School choice survey: A recent survey concludes that the state's K-12 tax credit scholarship program has greatly expanded educational opportunities for low-income families, and that those families are overwhelmingly satisfied with the program. More than 14,700 parents responded to the survey by the advocacy and research group EdChoice, with 92 percent reporting they are happy with the program and 89 percent saying they were satisfied with the private schools they chose for their children. The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship serves more than 100,000 students from families with an average income of $25,740 a year. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the scholarship. Gradebook. redefinED.

Contract negotiations: The Volusia County School Districts and its teachers union reach agreement on a three-year contract that gives teachers a 3 percent raise this year and 7.5 percent over the contract in return for a 30-minute longer elementary school day. Daytona Beach News-Journal. St. Johns County School District bus drivers will receive a pay hike of 50 cents an hour, to $13.57 as a starting wage, under an agreement between the union and district. St. Augustine Record. The Brevard County School District has cut $9 million from next year's budget. But school officials say nearly all of it is committed to mandatory spending on security and mental health services, charter school growth, money for the Florida Retirement System, costs to reopen South Lake Elementary School and resuming busing for choice schools, leaving little for teacher raises. The district has offered less than 2 percent, or about $575 a year for teachers rated highly effective. The union is demanding nearly six times that. Florida Today. The Pasco County School District is offering its teachers a 1.5 percent pay increase. The teachers want 3.75 percent, leaving the sides about $5 million apart. But both sides are optimistic that a deal can be reached soon. Negotiations resume in a week. Gradebook. (more…)