Florida: Tony Bennett is selected the state's new education commissioner (redefinED). He tells reporters afterwards that he champions school choice first and foremost because of the social justice component (redefinED). A new group headed by T. Willard Fair,  co-founder of the state's first charter school, aims to create a pipeline of black executives and entrepreneurs to help lead private and charter schools (redefinED). The Miami-Dade school district ranks No. 10 in the country for school choice, according to a new report from Brookings (redefinED). A Catholic school in Tampa is at the heart of a University of Notre Dame project to revitalize Catholic schools, particularly for Hispanic students. (redefinED).

Louisiana: Voucher parents are worried in the wake of the legal ruling that puts the program in limbo (advertiser.com). Gov. Bobby Jindal makes a pitch for vouchers at a Brookings Institution event in Washington D.C. (Huffington Post).

Washington: More than 150 teachers, parents and administrators attend a charter school conference in the wake of the successful passage of a charter school ballot initiative (Tacoma News Tribune). (Full disclosure: The conference was sponsored by the Washington Charter School Research Center, which was founded by Jim and Fawn Spady. Fawn Spady chairs the board of directors at the American Center for School Choice, which co-hosts this blog.)

Michigan: The education adviser to Gov. Rick Snyder presents the governor's sweeping public school choice proposal to business and education leaders (Grand Rapids Business Journal). (more…)

Florida Gov. Rick Scott's visit to a new charter school yesterday was not only noteworthy because it reaffirmed his commitment to parental school choice, but because of who was by his side: former state Sen. Al Lawson, a Tallahassee Democrat now running for Congress.

“Throughout my 28 years in the Legislature I always wanted education reform for our young people. I had the opportunity to tour the state on many occasions to look into what was happening with our public schools. And I was always excited about the opportunity to help with public charter schools in the state," Lawson said after the visit to Governors Charter Academy, a K-8 school run by Charter Schools USA. "This is a great addition, not only to the state but to Tallahassee. And we have kids here that I’m really excited about. I’ve never seen kids act so well with all this media, so it’s already starting here. This is the kind of thing we want to improve education. That’s what it’s all about, whether you’re Democrat or Republican, about how we train our future leaders, because they have to take our place.”

Lawson was among the first black lawmakers in Florida who broke ranks with traditional allies to vote for vouchers and tax credit scholarships. (more…)