The new piece by Michelle Malkin on Jeb Bush, Tony Bennett and education reform in the Sunshine State is a touch heavy on hasty generalizations. The most jarring may be the way Malkin lumped Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007, in with the grading scandal in Indiana that embroiled the current Florida commissioner of education, Tony Bennett.

Malkin begins,

“[Bennett’s] disgraceful grade-fixing scandal is the perfect symbol of all that’s wrong with the federal education schemes peddled by Bennett and his mentor, former GOP governor Jeb Bush: phony academic standards, crony contracts, and big-government and big-business collusion masquerading as “reform.”

Tony Bennett was a strong supporter of school choice and common core. His resignation over issues related to A-F grading has now encouraged opportunists on the left and right to attack. Malkin begins her piece by lumping education policy together in one big pot and, without consideration, dismisses everything that was accomplished in Florida. Malkin didn’t take the time to separate out education policy in her hurried effort to attack Common Core.

And this is where Michelle Malkin is getting it wrong.

Malkin, in this respect, is following the approach of Diane Ravitch or Florida’s Fund Education Now organization. They tend to take advantage of any grading scandal to oppose and roll back A-F grading scales, accountability, teacher evaluations, and to besmirch the progress of any other reform attached to Bennett or Bush. Malkin is using this opportunity to attack Common Core, but her careless generalizations do more harm to the school choice and accountability movement.

Whether you agree or disagree with Common Core you simply cannot deny the strong growth in education achievement seen in Florida. Jeb Bush’s many reforms were a part of the growth. Denying that because you disagree with one unimplemented policy is irresponsible.

What they're saying about Tony Bennett in Florida: Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Jeb Bush offered praise for Florida's education commissioner. The Buzz. Sen. Dwight Bullard calls for more input on the state's next education chief. Sun Sentinel.  Orange County schools Superintendent Barbara Jenkins' name is coming up as a possible replacement. Orlando Sentinel. Despite a national reputation in education reform, Florida hasn’t found it easy to attract — or keep — a leader since Gov. Rick Scott took office. Miami Herald. StateImpact Florida shares Bennett's resignation letter. Florida long has allowed political donations to influence education policy, the very allegation that forced Bennett to quit, writes the Palm Beach Post. The result of Bennett's abrupt departure is more turmoil for Florida's education system. Tampa Bay Times. More from the Post, Florida Times-Union, News Service of Florida, Tampa Bay Times, Tallahassee Democrat and The Tampa Tribune.

What others are saying: Two Indianapolis public schools might never have been taken over by the state if Bennett had offered the same flexibility he granted a year later to the Christel House Academy charter school. Indianapolis Star. Indiana's state grading system now faces uncertainty. Associated Press.  Bennett's rising star in school reform is fading. Indianapolis Star. "This is, in my view, very sad news, as Bennett is widely regarded as one of the country’s smartest, savviest, and most effective education reformers,'' writes Reihan Salam for the National Review. In less than a year, Bennett has been ousted from two leading education positions, writes Valerie Strauss for the Washington Post. "Tony didn’t need the hassle.  He took on these fights because they were the right ones,'' writes Neil Ruddock for the EdFly blog. More from the National Review, Hugh Hewitt, Politico, and several top education policy analysts weigh in on the Flypaper blog.

School transfers: Fewer than 300 students will be transferring out of overcrowded schools under a new Orange County transfer rule. School Zone.

Longer day: St. Lucie Elementary students will attend school for an extra hour each day to help improve their reading scores. TCPalm.

New posts: Daryl Ward will move up from assistant principal to principal at the Polk County Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts. The Ledger. Manatee County Schools Superintendent Rick Mills has selected Scott Boyes to be executive director of elementary schools. Bradenton Herald.

Dual enrollment: Pasco Hernando Community College and school districts squabble over administrative fees following legislative changes that shifted program funding from colleges to the districts. Tampa Bay Times. (more…)

In mid-June, Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett visited a modest retreat on the outskirts of Tampa where a University of Notre Dame program was hosting a symposium on school choice. Fewer than 40 people were in attendance, but Bennett spoke and answered questions for an hour.

“I will never ever change my stripes on school choice,” he told them. “If giving poor kids an opportunity cost me my job,” he continued, referencing the fledgling voucher program and his electoral defeat in Indiana, that's a “pretty good trade off.”

Even in a state that leads the nation in expanding school choice, Bennett was arguably the most pro-school-choice education commissioner Florida ever had. Choice supporters expressed shock and disappointment with Thursday’s announcement that he was abruptly resigning after a two-day barrage of negative stories about grade changes at an Indiana charter school.

“This is a sad moment for Florida education,” said Rep. Manny Diaz Jr., R-Miami, a member of three House education committees. Bennett was a “rock solid proponent for students, accountability and choice.”

