At the EdFly Blog today, former Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas asks a reasonable question: Why isn't the Florida teachers union trumpeting the dramatic gains of Florida teachers? This morning's Education Week ranking is just the latest in a long string of credible reports that finds Florida making steady academic progress. Shouldn't Florida teachers, doing more with less and under enormous pressure to produce results, get credit from those who portray themselves as their biggest supporters? Here's Thomas:

Florida scored another impressive victory with the state finishing sixth in the Education Week “Quality Counts’’ rankings.

This follows news from last month that Florida fourth graders finished second in the world on international reading assessments. In October, Miami-Dade won the prestigious Broad Prize for urban school districts because of progress in closing the achievement gap. Florida kids ranked second in the nation in learning gains dating back to the 1990s. I could go on.

Alas, Florida’s good news is not celebrated by all, even by its own teachers’ union. The Florida Education Association has been silent on all of the above, even though its teachers are on the front lines of these successes. Repentant reformer Diane Ravitch actually compared student achievement in Florida and Massachusetts. Of course Massachusetts kids perform better. Look at the student demographic and income data, Diane. Are you serious?

The reason for this denial is that Florida did not achieve its success by acceptable means. By that, I mean if the state had achieved these results by tripling education spending and eliminating its accountability provisions and school choice options, the above victories would have been trumpeted from the rooftops by the FEA and Diane as well.

Continue reading Thomas' post here.

Common Core: There is general acceptance among teachers, teachers unions and politicians in Florida that Common Core is a good thing, but questions remain about testing and funding, the Associated Press reports.

Next big step. President Obama can build on Common Core by creating another Race to the Top competition, inviting teachers to create top-notch, MOOC-like courses that can be viewed by students anywhere, write David Colburn and Brian Dassler in this op-ed for the Tampa Bay Times.

Ed reform Christmas Carol. Have we forgotten the Ghost of Education Past? From EdFly Blog: “For some, this brings nostalgia for the days when teachers and schools set their own standards. Forgotten is that while this system worked well for the children of affluent parents who lived near the best schools, it failed a growing number of kids not born into such fortunate circumstances.”

Private school security. The Palm Beach Post looks at the response from private schools in the wake of Newtown. The Post also looked at how charter schools in Palm Beach County responded.

Rookies. A year in the life of a first-year teacher. Second in a series. Fort Myers News Press.

Transfers. A Collier County teacher fights an involuntary transfer. Naples Daily News.

More school grades. The grading formula is in flux. School Zone.

Is the FCAT required or not? StateImpact Florida.

On top of the world. Gov. Rick Scott calls the PIRLS results (an international assessment that shows Florida fourth-graders are second only to their peers in Hong Kong in reading) “great news for Florida as our state becomes a hub for global commerce.” Jeb Bush says Florida students are “again busting all the myths.” No more Flori-duh, writes EdFly Blog: “Florida has gone from one of the worst reading states in the nation to one of the top reading nations in the world. And just last month I read a story about Jeb Bush’s education reforms in Reuters, which concluded: 'But a close examination raises questions about the depth and durability of the (education) gains in Florida.' Think we’ll see a follow-up?” More from Florida Today, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Eduwonk, Jay P. Greene’s Blog. (Image from questprblog.com)

FCAT for voucher kids? Gov. Scott seems to suggest that in comments to reporters Tuesday. Here’s the clip (starts at about the 13-minute mark). Coverage from Gradebook, WTSP, Orlando Sentinel, Associated Press, News Service of Florida. The governor will be speaking in Tampa tonight, at the annual donor dinner for Florida’s tax credit scholarship program (which is sponsored by Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog).

Race to the Top. Miami-Dade wins this round, reports the Miami Herald.

Conversion. The Broward County school board considers creating a countywide K-12 digital arts magnet in an effort to help a low-performing middle school meet accountability standards, reports the Sun-Sentinel.

Protection. From the Orlando Sentinel: "After listening to nearly six hours of testimony on both sides of the issue, the Orange County School Board added protections for gay, lesbian and transgender students and staff to the district's nondiscrimination policy early Wednesday."

Wait a minute. The Polk County school board and new superintendent John Stewart may delay the opening of six district-run charter schools for at-risk students, reports the Ledger.

School-to-prison pipeline. On the NAACP's agenda in Duval. Florida Times Union.

School choice is growing. DOE officials tell state lawmakers 40 percent of Florida students now attend a school other than their zoned school, reports WFSU.

School choice adds complications. Planning and zoning is a lot tougher with magnets and charters in the mix, editorializes the Palm Beach Post.

Dozen new charters coming to Duval. Florida Times Union.

Digital learning. Lee County School Board members worry about funding for state-mandated requirements for electronic learning materials, reports the Naples Daily News.

Tony Bennett. He’s one of three finalists for the ed commish job, along with Charles Hokanson Jr. and Randy Dunn. Coverage from redefinED, Gradebook, WFSU, School Zone.

More budget questions in Manatee. The interim superintendent says he has found another $7 million in unbudgeted items, reports the Bradenton Herald.

Covering the coverage. Gradebook and StateImpact Florida note EdFly Blog’s rebuttal to Reuters’ story on Florida’s academic progress.

Teacher evals. Alachua teachers are upset with the new system, reports the Gainesville Sun.

Tony Bennett. He’s in the mix for Florida education commissioner. Coverage from Orlando Sentinel, Indianapolis Star, StateImpact Florida. A list of all candidates on Gradebook here.

