Charter schools. Brooksville's first charter school, one with a STEM focus, will open this fall, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Competition from charter schools is forcing the Palm Beach County school district to think harder about its needs and priorities, reports the Palm Beach Post. Charters are also sparking debate among Palm Beach school board members about how much help they should give struggling charters, the Post also reports. An op-ed in the Miami Herald raises concerns about charter schools' diversity and financial incentives. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune profiles the principal of the Imagine charter school that is trying to break free from the parent company.

Magnet schools. The Tampa Tribune applauds the Hillsborough school district for creating a magnet tied to the maritime industry.

Alternative schools. Troubled girls get a fresh start at a sheriffs' youth  ranch in Polk County. Orlando Sentinel.

Tax credit scholarships. Great back-and-forth between scholars Kevin Welner at NEPC and Jason Bedrick at Cato, with Florida's program a big part of their debate. Cato at Liberty.

School choice. It's often partisan. Sunshine State News.

Parent trigger. Education Commissioner Tony Bennett raises a constitutional question. The Florida Current. (more…)

For the second time this week, a credible, independent analysis shows Florida students leading the pack in progress.

Between 1992 and 2011, Florida students made bigger gains than students in four other “mega states” in fourth- and eighth-grade reading and fourth-grade math, according to a report released Thursday by an arm of the U.S. Department of Education. In each case, they moved from below the national average to meeting or exceeding it. Low-income and minority students in particular showed traction.

“There is something real going on there,” said Jack Buckley, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, according to Education Week.

The center’s comparison followed Wednesday’s College Board report that showed Florida continues to climb the charts on Advanced Placement exams. The Sunshine State now ranks fourth in the percentage of high school graduates passing AP exams. Over the past decade, it ranks second in progress.

Broken-record alert No. 1: Florida’s trend lines shouldn’t be a surprise, given reports like this, this, this, this and this in the past year alone. Yet there remains a lingering perception, cultivated by critics, that Florida’s public schools are sub par and stagnant.

For Thursday’s report, the center for the first time compared scores from Florida, California, Texas, New York and Illinois – the states with the biggest student populations and arguably the biggest challenges. It used results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a battery of tests better known as “The Nation’s Report Card” and considered the gold standard among standardized assessments.

In eighth-grade math, Florida students made gains but remain below the national average. Elsewhere in the report, they were singled out often. (more…)

AP results. Florida students rank No. 4 in the nation in the percentage of graduates passing an AP exam. redefinED. Tampa Bay Times. Miami Herald. Tallahassee Democrat. Orlando Sentinel. CBS Miami. Florida Today. Associated Press. Fort Myers News Press.

Tutoring oversight. The Tampa Bay Times elevated a handful of bad actors to taint the overall tutoring effort in Florida and ridicules a program championed by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy to help low-income families, writes Steve Pines, executive director of the Education Industry Association, in an op-ed response to the Times series and editorial.

Teacher evals and school grades. Despite the concern of Education Commission Tony Bennett and others, the two systems are not meant to be in sync. Shanker Blog.

More conspiracy! Now in Education Week.

Class size flexibility. There's bipartisan support for a bill to provide that. StateImpact Florida.

Common Core. Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett talks more about the why's behind Plan B. Education Week. (more…)

Common Core. More signs that an implementation delay is in the works. StateImpact Florida. Orlando Sentinel. Associated Press.

School spending. South Florida Sun Sentinel: "The Broward school district overpaid a security firm by $129,000, according an internal audit that found the district grossly mismanaged the contract, paid unnecessary overtime and late fees, and even paid guards after the contract expired." Brevard Superintendent Brian Binggeli hears from upset parents and teachers objecting to budget cuts, reports Florida Today.

Special needs students. Parents say they'll fight district plans to shutter two schools for special needs students in Broward. South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Gays and lesbians. More than 100 supporters of a proposed Gay-Straight Alliance at a Lake County middle school turn out for a school board meeting. Orlando Sentinel.

Teacher evals. Mismatch between eval results and school grades concerns state education officials, reports Orlando Sentinel and Gradebook.

Teacher pay. Is Scott's proposal a raise or a bonus? Lakeland Ledger.

Educator conduct: The Sarasota Herald Tribune reports Manatee district officials did not follow up on tips about an assistant football coach's possible misconduct involving a student and decided to close an inquiry in time for the playoffs.

Diane Ravitch. Weighs in on school closings in Brevard. (Hat tip: Florida Today).

