Lawsuits. The statewide teachers union is fighting a new school choice law in court over the way the Legislature passed it. Associated Press. News Service of Florida. Orlando Sentinel. Saint Petersblog. Palm Beach Post. Miami Herald. Daytona Beach News-Journal. The Tampa Tribune, Florida Times-Union,  NBC2 , WEARTV, and First Cost News talk to parents who hope the law will provide new options for their children. The Fort Myers News-Press and Naples Daily News focus on the local teacher who's the lead plaintiff.

Magnet schools.  Gradebook considers how a proposed Pinellas magnet could affect an existing program nearby. A Tallahassee arts magnet wins recognition. Tallahassee Democrat.

School grades. A Pinellas school improves its grade from and F to a C, but not before a turnaround effort brings a staff shakeup. Tampa Bay Times.

Superintendents. Appointed or elected? That's the controversy before the Clay school board. Florida Times-Union.

STEM. Tougher math and science requirements can drive dropout rates higher. StateImpact. A Latino civil rights organization wants to eliminate ethnic disparities in science and engineering careers. Bridge to Tomorrow.

Budgets. The Okaloosa County school district saves millions with centralized budgeting, and plans to plow the proceeds into technology, transportation and other uses. Northwest Florida Daily News.

Summer. Students do custodial work and receive academic support during a Manatee summer program. Bradenton Herald.

Administration. The Manatee superintendent recommends back pay and benefits for a recently reinstated administrator. Bradenton Herald.

Common Core. A new Florida group calls the Common Core standards "monstrous." Daytona Beach News Journal.

Black males. An endangered species in Florida, given the Schott Foundation's calculation of grad rates. Politics365.

Vals and sals. Hernando school board members tell Superintendent Brian Blavatt to reinstate the designations. Tampa Bay Times.

Graduation. Remembering the ones who are gone. Tampa Bay Times.

Teacher conduct. A Clay County teacher charged with child abuse enters a pre-trial diversionary program under a plea bargain, reports Florida Times Union. The Pasco principal accused of making anti-gay remarks is retiring, reports the Tampa Tribune. Polk is taking steps to fire a teacher who repeatedly lied about her health to avoid work, including claims of kidney stones, ovarian cysts and a brain condition, reports the Lakeland Ledger.

Teachers unions. Pasco union leader Lynne Webb says it's not the union's fault that contract negotiations have yet to begin. Gradebook. (more…)

A private school student denied enrollment in a public school Junior ROTC program in Florida may get a chance to participate after all.

Clay County Superintendent Charlie Van Zant told redefinED Wednesday he is looking into his district’s recent decision with the hope of getting 15-year-old Kevin Gines into JROTC by August. Van Zant also added he is a longtime supporter of school choice options.

“It takes all kinds of programs and school offerings to get our kids where they need to be,’’ he said.

School board member Johnna McKinnon said she also plans to discuss the matter with administrators Wednesday evening, after a special district executive meeting.

“I am not aware that anyone has been denied that ability,’’ said McKinnon, who described herself as “very pro-ROTC.’’

Fellow board member Tina Bullock, a former high school principal, said she couldn’t see any reason Kevin couldn’t be admitted into the program if he was a student in good standing. “It’s clear we accept any student as long as the criteria are met and there is space available,’’ she said. “We’re looking for students.’’

Private school students can participate in public school extra-curricular activities, such as sports, and in gifted programs. And Clay County has welcomed virtual education students, homeschoolers and students from outside the district – with more than 300 special assignments this year alone, Van Zant said.

All three district leaders said they didn’t know about Kevin’s situation until after our story ran Tuesday.

Kevin attends Christian Home Academy in Orange Park on a publicly-funded scholarship for low-income students. (The scholarship program is administered by Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog.) Someday, he hopes to be a Marine – and he wants to start preparing now. (more…)

FCAT. FCAT writing scores up. FCAT reading and math scores flat. Miami Herald. South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. Orlando Sentinel. Florida Times Union. StateImpact Florida. Gainesville Sun. Ocala Star Banner. Associated Press. Naples Daily News. Bradenton Herald. Sarasota Herald Tribune. Pensacola News Journal. Tallahassee Democrat. Panama City News Herald. StateImpact has more from Education Commissioner Tony Bennett.

FCAT success. How a Tampa elementary magnet school got traction. Gradebook.

FCAT retakes. Daytona Beach News Journal.

Vals and sals. Backlash is growing to Hernando's decision to ban vals and sals. Gradebook.

Nerds. Spelling bee champ Nupur Lala of Tampa helped make nerdy cool. Associated Press.

Turnaround schools. Hillsborough is proactive about trying to spark them. Tampa Bay Times.

