Florida’s new education commissioner is known for his zealous support of charter schools and vouchers and other learning options that some critics see as anti-public school.

Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett and Hillsborough Superintendent MaryEllen Elia were among the panelists at a National School Choice Week event in Tampa. (Photo by Lisa A. Davis/Step Up For Students)

But on Tuesday afternoon, Tony Bennett sat next to Hillsborough County Public Schools Superintendent MaryEllen Elia inside a Tampa magnet school for boys, and praised the growth of choice in district schools across the state.

Florida is transcending the first round of conversations on choice that pit private and charter schools against public schools and virtual schools against “brick and mortar’’ ones, Bennett said during an event marking National School Choice Week. The new conversation, he suggested, isn’t either-or; it’s whatever works to ensure all kids have access to quality choices.

“So we’re now talking about choice – not just private schools and charter schools and virtual schools – we’re talking about public school choice,” he told an audience of about 100 people gathered at the Boys Preparatory Academy. “We’re talking about creative leaders like MaryEllen, like the team here, creating educational opportunities for children within the district - and really going to what we all heard was the purpose of choice to begin with, to provide incubation for innovation for our public schools.”

Tuesday’s event was sponsored by the Florida Alliance for Choices in Education, a coalition that includes a wide swath of school choice groups. Bennett and Elia sat on a panel with representatives from home-schooling, virtual education, magnet schools, career academies, Florida tax credit scholarships and McKay scholarships.

Most were parents who had lived and breathed school choice, starting with their own children. As they shared stories of searching for schools that practiced their faith or fit their child’s academic needs, they offered numbers that shed light on the choice movement’s impact. (more…)

Tweaks coming to teacher evals? Gradebook: “Patricia Levesque, executive director of Jeb Bush's education foundation and a key voice in state education legislation, meanwhile, is floating a draft bill that would alter the evaluation system, too. She sent an e-mail to superintendents last week seeking input.”

Tony Bennett on charter schools. In a Q&A with the Orlando Sentinel, Bennett is asked whether lawmakers should tighten scrutiny on charter schools. His response: “When the charter movement began, the intent of charter schools was to trade increased freedom and flexibility for a higher level of accountability. Somewhere along the way, we lost track of that, and in too many cases, charter schools are held to lower standards than traditional public schools.”

Arming teachers? Teachers don’t like the idea, floated in the wake of Newtown, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Miami Herald columnist Fred Grimm agrees. Brevard schools go into lockdown after a man makes threats referencing Newtown, reports Florida Today. Rumors of violence in Hillsborough, reports the Tampa Bay Times and Tampa Tribune. More security discussions in Broward, reports the Miami Herald. A stranger trespassing on an Alachua middle school campus raises questions, reports the Gainesville Sun. Florida parents are among those ordering stacks of $300 bulletproof backpacks, reports the Orlando Sentinel. (Image from americablog.com). “Schools can’t be prisons,” editorializes the Pensacola News Journal.

More contracting issues. Four employees in the Division of Blind Services, which is under the Department of Education, are ousted after an audit reveals a sweetheart deal in the works over a contract, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

A day in the life. Orlando Sentinel columnist Beth Kassab spends a day with a teacher.

More poor kids. In Broward and Palm Beach counties, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Budget cuts. Brevard Superintendent Brian Binggeli recommends $39 million in cuts in the wake of a failed sales tax referendum. Florida Today.

Fallout over LGBT vote. SchoolZone.