Sen. Rubio visited several classrooms at Florida College Academy, including this second-grade class. The students were in the midst of a social studies lesson on goods and services.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., used a Tampa-area private school as a backdrop Tuesday to highlight his proposal for a federal school choice program that resembles Florida’s tax credit scholarships.

Under the bill he filed in February, low-income parents anywhere in the country would be able to defray private school tuition with scholarships funded by individuals and corporations who make donations in return for federal tax credits.“I think school choice means that every parent in America, irrespective of how much money you make or don’t make, should be allowed to put their kids in any educational environment they deem fit," Rubio said during an hour-long visit to Florida College Academy in Temple Terrace. "And I think what’s sad about the current status across most of our country is that the only people who don’t have school choice are the people who need it the most."

Rubio’s bill isn’t the first school choice bill considered at the federal level, but it may be the most sweeping. It would make private schools an option for low-income families in states that don’t currently have vouchers or tax credit scholarships, essentially bypassing resistance from teachers unions and school boards and, in some cases, state constitutions.

Individuals could give up to $4,500 a year to “scholarship granting organizations” in return for dollar-for-dollar tax credits. Corporations could give up to $100,000. The SGOs would award scholarships to students whose household incomes do not exceed 250 percent of the federal poverty level. For a family of four, that's $58,875 this year.

It's not clear what the per-scholarship amount would be. In Florida, a tax credit scholarship this year is valued at $4,335. (more…)

Federal vouchers. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., proposes what may be the most sweeping school choice legislation in U.S. history - a federal tax credit scholarship program similar to the state program in Florida. redefinED. More from the Miami Herald.

Tutoring oversight. In response to a Tampa Bay Times investigation, Education Commissioner Tony Bennett promises to take steps to curb fraud and abuse in the state-mandated tutoring program.

Charter schools. The Pinellas school board votes to continue the closing process for the long-troubled Imagine charter school in St. Petersburg, despite more than 100 students showing their support for the school. Gradebook.

Exposed! The response. EdFly Blog notes what should have been in press reports - that In the Public Interest, the group that launched the latest Jeb Bush-corporate-cabal conspiracy theory, is run by Donald Cohen, the former political director of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO. (Gradebook, at least, did note the group's labor ties.)

School grades. A House subcommittee bill would extend grading to small schools. SchoolZone.

School spending. The St. Lucie County school board takes the possibility of four-day weeks off the table, reports TCPalm.com. A divided Volusia County school board votes to begin the process of outsourcing custodial and grounds maintenance jobs, reports the Daytona Beach News Journal. The Brevard school board votes to close three of four schools proposed for shuttering, reports Florida Today. (more…)