Education bill: The Florida Senate votes to override Gov. Rick Scott's veto of the K-12 education bill. Senate Appropriations chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, says the vote is "an insurance policy" to keep schools operating after June 30 in case no agreement can be reached on education spending during the special session. That seems increasingly possible, as Senate and House leaders continue to bicker over details of the bill and other issues. Miami Herald. Orlando Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. News Service of Florida. Florida Politics. Miami Herald. Associated Press. Politico Florida. Tallahassee Democrat. State Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, proposes using $215 million earmarked in H.B. 7069 for teacher bonuses and charter schools to increase funding for public schools. Miami Herald. Politico Florida. redefinED. School officials in Volusia, Flagler, Lee and Levy counties like some aspects of the education bill, but are urging Gov. Scott to veto it primarily because of the additional money that would go to charter schools. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Fort Myers News-Press. Cedar Key Beacon. Manatee County school officials worry about the education bill's restrictions on how districts can spend federal Title I money. Bradenton Herald.

Early-release days: Brevard County school officials want to move early-release days from Wednesdays to Fridays. They say the proposal would help students who are dual-enrolled at Eastern Florida State College, which doesn't hold classes on Fridays. The district and the teachers union must agree on the proposed change. Florida Today. WKMG.

Ex-principal defended: Pinellas County School Board member Linda Lerner defends a principal who made racially charged comments and has since retired. Lerner says Christine Hoffman, formerly the principal at the mostly black Campbell Park Elementary School in St. Petersburg, made a mistake by telling the staff working on student class assignments that the school's "white students should be in the same class." Lerner said: "Sometimes white people say something racially insensitive. ... One mistake should not ruin a career." Gradebook. (more…)