“Teacher bashing” and Newtown. Tampa Bay Times columnist Bill Maxwell sees a connection.

Advanced Placement. Is Florida's approach worth it? asks the Miami Herald. (Here's another stat worth considering: The number of passed AP tests in Florida has climbed from 87,852 to 136,265 – an increase of 55 percent - over the last five years alone.) 

High school grades rise. But with changes in the formula, comparisons to past years are dicey. Miami Herald. South Florida Sun Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. Orlando Sentinel. Florida Times Union. Lakeland Ledger. Fort Myers News Press. Naples Daily News. Florida Today. Pensacola News Journal. Gainesville Sun. Tampa Bay Times. State Impact Florida.

“Special education crisis.” That’s the term Tampa Bay Times columnist Sue Carlton uses to describe what’s happening in the Hillsborough school district.

More school security. State Rep. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, wants more school resource officers in the wake of Newtown, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Similar talk in South Florida, reports the Sun Sentinel, and on the Space Coast, reports Florida Today. Absenteeism spikes Friday, the Times also reports. The Palm Beach Post takes a look at charter schools’ response to the tragedy. Don’t turn schools into forts, writes Orlando Sentinel columnist Beth Kassab.

Race-based achievement goals. Florida voters don’t like them, according to a new Quinnipiac poll, but … how much of that is based on widely circulated misinformation about them? Coverage from The Buzz, Orlando Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, News Service of Florida, StateImpact Florida.

Newtown plus doomsday. Prominent Tampa attorney Barry Cohen sparks a feud with the elite Berkeley Preparatory School over what he sees as shortcomings in security, reports the Tampa Bay Times. The state needs to better fund school resource officers, Leon County Superintendent Jackie Pons tells Gov. Rick Scott, reports Gradebook. Mayan calendar doomsday fears add to Newtown jitters at schools across the country, reports the New York Times. Lots of rumors and fears in Florida: Miami Herald, Orlando Sentinel. A gun instructor in southwest Florida offers free gun training to any interested teacher, reports the Fort Myers News Press.

Charter school funding. Don’t force school districts to subsidize charter schools, editorializes the Palm Beach Post.

Class size penalties in Duval. Superintendent Nikolai Vitti says the $7.4 million penalty – the highest in the state - should be dropped on appeal, reports the Florida Times Union.

High school grades due out this morning. SchoolZone.