Pledge of Allegiance: A Florida House committee approves a bill that would give school districts options on how and where to post notice of a student's right not to say the Pledge of Allegiance at school. Objections to prominent disclaimer notices in classrooms in Santa Rosa County schools prompted the bill. Miami Herald. Politico Florida.

Testing troubles: About 15 percent of Florida students say they had computer problems during the Florida Standards Assessments testing last spring, according to the Department of Education. Orlando Sentinel.

School threats: Experts talk about the uptick in school threats across the United States, how real the threats are, how they're being made and how schools might respond. Mother Jones.

Teacher evaluations: Of the 54,000 teacher evaluations done in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties from 2010-2015, only 18 were rated as unsatisfactory, according to the Department of Education. Sun-Sentinel. In Orange County, the number of teachers rated highly effective drops from 81.2 percent to 2.4 percent. Across the state, 98 percent of teachers are rated either effective or highly effective. Orlando Sentinel.

Loan forgiveness: A study by the Center for Analysis and Longitudinal Data in Education Research finds that teachers who get loan forgiveness in return for working in high-need areas stay on the job longer than other teachers. GoodCall News.

No-tobacco zones: Brevard County schools are eliminating the use of all forms of tobacco on all school properties, officials announce. WKMG. (more…)