“It’s unfortunate and I’m very saddened,” said Florida Board of Education Chair Gary Chartrand, who was attending the KIPP conference in Las Vegas Thursday. “I told him, ‘We think the world of you and we’ll weather the storm together.’ But he made the decision to leave. Obviously, the turnover is not a good situation.”

Bennett’s replacement will be the fourth education commissioner under Gov. Rick Scott, who pushed out highly regarded Eric J. Smith in favor of Gerard Robinson, who then resigned after high-profile glitches with the state’s testing and grading system. A national search to replace Robinson drew no star-power candidates until Indiana voters put Bennett on the market.

"How much can we take?" said T. Willard Fair, a former Board of Education chair who co-founded the state's first charter school and resigned in 2011 to protest the ouster of Commissioner Smith. "We lost an outstanding commissioner in Eric Smith. We were blessed when Tony Bennett became available. To lose two great intellectuals is absolutely devastating."

The leadership churn has put smudges on Florida’s reputation as a national leader in ed reform. It has also come as thorny questions about the growth of Florida’s school choice sectors remain unresolved, including funding for charter schools and online learning. (more…)

From the Tampa Bay Times:

Tony Bennett is expected to resign Thursday as Florida education commissioner following two days of raging controversy over school grading in his home state of Indiana.

Bennett is expected to hold a news conference in Tallahassee late Thursday morning to make the announcement.

Bennett, who came to Florida from the Hoosier State in January, has faced mounting calls for his resignation in the wake of revelations, first reported by the Associated Press, that he interceded on behalf of an Indiana charter school run by a prominent Republican Party donor

His resignation will be a major setback for Gov. Rick Scott and state education leaders, who are working to overhaul Florida's system of school accountability and assessment in compliance with the national Common Core standards.

Bennett came to the job in January after losing his re-election bid as Indiana superintendent of schools. He was the third permanent commissioner in Scott' 31-month tenure, following Eric Smith (who Scott pushed out) and Gerard Robinson (who resigned under pressure). Two interim commissioners — John Winn and Pam Stewart -— also have run the department under Scott.

The past two times Florida has searched for a commissioner to run what many consider one of the nation's leading education "reform" and accountability states, the pickings have been slim. Bennett only applied after losing re-election.

More on Tony Bennett: Two days of controversy seem to have taken a toll, with Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett expected to resign later today. Tampa Bay Times. Meanwhile, supporters and others are calling for more evidence in this latest school grade snafu: "What we have now is not “the rest of the story” but a failure to seek the rest of the story,'' writes Greg Forester on the Jay P. Greene blog. Bennett should request a broader set of emails to provide some context to this story, says Sherman Dorn. StateEdWatch and Dropout Nation raise more concerns. Bennett answers questions from Education Week's Rick Hess about the grade boost in Indiana. "It’s not that big of a deal,'' says Eduwonk, adding that calls for Florida's education commissioner to resign "pretty obviously overstate the issue.'' Fred Grimm from the Miami Herald writes: "Grown-ups might not buy Tony Bennett’s tortured explanation for jacking up that C grade to an A, but every school child in Florida understands the rationale.'' The Buzz reports that Democrats are lining up to call for Bennett's resignation. More here. And Beth Kassab from the Orlando Sentinel says, "Lots of headlines have portrayed this as Bennett doing a favor for a big donor. But that's not quite right.'' Even more from The Hechinger Report and New America Foundation.

Charter schools: Time is running out for a new Lauderdale Lakes charter school that has enrolled hundreds of students but still doesn't have an approved site for them to attend class. Sun Sentinel. Lake Wales High School, a conversion charter in Polk County, may have a waiting list for students. The Ledger.

Magnet schools: The Palm Beach County School District considers expanding art magnet programs to schools in Boynton Beach, Delray Beach and Boca Raton. Sun Sentinel.

Debit cards: Gov. Rick Scott unveils debit cards that will allow teachers to buy tax-free supplies year-round. Sun Sentinel. (more…)

Tony Bennett: Fordham Institute's Michael Petrilli weighs in on the Florida education commissioner's decision a year ago to change an Indiana charter school's grade: "Bennett worked to fix the problem—not, I believe, because the school was connected to a donor, but because no one would trust an accountability system that labeled even excellent schools as worthy of C’s or worse.'' Flypaper. The Foundation for Florida's Future also throws its support behind Bennett, saying "he fixed a problem to be accurate and fair – any accusation otherwise is false and
politically motivated.'' Meanwhile, Bennett's successor, Glenda Ritz, issues a public statement saying she already had concerns about Indiana's A-F system and that the Associated Press report on the grade switch demonstrates the seriousness of the problems. It's a story that may linger into 2016, says the The Maddow Blog. Bennett tells reporters in a conference call Tuesday that the AP report will not affect his ability to serve as top education official. Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau.