More conspiracy! The editorial board of the The Oklahoman takes a rational look at the Jeb-Bush-corporate-conspiracy theory being promoted by a group called In the Public Interest and advanced by mainstream media.

School boards. Manatee board member Julie Aranabar won't face charges for a potential public records violation. Sarasota Herald Tribune.

Federal vouchers. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., proposes what may be the most sweeping school choice legislation in U.S. history - a federal tax credit scholarship program similar to the state program in Florida. redefinED. More from the Miami Herald.

Tutoring oversight. In response to a Tampa Bay Times investigation, Education Commissioner Tony Bennett promises to take steps to curb fraud and abuse in the state-mandated tutoring program.

Charter schools. The Pinellas school board votes to continue the closing process for the long-troubled Imagine charter school in St. Petersburg, despite more than 100 students showing their support for the school. Gradebook.

Exposed! The response. EdFly Blog notes what should have been in press reports - that In the Public Interest, the group that launched the latest Jeb Bush-corporate-cabal conspiracy theory, is run by Donald Cohen, the former political director of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO. (Gradebook, at least, did note the group's labor ties.)

School grades. A House subcommittee bill would extend grading to small schools. SchoolZone.

School spending. The St. Lucie County school board takes the possibility of four-day weeks off the table, reports TCPalm.com. A divided Volusia County school board votes to begin the process of outsourcing custodial and grounds maintenance jobs, reports the Daytona Beach News Journal. The Brevard school board votes to close three of four schools proposed for shuttering, reports Florida Today. (more…)

Private schools. What happens to private school records when private schools close? Sometimes, they disappear. Palm Beach Post.

Charter schools. The Broward school district is taking a closer look at how much it charges charter schools for bus transportation after a citizens task force complains the district is losing money on the deal and subsidizing the competition. Miami Herald. (The district is considering other ways to reduce busing costs, too, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel.) A K-8 charter school that teaches boys and girls separately is proposed for Palm Beach Gardens, reports the Palm Beach Post.

School choice. The Palm Beach district gets 17,500 applications for about 9,000 district choice seats. Palm Beach Post.

Digital education. Florida's mandates on digital offerings brings opportunities and challenges, editorializes the Palm Beach Post.

Privatization. The Volusia school district is right to consider outsourcing custodial services to save money, editorializes the Daytona Beach News Journal. The move could save about $5 million a year, the News Journal reports.

Florida's progress. Matt Di Carlo at the Shanker Blog: "Again, Governor Bush and supporters of his reforms have some solid evidence to draw upon when advocating for the Florida reforms, particularly the grade-based accountability system. The modest estimated effects in these high-quality analyses are not as good a talking point as the “we quadrupled the number of A-rated schools in six years” argument, but they are far preferable to claiming credit for what’s on the scoreboard after having changed the rules of the game."

Pace of change. Sweeping changes to teacher evaluations, academic standards and testing have district officials on edge and lawmakers considering changes. Tallahassee Democrat. (more…)

Private schools and FCAT testing. So far, two schools that accept tax credit scholarships have signed up, reports SchoolZone. The deadline is March 1.

Charter schools. A bill to be considered by the House Education Committee this week would require school districts to turn over empty buildings to charter schools for free and pay to maintain them. SchoolZone.

Teacher conduct. Two more girls are suing the Palm Beach County School Board, claiming they were sexually assaulted by a former middle school band teacher; the board has already agreed to pay two other girls $150,000 each to settle. Palm Beach Post.

Teacher evaluations. Tampa Bay Times raises questions about the new system with an analysis of schoolwide VAM scores in Pinellas.

Rick Scott. To get re-elected, he's "throwing money at schools." Palm Beach Post.

School grades. Focus is what led to improvements at two Polk schools. Lakeland Ledger.

School poverty. Percentage of students eligible for free- and reduced-price lunch is rising in Volusia and Flagler. Daytona Beach News Journal.

School spending. The Palm Beach County district wants the Legislature to restore districts' previous taxing authority for capital needs, so it can avoid a capital budget deficit that could top $50 million. Palm Beach Post.

School security. More than 50 Pinellas teachers sign up for free gun training. Tampa Bay Times.

Hidden faces. Non-instructional workers in Palm Beach County rally for fair treatment. South Florida Sun Sentinel.

ALEC's report card. StateImpact Florida.

Charter schools. The Tampa Tribune writes up the latest report on charter laws from the National Association of Public Charter Schools and quotes Robert Haag, president and CEO of the Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools: "You want choices for your child's education, just like anything else in life. You don't want to be stuck just going to Publix. You want to be able to go to Winn-Dixie or Whole Foods or any of those places."

