Whistleblowers intimidated? Two students who complained about having unqualified substitutes for geometry class all year are being harassed and intimidated by the school's principal and the area superintendent, two teachers tell Palm Beach School Superintendent Robert Avossa. They say the principal, Cheryl McKeever, told the geometry students they don’t have a teacher because they ran off the job candidate. In a statement, McKeever says she was addressing the students as young adults. Palm Beach Post.

Teacher bonuses: Incoming House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, says he wants to expand the teacher bonuses program in the next legislative session. He says more money will be added, especially for teachers in low-income schools, and the program will be made permanent instead of proceeding on a year-to-year basis. Tampa Bay Times. Rep. Corcoran issues a survey to the 5,200 state teachers who qualified for the teacher bonuses, asking them how to improve the program. Gradebook. The Best and Brightest teacher bonuses are distributed in Miami-Dade. Each teacher who qualified receives $8,256.27 minus payroll and income tax. Miami Herald.

Pyrotechnics probe: Palm Beach County school officials will investigate who approved hiring a fire-breather for a pep rally Thursday at Atlantic High School. The act misfired and the performer's face caught fire. “When you put fire in a building, this is a problem,” says Superintendent Robert Avossa. Palm Beach Post. This was at least the third time fire-breather Ricky Charles has performed in Palm Beach schools in the past three years. Palm Beach Post. A new type of fuel and a lack of practice led to the accident, says Ricky Charles. Sun-Sentinel. Palm Beach Post.

Education bill: What was in the massive education bill that passed on the final day of the Legislature? Miami Herald. One thing not in the bill is money for City Year, a branch of AmeriCorps that places young adults in schools to help students one-on-one. Orlando Sentinel.

Money = results? Big donations to legislators didn't necessarily translate into big returns for the industries making the donations. But charter school supporters were among the winners. Miami Herald. (more…)