Budget talks: The Broward County School Board's tentative $3 billion budget would give teachers $47 million in salaries, hire a dozen new school-based police officers and buy 100 new buses. Sun Sentinel. Orange County Public Schools has approved a tentative $1.8 billion budget - an increase of $150 million over the previous year. Orlando Sentinel. The Seminole County School Board moves to increase property taxes for a $735 million budget. Orlando Sentinel. The Polk County School Board gives initial approval to a $756.9 million budget. The Ledger. The Clay County School Board adopts a tentative $300 million budget. Florida Times-Union. The Duval County School Board OKs a $1.71 billion budget. Florida Times-Union. The Lee County School Board approves a tentative $1.29 billion budget — a decrease of about $37 million from the previous year. Fort Myers News-Press. Collier County school leaders vote to increase property taxes. Naples News. The Sarasota School Board voted to raise the property tax rates to help pay for teacher raises. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The Hernando County School Board approves a $279.5 million tentative budget. Tampa Bay Times. The Pasco County School Board gives initial thumbs up to $1.05 billion budget. Tampa Bay Times. Hernando County School Board members have asked the district to re-examine the $15 student activity fee that was designed to raise money during a time of shrinking budgets. Tampa Bay Times. Hillsborough County school leaders are still hashing out their proposed $2.8 billion budget. Tampa Bay Times.

Union talks: Palm Beach County teachers expect a raise this year, but just how much remains unclear. Palm Beach Post.

School grades: StateImpact Florida looks at which districts have the most safety net schools, noting the state average is 17.2 percent. The Florida-issued grades gives districts a chance to check the state's work. StateImpact Florida. Polk County schools Superintendent Kathryn LeRoy vows to turn around the district's six failing schools and save others on the brink of becoming low-performing schools. The Ledger. The Pensacola News-Journal takes issue with the grades in an editorial, saying, "Schools won’t improve until the state gets serious about funding education.'' Fallout continues with four Pasco County elementary schools avoiding "F'' grades only because of the state's safety net. Tampa Bay Times.

Do-over: 290 Escambia County students will repeat first grade. Pensacola News-Journal. (more…)

Hot seat: Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett faces hard questions about his role as Indiana's former education chief in a grade boost last fall for a charter school run by an influential Republican donor. Associated Press. In an interview with StateImpactIndiana, Bennett stands by his decision to raise the Indiana charter school's grade.

Longer days: The Pinellas County School Board will vote today on adding an extra hour of instruction for the district's seven schools that were among the lowest-performing in the state. The Tampa Tribune.

Cost-cutting: The Pasco County School District tells principals to use email, Twitter, Facebook and other online methods to communicate with parents to help cut costs. Tampa Bay Times.

STEM for teachers: New science teachers check out a satellite launch at Cape Canaveral with the National Association of Science Teachers and Lockheed Martin during a fellowship to help educators see real-world applications of science, technology, engineering and math. StateImpact Florida.

Earlier this month, the Florida PTA held its annual convention with at least 20 new members in attendance: parents of children who receive tax credit scholarships to attend private schools.

Many of them took time off from one or two jobs to attend. And in doing so, they participated in what is, if not a historic first, certainly very unusual – private school inclusion in an organization that  historically has been devoted to public schools.

Who knows where this will lead. But good things can happen when people who are supposedly on different sides of an issue actually meet face to face. Even when the issue is something like private school “vouchers.”

As an organizer for Step Up For Students, the nonprofit that administers the scholarships (and co-hosts this blog) my job was to attend the convention as well and facilitate a meeting between PTA leaders and scholarship parents.

One of the first things we all noticed was the PTA’s platform, included in the tote bag that participants received. The platform explained that while the PTA opposes vouchers in all its forms, including tax credit scholarships, it urges the Legislature to impose strict eligibility requirements and accountability measures on all private schools participating in these programs.

“What does this mean?” one mother asked me.

“It means they’re against our program, but believe private schools should administer the same standardized tests, like FCAT,” I said.

