PARCC: Gov. Rick Scott calls on state education leaders to drop out of PARCC, the assessments aligned with the new Common Core State Standards. But last year, Scott celebrated the fact that PARCC was coming to Florida. The Buzz. More from the Sun Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel, Miami Herald, StateImpact Florida, Associated Press, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Education Week, Sunshine State News, Pensacola News Journal, Daytona Beach News-Journal, The Answer Sheet, Florida Current, NPR and Wall Street Journal. 
Some of Scott’s concerns about PARCC are debunked on the Florida Department of Education’s website. Tampa Bay Times. There is nothing wrong with striving to make sure standards and assessments in Florida are as valid and fair as possible, writes Tampa Bay Times columnist John Romano. “The real problem is risking everything that has already been accomplished by our students and educators by creating a mythical boogeyman just to score political points.” And this from the Tampa Bay Times: Scott’s declaration … is a serious setback for education reform.”
Board of Ed: Gov. Rick Scott on Monday appointed a former teacher as the newest member of the State Board of Education. The Buzz.
School buses: Lake County School Board members restore busing to more than 450 students who face dangerous walking routes to classes. Orlando Sentinel.
Charter schools: Academy of Arts & Minds, the high-performing but oft-scrutinized performing arts charter high school in Miami-Dade County files for bankruptcy. Miami Herald.
Teachers: The Call Me MISTER program seeks up to four black men a year to become teachers, providing scholarships for their tuition. In return, they must teach for at least five years in schools identified as low performing. Florida Times-Union.
Achievement gap: The Tampa Tribune outlines Pinellas County’s new plan to help black students. Among the goals: Schools with high suspension rates for black students would receive training in “culturally responsive positive behavior interventions.”
Conduct: The Pinellas County School Board considers a recommendation to fire a bus driver who may have hit a student and then waited half an hour to report the accident. Tampa Bay Times. St. Lucie schools Superintendent Genelle Yost recommends firing a bus aide for allegedly verbally attacking a special-needs child. TC Palm. Hernando County’s superintendent recommends dismissing a teacher after a district investigation finds he falsified a recent application to renew his teaching certificate and failed to promptly report a conviction for driving under the influence. Tampa Bay Times.