Welcoming competition. New Duval Superintendent Nikolai Vitti is recommending the school board approve 12 of 14 charter school applications up for a vote today, reports the Florida Times Union. He also tells the board the district has to compete and “dominate the market” so “when a charter school tries to set up shop they will find themselves unable to compete with us because we are that dynamic and innovative.”

More on grad rates. Orlando Sentinel. AP. The Ledger.

More on remediation. StateImpact Florida.

Cherry picking. EdFly Blog calls out Reuters for last week’s story about Florida’s academic gains.

Union news. Karen Aronowitz won’t seek another term as president of United Teachers of Dade, reports the Miami Herald.

Standardized test costs. They total about $1.7 billion a year nationwide, according to a new report from Brookings that includes state-by-state figures. Not much, concludes researcher Matt Chingos, who adds “perhaps we’re spending less than we should.” Coverage from Education Week and Huffington Post. Former Florida education commissioner Gerard Robinson tells the latter about test anxiety: “I won't pretend that tests don't matter and there's no anxiety -- but I also tell people there's anxiety with sex. There's anxiety with sex, but there isn't any talk about getting rid of that.”

And still more Jeb summit coverage. Politic365 on the “Florida Formula.” EdFly Blog on the crucial center. Rick Hess on "The Common Core Kool-Aid."

More protests from Hillsborough parents. They want better training for employees who work with special-needs children, StateImpact Florida reports. More from Tampa Bay Times.

ALEC to remain neutral on Common Core. Report from EdWeek. As we noted last week, Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education weighed in against the ALEC resolution. Thumbs up from Checker Finn. More from EdFly Blog.

Speaking of Common Core … Education Week writes about the dispute between the Florida Department of Education and a private vendor over a website that was supposed to prepare teachers and students for the new standards.

Teacher evals. The FEA holds a press conference to step up its criticism. Coverage from Orlando Sentinel, Gradebook, The Florida Current, First Coast News.

Agenda for ed conference. The fifth annual Excellence in Action National Summit on Education Reform, put on by the Foundation for Excellence in Education, is next week. Full agenda here.

Private school problems. Both the Bradenton Herald and Sarasota Herald-Tribune take a look at issues with The Prep Academy.

Tony Bennett’s shocking loss in Indiana has highlighted a deep and long-festering rift among some ed reformers over adoption of Common Core academic standards. Some observers pinned the loss on Republicans who see Common Core as federal intrusion tied to President Obama rather than a voluntary, state-led effort – and who saw Bennett as too cozy with it.

From Florida, one prominent Common Core advocate is pushing back.

In a letter last week to the American Legislative Exchange Council board of directors, Patricia Levesque, executive director of Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education, politely takes issue with a draft resolution that would revoke a state’s adoption of Common Core. She calls the standards a “crucial foundation” for reform and says while they’ll better prepare students for a global economy, they “do not dictate what textbooks must be used or how a district’s curriculum should be set up.”

“Resolutions like this one,” concludes the letter, dated a day after the election, “draw attention and resources away from what’s important – properly implementing the improved standards and working together to provide a high quality education to all students.”

In a blog post two days later, Levesque is far more edgy. (more…)

Between 1992 and 2009, the number of public school students nationwide grew by 17 percent while full-time school staff increased by 39 percent, according to a report released today by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. But the extra employees didn't seem to do much good, the report continued, because student achievement nationally is flat.

The report suggests public schools could have saved tens of billions of dollars each year had staffing levels grown more modestly, with the savings plowed into higher teacher salaries, early childhood education or vouchers for low-income students.

Florida's public school student population increased 36 percent over that span, the report points out, while its teaching corps grew by 70 percent.

There's no doubt Florida's class-size reduction amendment, which voters approved in 2002, played a role. Unlike their national counterparts, Florida students have made respectable gains over the past 10 to 15 years, due to many factors that are tough to untangle.

In this era of expanding school choice, the report leaves us wondering: Will public dollars be spent more effectively in a system organized around customization?

More on staff growth in public education at the EdFly Blog and this recent Jay P. Greene op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.

Editor's note: blog stars is an occasional roundup of good reads from other ed blogs.

The EdFly Blog: Frivolous litigation earns dunce cap

As for Florida dumbing down education, as is alleged in the lawsuit, the state ranks first in the country in the percent of 2011 graduates who took an AP exam, sixth in the percent of graduates passing at least one AP exam, and fourth in improving the passing percentage since 2001.

An in-depth analysis by ProPublica last year praised Florida as being a leader in giving low-income students the same access to AP classes as affluent kids.

And while the state’s NAEP scores took a dip in 2011, it ranks second nationally in gains on the national assessments dating back to the 1990s.

In fact, by any measure, the state’s education system is light years ahead of the system that was in operation when Mills helped run Tallahassee. And the biggest beneficiaries have been the students who were routinely ignored back then. Full post here.

Sara Mead's Policy Notebook: This is why our current education debate is toxic

Richard Rothstein's American Prospect investigation into the details of Joel Klein's childhood (no, I'm not kidding here) is really not worth reading, but it unfortunately exemplifies two of the most toxic aspects of the current education reform conversation (fwiw it also contains some interesting information about the history of post-war public housing in NYC):

Personality over policy: The point of Rothstein's very long article seems to be that Joel Klein's education policy views are invalid because his childhood was less poor than it has sometimes been represented as being. At a surface level, this is idiotic. Whether Klein grew up in abject poverty or simply in circumstances much more humble than the financial and political status to which he has risen has absolutely nothing to do with whether the education policies he proposes work. Nor did Klein or anyone else ever claim himself as the sole data point for the power good teachers and schools can have on kids' lives. There's, um, actual research on this. (more…)