It’s easy to be against a program you don’t know about or really understand. So, I told our parents, go to the sessions, visit the vendors, and attend receptions. “Meet with these folks and make sure they put a face to this program,” I said. “You’re our ambassadors and I’m sure this weekend will lead to understanding and a better relationship between Step Up For Students and the PTA.” (more…)

School grades: Florida has a record-high 107 F-rated schools this year. Miami Herald. Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando all earned overall "C'' grades. Tampa Bay Times. Broward Superintendent Robert Runcie says the district's school grade drops mirror declines statewide, but students still performed better or as well as last year. Sun-Sentinel. For the first time in nine years, the Palm Beach County School District is not getting an A on its report card. Palm Beach Post. The Polk County School District has six "F'' schools and received an overall "C'' from the state. The Ledger. Two of Duval County's "F'' schools rose in the state's ranking system to a "D'' while the other two received another failing grade. Florida Times-Union. Brevard elementary schools earned 21 "A'' grades, 25 ''B'' grades, eight ''C'' grades, one ''D'' and one ''F'' - Endeavour Elementary in Cocoa. Florida Today. Lee, Charlotte, and Glades school districts dropped from a "B'' to a "C''; Collier dropped from an "A'' to a "B''; and Hendry County dropped from a "C'' to a "D.'' Fort Myers News-Press.

Tax credit scholarships: The number of students attending private schools on tax-credit scholarships, administered by Step Up For Students, jumped 27 percent last year, reaching a record high of 51,075 kids. Miami Herald.

Disabled students: The Palm Beach County School District plans to spend $18 million during the next 10 years to fix nearly 100,000 disabled access issues. Palm Beach Post.

Recruiting: Despite the lure of extra cash, teachers aren't fighting to get into some of Pinellas County's lowest-performing schools. In many cases, they're trying to get out. Tampa Bay Times.

Common  Core: Sen. Marco Rubio has joined growing criticism of the education standards known as Common Core, putting him at odds with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. The Buzz. And Bush, once a strong force in shaping the state's education policies, is taking some big hits, lately. The Buzz. If Education Commissioner Tony Bennett agrees with legislative leaders that Florida should create its own assessments, his proposal has to be better than PARCC's. Tampa Bay Times. The standards registered little excitement when Florida adopted them three years ago, but now ... . Palm Beach Post. We don't need to panic about the new national standards, writes columnist Beth Kassab. But we do need patience. Orlando Sentinel.

Charter schools: More students are going charter in Hillsborough County. Tampa Bay Times. Lauderdale Lakes is reconsidering its decision to allow the new Ivy Academies Charter Schools to open in August. Sun Sentinel. Lake Wales Charter Schools has a $700,000 surplus. News Chief. There's mounting evidence that charter schools aren't a panacea in public education and are enabling our return to racial segregation, writes columnist Bill Maxwell. Tampa Bay Times.

Budgets: The complicated formula used by the state to match local property tax dollars with state money has required a tax increase for nearly 20 out of the state's 67 school districts. Associated Press.  Pinellas County School District's upcoming operating fund reflects an additional $38.2 million - one of the biggest increases in recent years, but that doesn't mean an easier year for the district. The Tampa Tribune. (more…)

Charter to private: After continually receiving "F'' grades from the state, Escambia County's A.A. Dixon charter school opens next month as a private school in a new location. Pensacola News Journal.

Budgets: A Manatee County school official calls the district's budget process "excruciating'' as board members begin to review a 17-page proposal. Bradenton Herald. More on Manatee's budget, including indications that the board may lower the tax rate from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The Pasco County School Board adopts a budget that includes a slight tax increase and $26 million in spending reductions. Tampa Bay Times. Broward County teachers will get raises in the district's $3 billion budget proposal that includes a small tax increase. Sun Sentinel.

Dress codes: Two more Pinellas County schools join the list that want modified dress codes for students to put the emphasis on academics. Tampa Bay Times.

GPAs: The Pasco County School Board adopts a new formula for figuring grade point averages that includes courses taken online and in middle school. Tampa Bay Times.

Conduct:  The Lee County school district investigation of former Chief Administrative Officer Alberto Rodriguez suggests he violated school board policy by misusing district phones, conducted personal business on school time and had an improper relationship with another district employee. Fort Myers News-Press. Another Lee County district investigation clears a teacher accused of striking a 10-year-old  student with special needs. Fort Myers News-Press. A controversial community organizer accused of trying to extort nearly $1 million and financial favors from Palm Beach County school district officials asks for a new lawyer. Palm Beach Post.

Back to school: The Florida Retail Federation anticipates the state will buck the national trend, with shoppers here spending more for back-to-school supplies. Daytona Beach News-Journal.

TV class: A TV and film program at Pine Crest, a private school in Fort Lauderdale, now has its own $750,000 on-campus production studio where students will learn to report, produce and edit stories. Sun Sentinel.

Mentors: Leon County is looking for 500 new school mentors. Tallahassee Democrat.

Tony: Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett talks to Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers about Common Core, school grades and the role of organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters in education. TCPalm.

Summer school: A mobile media center bus provides books for Polk County students to keep them learning year-round. The Ledger.

On a mission: Jesuit High School students travel to South America on a journey to share their faith. Tampa Bay Times.