The Pembroke Pines charter school system is battling the Broward school district for funding, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel. An F-rated charter middle school in Orlando plans to ask the Orange County school district for designation as an alternative school, which wouldn't be graded, reports SchoolZone. The Orlando Sentinel editorial board doesn't like the idea of more construction money for charter schools - or the possibility of a parent trigger.

School spending. The Manatee school district's Fitch bond rating is downgraded from stable to negative, reports the Bradenton Herald. The district posts thousands of documents from the forensic audit into a $3.4 million deficit, the Herald also reports. The documents show a school board member forced former superintendent Tim McGonegal to resign after he learned of the deficit, reports the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

Following Florida: Nevada should adopt Florida's ed reforms, particularly its expansion of school choice options, says this op-ed in Nevada Business Magazine.

Rick Scott. As the governor woos teachers, the Tea Party scratches its head. Tampa Bay Times.

Exposed, again! Another news outlet gives space to the Jeb Bush corporate-connections-conspiracy story.

Teacher evaluations. The Tampa Bay Times offers an update on the Gates-funded effort in Hillsborough. A Flagler teacher will focus on teacher evaluations as a fellow with the Hope Street Group, a national public policy outfit, reports the Daytona Beach News Journal. (more…)

New Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett offered more hints Wednesday that he is not satisfied with the current accountability framework for Florida private schools that accept students with vouchers and tax credit scholarships.

Making his first appearance before the Senate Education Committee, Bennett was asked by Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, for his thoughts on “holding everybody accountable that receives tax dollars.” His response:

“I would suggest to you that this is a place where with all candor, sir, that even some of my supporters have been uncomfortable in the past. Because I do believe that schools that receive state funds should be held accountable and I believe that accountability should be just as transparent as what we expect from our traditional public schools.

“So I would share with you that in Indiana, every school that received state funds got a letter grade that was all calculated the same way. A public charter school got its letter grade calculated the same way as the traditional publics. Schools that received vouchers – and we did have the nation’s most expansive voucher program, pure voucher program – they got a letter grade, based on the same measurements as our traditional publics. And that way the public could make an informed choice  around school quality.

“Now I know that constitutionally, the voucher situation here isn’t the same was Indiana. And I know there’s that discussion about state funds. So I want to lay that out there. But again, these were all schools that received money from the state budget.  And I believe as a steward of the state tax dollars, we have to think about making sure that our citizens know the performance of schools that receive state tax dollars. And our job is to set the expectations for those schools and drive to those expectations.”

Senators also asked Bennett about a wide range of other issues. His biggest priorities, he said: implementing Common Core standards and reviewing SB 736, the far-reaching 2011 law that changes how district teachers are evaluated and paid. (more…)

Grad rates. Not good for Florida, according to this new report from the U.S. Department of Education. In 2009-10, the state’s rate was 70.8 percent, putting it No. 44 among all 50 states and Washington D.C. And unlike other estimates, the federal numbers show modestly improving trend lines rather than strong gains.

For what it’s worth, the U.S. DOE says the formula used for this report isn’t as accurate as others – and, in fact, is being phased out and replaced by a more precise formula. Coverage from Gradebook and StateImpact Florida. Nationally, the rate reached its highest point in decades. Coverage from Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post.

Teacher pay raises. Gov. Rick Scott will seek them in his budget proposal, with an announcement set for today. Karen Aronowitz, president of United Teachers of Dade in Miami, tells the Tampa Bay Times, “Tell him to send the money, but no one is fooled by this. He’s just restoring money that was already stolen from teachers." More from South Florida Sun Sentinel and News Service of Florida.

Teach for America. EdFly Blog: “Teach for America recruits bright, motivated university graduates and puts them in classrooms with low-income, disadvantaged kids. Normally, liberals would latch on to such a notion – think Peace Corps in urban neighborhoods.” But no.

Teacher evaluations. The new system is on the right track, but it needs more work to be meaningful, editorializes TCPalm.com.

Guts. Somehow, Florida’s decision to participate in PIRLS and other international assessments is being spun in some circles as a negative. The Quick and The Ed blog credits Florida for not shying away from what could be unflattering comparisons.

Tony Bennett. He'll be in the spotlight this legislative session. Sunshine State News.

Parent power. Florida still ranks No. 2 in the Center for Education Reform’s revised Parent Power Index. SchoolZone.

Charter schools. After two F's in a row, Lee Charter Academy in Fort Myers will have to close. Fort Myers News Press. (more…)