Around the state: High school students in Lee donated thousands of books to an elementary school that lost everything during Hurricane Ian, parents in Brevard spoke out against proposed changes to the district's disciplinary rules and an investigation revealed new information about Bright Futures scholarships. Here are details about those stories and other developments from the state's districts, private schools and colleges and universities:

Palm Beach: A former assistant superintendent is suing the school district and superintendent after alleging that they infringed on her right to free speech. The controversy began with a tweet from Diana Fedderman.  Palm Beach Post.

Brevard: Parents in this school district spoke out against proposed changes to the district's disciplinary rules during a school board meeting held this week. Proposed policy changes would include a zero tolerance policy for student-initiated violence and an almost total ban on cell phones. WMFE.

Lee: Students from the National English Honor Society at Oasis High School gathered about 2,000 books for Hector Cafferata Elementary School, where everything was lost during Hurricane Ian. The books were even organized in the shape of a Christmas tree. WINK.

Citrus: A donation of $10,000 was made to Crystal River's middle and high schools. Citrus County Chronicle.

Escambia: The Escambia Children's Trust delayed awarding its largest round of grants to date after public outcry over its selection process. Pensacola News Journal. WEAR.

Magnet or choice schools: If you want to send your child to the school closest to your office or babysitter instead of the one zoned for your neighborhood, applications are required, and various deadlines must be met for parents seeking school choice. TC Palm.

Lost time: Parents around the country are trying to recoup services lost to the pandemic. In a 2020 survey, 20% of parents of students with disabilities said their children were receiving required services and a 2021 report said the pandemic was exacerbating learning gaps for those students. Meanwhile, district officials say they can't be blamed for the pandemic, which was out of their control. The 74th.

Bright Futures: In Florida, Bright Futures benefits have disproportionately gone to students from more affluent areas, bypassing students in poorer neighborhoods, according to an investigation in the Orlando Sentinel. "We’re giving scholarships to the kids who would go to college without that,” said Mary Borg, a University of North Florida professor of political economy. “We need to concentrate our public dollars on kids who can’t go to college without this kind of aid.” Orlando Sentinel.

University and college news: The new dean of the Miami Dade College School of Education hopes to boost enrollment. Dr. Carmen Concepción took the helm in September during a time when 55% of current teachers are considering leaving the profession early, according to a survey from the National Education Association. “Enrollment in the School of Education over the past few years — across the nation — is not where it needs to be,” Concepción said. WLRN. Aisha Visram made history when she became the first woman of color to work as an athletic trainer on a National Hockey League game day bench, and the first woman to serve in that role in two decades. She graduated this week from Florida International University with a doctorate in athletic training. The Miami Herald. Darren Gambrell, a long-time employee at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus, has been named the associate director of the school's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion office this week. Gambrell has worked at USFSM in various capacities for almost 20 years, and is a U.S. Army veteran. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Parental power: The state's chapter of the National School Choice Parent Organization has recognized Florida's top spot on the Parent Power Index, which evaluates states on access to educational innovation and school choice.  The ranking showed that Florida was at the top of the national for digital and personalized learning, and access to choice programs that include scholarships, vouchers and tax credits. Nationwide, Florida ranked second for access to charter schools and third in teacher quality.  Florida Politics. 

Opinions on schools: Setting up a comfortable classroom to meet students needs as well as teachers is possible with the help of a few items. Kem Smith, Chalkbeat. Generational wealth could be key to ending childhood poverty. One element that would help is making sure children are in safe, supportive schools with excellent teachers to inspire them. They also need academic skills and enrichment as well as thoughtful career advice. Stephanie J. Hull, The 74th.

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The Palm Beach County School Board voted unanimously Wednesday night for a proposed tax referendum expected to generate approximately $200 million a year for traditional public schools – and none for charter schools.

The decision followed a hearing attended by roughly 20 charter school parents, teachers and leaders who argued that charter schools should be entitled to their fair share of the tax money. (more…)

Virtual school: The Pinellas County School District sees a surge in its in-house virtual school programs, prompting school officials to close the application period a week early. Tampa Bay Times.

