Around the state:  A group of parents are rallying behind an Orange County teacher, a principal was arrested in Brevard, a theater company created an independent library of banned books and students in Broward participated in a teddy bear drive for first responders to give to children.  Here are details about those stories and other developments from the state's districts, private schools and colleges and universities:

Broward: Students at Bayview Elementary in south Florida took part in a teddy bear drive for first responders to give to children years after a boy was killed in a plane crash. Ft. Lauderdale police officers picked up dozens of teddy bears collected by students. The drive was organized by Taylor's Teddy Bears, a nonprofit that collects stuffed bears for first responders to give to children. WSVN.

Hillsborough: A week before a key vote on school boundary changes and closures, some members of the Hillsborough County School Board indicated they might not be ready to take action. A special meeting and first vote is scheduled for Feb. 28 on sweeping changes that are designed to fix both school crowding and vacancies, while saving money.  Board member Lynn Gray, concerned about pending legislation that would expand the state's school voucher system, said she fears funding levels and enrollment could drop dramatically, making it impossible to make an informed decision on new attendance boundaries at this time.  Tampa Bay Times.

Manatee: Officials this week echoed Gov. Ron DeSantis by suggesting key changes to public library policies that give parents more control over what children are allowed to read. The updates to library protocols are the latest culture war development from the board of county commissioners here. Miami Herald.

Orange: A group of Orange County parents want school officials to reinstate a teacher accused of using children as "political pawns" in a series of TikTok videos, including some that took aim at book bans. Ethan Hooper, a sixth-grade language arts teacher at Howard Middle, was put on administrative leave and faces being fired by the school district after he posted the videos. Orlando Sentinel.

Brevard: The principal of Learning Forward Education Center in Melbourne was arrested this week for allegedly abusing a child with special needs. WESH.

School vouchers: Two Central Florida lawmakers who support a "transformational" expansion of the state's school voucher programs are closely tied to private schools that already receive hundreds of thousands of dollars from families who use state scholarships to pay tuition. Orlando Sentinel. Speaking of vouchers, the discussion over so-called "school vouchers" has long been a contentious battle in education politics, and GOP lawmakers are pushing to expand the voucher program if all goes well with the state Legislature. But legislation has became fraught with confusion and disagreements over allowing students to attend private schools using taxpayer dollars. Florida Phoenix.

Banned books: The book battle brewing in schools prompted a St. Petersburg theater company to help create an independent library full of banned books. Titles such as "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Anne Frank: The Diary a Young Girl" now have a new home at the American Stage Theater Company. The theater company, along with Keep St. Pete Lit and Tombolo Books, created the independent library of banned books at St. Pete College. Fox 13.

College savings for newborns: States, cities and community groups that offer free money to families to jumpstart college savings face a dilemma: The families most in need sometimes don't sign up. To solve that problem, some states have transformed the accounts into automatic programs that help all families. The initiative comes at a time when even affluent families are struggling to afford college. The 74th.

University and college news: A South Florida professor's job may be in jeopardy after a parent complained to the president of Palm Beach Atlantic University about a racial justice unit included in Samuel Joeckel's Composition II course, prompting the dean and the provost to let the professor know the renewal of his contract has been delayed, pending review of the unit. South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Opinions on schools:  Texas Monthly featured the tale of Dripping Springs Independent School District and how it plays into a vast right-wing conspiracy to destroy public education.  Matthew Ladner, reimaginED.  Great Hearts Academies launched in 2001 with 130 students. Today, it operates 33 classical K-12 schools serving more than 25,000 students in Arizona and Texas. Rick Hess, reimaginED. A Florida mom wants education savings accounts to become a reality. Lisa Buie, reimaginED.

