

But Keith Calloway, with the Professional Educators Network of Florida, said teachers were not uniformly opposed. "There are many of us teachers out there right now that like the evaluations," he said.

It remains to be seen whether parties long at odds can agree on meaningful steps in the short term, let alone stick together on common ground for the long haul. History suggests it will be tough. (more…)

Florida charter schools didn’t benefit as much as district schools from the school grades “safety net” that state education officials continued this summer.

According to Florida Department of Education data, 14.2 percent of the charter schools that have been graded so far would have dropped more than one letter grade had it not been for the safety net, which prevented schools from falling more than one letter grade. That compares to 21.7 percent of district schools.

In raw numbers, that’s 54 of 381 charter schools and 495 of 2,278 district schools. The numbers do not include school grades that are pending or incomplete.

Last month, the Florida Board of Education voted 4-3 to continue the safety net, which had been used in 2012, after superintendents complained that lower grades brought on by tougher standards would give the public a distorted view of student achievement. Tony Bennett, then the state education commissioner, initially expressed concerns about the safety net but later relented, saying it would help ease the transition to Common Core standards.

Bennett resigned two weeks later after news stories suggested he abruptly changed the school grades formula in Indiana to benefit a politically connected charter school.

As we reported last month, Florida charter schools again earned both A and F grades at higher rates than district schools.

Between 2011 and 2012, the number of Florida high school graduates passing college-caliber Advanced Placement exams jumped from 36,707 to 39,306 – a robust 7.1 percent. The increase wasn’t an anomaly. Florida ranks No. 4 in the country in the rate of grads passing AP exams. Over the past decade, it ranks No. 2 in gains.

These AP results are but one of the encouraging indicators of academic progress in Florida schools. But you wouldn’t know it from some of the media coverage, which often overlooks them and ignores or distorts the context. The same goes for a good number of critics. Many of them continue to be quoted as credible sources, rarely if ever challenged, despite assertions that are at odds with credible evidence.

In the wake of Education Commissioner Tony Bennett’s departure, some particularly harsh spotlights have been put on Florida’s school grading system and on former Gov. Jeb Bush, who led the effort to install it. I can’t defend some of the recent problems with grading (the errors, the padding) and I do wonder whether there should be more value put on progress than proficiency.

But I have no doubt, from years of reporting on Florida schools, that school grades and other Bush-era policies nudged schools and school districts into putting more time, energy and creativity on the low-income and minority kids who struggle the most. I also have no doubt that those efforts, carried out by hard-working, highly skilled teachers, moved the needle for those students and the system as a whole. To cite but one example: Between 2003 and 2011, Florida comes in at No. 9 among states in closing the achievement gap, in fourth-grade reading, between low-income students and their more affluent peers. In closing the gap in eighth-grade math, it comes in at No. 6. But don’t believe me. Take it from Education Week, where those rankings come from.

To those who approach education improvement with an open mind: Isn’t it troubling that such stats are rarely reported? And isn’t it odd that they’re rarely commended by teachers unions, school boards and superintendents who should be claiming credit? (more…)