Charter schools: One of Tallahassee's oldest and most successful charter schools looks to expand, while another that caters to middle school hopes to add an elementary. Tallahassee Democrat. A struggling Palm Beach County charter school agrees to stay closed the entire school year to right its ship and repay about $56,000 in taxpayer funding. Palm Beach Post. Gulf Coast Academy South opens with a waiting list almost as large as its current enrollment. Naples Daily News.

Ed poll: A new education poll looks at standardized testing with just 22 percent of respondents saying the increased use of such tests has helped schools; 36 percent said the testing hurts schools; 41 percent said it made no difference. StateImpact Florida.

Adult ed: Hernando County's adult technical education programs suffer from low enrollment. Tampa Bay Times.

Common Core: StateImpact Florida asks teachers what they think about the new education standards. Sarasota state Rep. Ray Pilon breaks ranks from local Republicans and opposes the standards. "My vote is going to be get rid of it,'' he wrote on Facebook. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (more…)

School is cool: The Community Foundation of Broward County and other donors launch a School is Cool initiative for middle-schoolers to boost high school graduation rates and competitiveness. Sun Sentinel.

Welcome back: Broward County students are back in class. Sun Sentinel. The re-designed Galaxy Elementary in Boynton Beach opens its "green" doors to 580 students for the first day of school, boasting hallways equipped with interactive white boards, classrooms with sliding glass doors and an auditorium with hands-on kinetic experiments in every corner. Sun Sentinel. More than 179,000 students in the nation’s 11th-largest school district return to school to meet nearly 13,000 Palm Beach County School District teachers. Palm Beach Post. Orange County schools welcome back about 185,000 students and Lake County greets about 4,000. Orlando Sentinel. Miami-Dade County sees more than 600,000 students return to school. Miami Herald. About 85,000 students return to Polk County schools. The Ledger. In Collier County, 45,000 students return. Fort Myers News-Press. More from Naples Daily News. About 65,000 students head to class in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. Pensacola News-Journal. Pinellas schools see about 100,000 students return. The Tampa Tribune. Hillsborough County sees about 200,000 students return. Tampa Bay Times. The district reported 64,116 children showed up Monday for classes, up 993 from the first day a year ago. Tampa Bay Times. The Hernando County school district expects to enroll 21,672 students. Tampa Bay Times.

Common Core: StateImpact Florida takes another look at the new education standards. "Like every government reform project, Common Core will have its glitches, its shortcomings, its setbacks. But The DaVinci Code of the ABCs it is not,'' writes Tampa Bay Times columnist Daniel Ruth.

Pre-K: Duval County schools Superintendent Nikolai Vitti starts the school year  with increased pre-K classrooms to better  prepare children for kindergarten, narrow the achievement gap and expose low-income students to technology at a younger age. Florida Times-Union.

Charter schools: Florida Intercultural Academy charter school welcomes back students, but sends them to a temporary location while the permanent facility undergoes construction. Miami Herald. (more…)

Common Core: The St. Johns County Republican Assembly is the latest GOP group to question the new education standards adopted by Florida and 44 other states. StateImpact Florida.

School grades: StateImpact Florida asks parents what a school's grade means to them.

Debit cards: Sen. Darren Soto, R-Kissimmee, comes up with a counter plan for helping teachers buy school supplies: debit cards preloaded with state dollars that arrive two weeks before the start of school with more money for middle and high school teachers. The Buzz.

Weather alert: The Broward County school district will use new Android-based phones in its schools to track lightning, heat index, wind speed and other severe weather. Sun Sentinel.

Charter schools: Ivy Academies won't be able to open next week in Lauderdale Lakes in Broward County after city commissioners vote to rezone the building. Sun Sentinel. This school year, 42 charter schools will educate nearly 14,000 Hillsborough County students. Tampa Bay Times.

New ride: A group of Boca High students start a campaign to raise $11,000 to buy an electric wheelchair for a fellow student. Sun Sentinel.

Budgets: Palm Beach County school administrators share concerns about a $252 million hole in the district's capital budget plan. Palm Beach Post. (more…)

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."