Around the state: The state board of education was scheduled to meet to discuss whether 10 school districts are violating new state laws and rules relating to the instruction of race, gender identity and sexual orientation, a new tool in Hillsborough will show parents what changes from an attendance boundary analysis could mean, members of the Volusia United Educators teachers union showed up in red to deliver educator wish lists to the school board and book controversy in Brevard. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:

Hillsborough: A new online tool from the school district here is showing parents what changes from an attendance boundary analysis could mean for their child's school. Some schools in this district have too few students while others have too many, so the district has a set of proposed plans to better utilize schools. But the impact of the plans vary for students. Any boundary changes, if approved, would take effect for the 2023-24 school year. "This is a very serious initiative," said Superintendent Addison Davis. ABC Action News.

Orange: The school system here is once again listed as the eighth largest school district for the 2022-23 school year. Based on an official count from the month of October, Orange County Public Schools reported 208,788 students. This figure is the highest number of students since before the pandemic began in 2020, when 212,401 students were reported for the 2019-20 school year. WFTV.

Brevard: The school board here wants books challenged in the district to be taken off library shelves and held behind the counter like adult magazines. But a policy needs to change before that occurs, and the district has begun the process of updating the policy. The board also narrowed down its top three candidates for interim superintendent who will take over on Jan. 1 from outgoing Superintendent Mark Mullins and begin work on reversing a controversial public speaking policy. Florida Today.

Volusia: Over 50 members of the Volusia United Educators teachers union, which represents about 3,500 district employees, showed up in red earlier this week to deliver educator wish lists to the school board. Requests included being paid what they were worth, proper time to take care of their mental health, paid maternity and paternity leave for staff and curriculum changes. Union president Elizabeth Albert wrote in an email that the employees were showing up "to send a message to the board that they are overwhelmed, exhausted, and that things need to change now." The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Meanwhile, families in this county's school district are demanding justice after groping and choking incidents. The Daytona Beach News-Journal. 

Citrus: At a regular school board meeting earlier this week, members approved the final 2022-23 five-year work plan for the district as well as discussing the possibility of buying iPad insurance to save money on damage costs incurred.  A main takeaway from the work plan: how the district is planning to compensate for student population growth at the elementary level in the next decade. Citrus County Chronicle. 

Librarian guidelines: A state panel writing new guidelines for school librarians to follow when selecting books and other materials was supposed to meet earlier this week to finish recommendations. Instead, the session was canceled, sparking controversy. Tampa Bay Times.

LBGTQ policies: The state board of education was scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss whether 10 school districts are violation new state laws and rules relating to the instruction of race, gender identity and sexual orientation. Letters were sent to each of the districts warning that their policies on matters such as pronoun use and restroom rules should be revised and are under scrutiny. Tampa Bay Times. Bradenton Herald. Some districts, which include Broward and Miami-Dade, have already learned they were in violation of the parental rights in education law. The Miami Herald.   Many of these districts have a tumultuous history with state education officials on recent years when mask mandate disagreements during the pandemic led to administrative challenges, federal involvement and the withholding of certain school board salaries. “We’re not here to enforce anything, we’re here to listen to Chancellor (Jacob) Oliva as he makes his presentation,” Board Chair Tom Grady said in conference call meeting Wednesday. Florida Phoenix.

Superintendent shuffle: In the wake of election season, Florida school boards have booted out superintendents in districts across the state. Tallahassee Democrat. Lakeland Ledger. TC Palm.

Sandy Hook victims: The victims of this tragedy were remembered this week nationwide. NPR.

COVID-19 data: Charts were compiled to help better understand the impact COVID-19 had on teachers, students and schools. The 74th.

Lottery news: The state's lottery education contribution has reached $43 billion. Since its inception in 1988, public schools in Florida have received more than $23 billion, colleges and universities have received a total of more than $11 billion and more than $8 billion has been used to fund the Bright Futures Scholarship Program. WKMG.