Teacher training. The Hechinger Report uses Florida to base a story about reformers' aims with teacher training and recruitment. (more…)

Teacher evals. Governing looks at whether teachers unions in other states will file suits similar to Florida's.

Teacher conduct. A veteran Broward County teacher is suspended for 13 days without pay for allowing an "overly permissive" classroom environment in which, among other things, she talked about her sex life. Her reassignment to a school for at-risk kids prompted a board member to ask, "How long are we going to continue to pay people to fail kids?” Miami Herald.

School spending.  Hernando projects a $4 million budget deficit, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Pinellas should be getting $37 million more next year, reports Gradebook. The Flagler school board considers cutting paraprofessionals in an effort to fill a budget gap, reports the Daytona Beach News Journal. Broward is considering outsourcing its facilities department, reports the Miami Herald. The Volusia school board votes to outsource custodial services for an estimated savings of $30 million over five years, reports the Daytona Beach News Journal. The Miami-Dade district auditor says a health care firm may have overbilled the district more than $1 million, the Herald also reports.

School choice. Pasco Superintendent Kurt Browning talks about expanding district choices. Tampa Tribune.

Rick Scott. The Republican Party of Florida unveils two ads supporting Gov. Rick Scott's education record. StateImpact Florida.

Jeb Bush. The next Foundation for Excellence in Education summit will be in Boston in October. EdFly Blog. (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…)

Charter schools. Tampa Bay Times columnist John Romano uses the specter of for-profit charter schools to slam state lawmakers who support parent trigger: "They say tomato, I say morons." Times columnist Bill Maxwell, meanwhile, highlights the success of Urban Prep Academies, a high-performing, all-male, all-black charter school in Chicago where, for four years in a row, every graduate was accepted into a four-year college.

The Palm Beach Post looks at lawmakers with charter school ties. The Lake Wales Charter School system is considering adding a second middle school, with the waiting list for the existing one at 360 and growing, reports the Winter Haven News Chief. The Athenian Academy charter in New Port Richey and the Pasco school district are clashing over whether the school has the right to expand, reports the Tampa Bay Times. A charter school in Miami Shores is getting better at private fundraising, reports the Miami Herald. The state's charter school appeals commission recommends approval of a proposed Orange Park charter school twice rejected by the Clay County School Board, reports the Florida Times Union. Lawmakers should limit charter school to districts with failing schools, editorializes the St. Augustine Record.

School choice lotteries. A lot of parents in Palm Beach County are about to get bad news:  They did not get their children into the district school  choice they wanted. According to the Palm Beach Post, "At more than half of the choice programs, less than 1 in 3 students that applied got a seat. At four of the 185 choice programs, fewer than 1 in 10 students won a seat."

Vouchers. The League of Women Voters asks if McKay vouchers and tax credit scholarships are constitutional in a Gainesville Sun op-ed.

Parent trigger. Former Board of Education member Julia Johnson responds to critics in this op-ed in the Tallahassee Democrat: "I don’t understand what a critic of parent empowerment meant when she recently wrote that it would use parents like “cheap napkins.’’ But I do know that low-income kids were used as a cheap paycheck and their schools were oftentimes used as a training ground for novice teachers and a depository for ineffective ones." The Tampa Tribune writes up the debate. Pensascola News Journal columnist Shannon Nickinson doesn't like it: "How about the state fulfilling its obligation to the public education system, rather than working to pass off that responsibility under the guise of “parental choice.”

Virtual schools. The Miami Herald writes up the bills that will expand digital education. (more…)

Parent trigger. The House parent trigger bill clears a second committee in face of growing opposition. Coverage from redefinED and The Buzz. The parent trigger is all about privatizing, editorializes the Bradenton Herald (though the piece appears to be word for word the same one that ran in the Palm BeachPost.)

School choice. Once again, there are far more applicants than slots at the "fundamental schools" in Pinellas, meaning lotteries will leave many parents unhappy. Gradebook.

Charter schools. Florida Virtual Academy, a network of online charters run by K12 Inc., will not seek to open three schools in Central Florida next years as it originally hoped, reports the Orlando Sentinel. A STEM-oriented charter on Marco Island is moving out of a church and into new digs, reports the Naples Daily News.

Graduation requirements. The Orlando Sentinel gives a thumbs up to plans for alternative diploma routes that tie into career education.

Teacher pay. Gov. Rick Scott takes a dig at House Speaker Will Weatherford for not supporting Scott's proposed across-the-board hike in teacher pay, reports The Buzz. More from the Associated Press. Lawmakers wrestle with how much to set aside and what constraints to put on it, reports the Tallahassee Democrat. Growing numbers of teachers are taking second jobs, reports the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

Testing. The Board of Education votes to create a task force to help districts reduce duplication as they create a massive number of end-of-course exams. Tallahassee Democrat. (more…)