Opinions on schools: It's been three years since the pandemic began and life is going back to pre-pandemic times, with the exception of one area: Education. Parents got a chance to get a close view into the education their children were being provided. One of those options is education savings accounts. Trish Wilger, reimaginED. When Oklahoma legislators approved a new K-12 open enrollment law last year, school choice advocates celebrated the reform. Despite its strong open enrollment law, Oklahoma is dealing with a problem facing other states with robust student transfer policies: how to ensure districts aren't arbitrarily defining capacity to keep neighboring students out. Christian Barnard, the 74th. Vickie Cartwright is superintendent of Broward County Schools until Jan. 24, and the district will continue looking for another superintendent. But this isn't a way to run the nation's sixth-largest school district. South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Debit cards: Only seven of 67 Florida school districts have taken Gov. Scott's offer of a $250 debit card for school supplies. Why? The cards won't be distributed until late next month - well after the start of school. The Buzz. More from the News Service of Florida.

Hiring: Only days away from the start of school, the Palm Beach County district still needs transportation and safety directors. Palm Beach Post.

ESE crisis: Hillsborough County school officials say they responded to concerns an ESE teacher shared with them months before a special needs student died while in school care. Tampa Bay Times. Columnist Sue Carlton says Hillsborough district leaders ought to be saying something like this: "Something went horribly wrong. We messed up. And we should be looking hard at the bigger picture to keep it from ever happening again.'' Tampa Bay Times.

Club control: Lake County School Board members vote to only allow middle school clubs that promote critical thinking, business, athletics and the arts. That upsets some students as they try to form a Gay-Straight Alliance to deter bullying. Orlando Sentinel.

Priorities: Orange County School Board Chairman Bill Sublette set goals for the coming year that include changes to career and technical education, magnet programs and gifted education. Orlando Sentinel.

75th anniversary: The Miami Country Day private school that opened in 1938 celebrates its diamond anniversary. Miami Herald. (more…)

Charter schools. Parents at the now-defunct Ben Gamla charter school tell Pinellas Superintendent Mike Grego that they're unhappy with its closing. Gradebook. Gainesville's oldest charter school goes to a year-round schedule. Gainesville Sun. A new charter in Hillsborough will serve high school students with disabilities. Tampa Tribune.

Tax credit scholarships. SchoolZone writes up the state report that shows rapid growth in the tax credit scholarship program (which is administered by Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog).

Virtual schools. WGCU: " 'What the state has done is actually made a cut to education and disguised is as an operating protocol for virtual students.' ”

Standards. In 2011, Florida's proficiency bars in reading and math, relative to NAEP, don't stand out as particularly high, according to a new analysis. Education Next.

Mentors. Can boost FCAT scores, and groups like 100 Black Men of Orlando are heeding the call. Onyx.

School spending. Once again, the Palm Beach County School District's audit committee wants to know why so many schools have "money handling problems." Palm Beach Post. A new Orange County principal was demoted from his former job in Palm Beach County because he used a school credit card for $6,400 in questionable charges, including a $200 dinner with his wife at a Ruth's Chris Steak House. Orlando Sentinel. Flagler cuts its budget by another $1.1 million because "staff budgeted too high for this year." Daytona Beach News Journal. (more…)

Charter schools. In the face of low reading scores, the city of West Palm Beach takes steps to open its own charter school. South Florida Sun Sentinel. More from the Palm Beach Post. Is there room for charter schools in Jefferson County, one of Florida's smallest (and most struggling) school districts? Tallahassee Democrat.

Tax credit scholarships. The program (administered by Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog) served 51,075 students in 2012-13, up 10,827 or almost 27 percent from 2011-12, the latest annual state report on the program shows. News Service of Florida.

Private schools. A new day school for children with autism is opening in Bradenton. Bradenton Herald.

School grades. Superintendents are right to ask for a few breaks on school grades this year. Tampa Tribune.

Common Core. Using it to stem summer learning loss. StateImpact Florida.

Jeb Bush. Mike Thomas at the EdFly Blog explains why the Foundation for Florida's Future puts out an annual report card for lawmakers.

School spending. Lake cuts back on busing and guidance counselors, among other changes, to fill a $16.3 million deficit. Orlando Sentinel. For the first time in years, Pinellas isn't facing big cuts. Tampa Tribune.

Schools and religion. Orlando Sentinel: "Lawyers for Orange County Public Schools did not review the Bible before it was given out to high-school students but did review atheist materials before they were distributed, school officials said Monday."