Testing bills: The Florida Senate Education Committee meets Tuesday to consider seven bills that could change Florida's testing-based accounting system. Among the ideas being discussed: moving the testing to the final three weeks of the school year, ending the requirement to fail any third-grader who doesn't pass the reading test and doesn't have an exemption, and changing the rules on reporting test results. Gradebook. Lawmakers are pushing for tougher passing standards on the Florida Standards Assessments exams. Orlando Sentinel.

Bright Futures: Escalating eligibility standards for Bright Futures scholarships, tied to higher SAT and ACT scores, are shutting out an increasing number of students from Miami-Dade schools with large populations of low-income and minority students. At Hialeah High School, for example, almost 20 percent of students qualified for Bright Futures in 2011. By 2015, it was 8 percent. “I think the challenge with Bright Futures is that it doesn’t take into account the students who need us the most, the low-income students, the students who haven’t had the benefit of the best schools, whose parents don’t know the system and what needs to be done to get those high scores on the test,” says Lenore Rodicio, the executive vice president and provost for Miami Dade College. Miami Herald.

Vitti looks to Detroit: Duval County School Superintendent Nikolai Vitti is one of three finalists for the superintendent's job at the Detroit Public Schools Community District. Vitti, a native of Detroit, took the job in Duval in 2012 with a mandate to change the culture and direction of the 128,000-student district. His tenure has been marked with progress in some areas, such as graduation rates, cutting into the achievement gap and creating more school choice, but also with rocky relationships with some school board members. Detroit, which once had 224,000 students, is down to 47,000, and there are more students in charter schools than in district schools. Florida Times-Union. Florida Politics. WJAX.

Budget improves slightly: State economists think Florida will have about $300 million more revenue than expected for next year's budget, but legislators don't think it will have much of an impact. The proposed budget is more than $82 billion. Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, says he's happy for the forecast improvement, but says cuts are still inevitable. Naples Daily News. News Service of Florida. Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, defends the House's budget priorities during a talk at the Panhandle Tiger Bay Club. He says cuts in education spending shouldn't affect K-12 schools, but will have an impact on higher education. Pensacola News Journal. (more…)

Weapons at schools: Two legislators file bills that would stiffen criminal penalties for people who carry guns and other weapons within 1,000 feet of a public school. Anyone breaking the law would be charged with a second-degree felony and could get up to 15 years in prison or fined $10,000, according to the bill filed by Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation. Rep. Joe Geller, D-Aventura, filed the House companion legislation. Sunshine State News.

Security at Jewish schools: The Florida House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee approves a bill that provides $1.5 million to boost security at all Jewish day schools in Florida. The bill would pay for bulletproof glass. Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, says the bill is a response to the increasing number of bomb threats to Jewish schools in the state. Florida has 35 Jewish day schools in nine counties. redefinED. Florida Politics.

Open enrollment: More than 3,000 students in Osceola and Lake counties want to transfer schools under the state's new open enrollment law, which allows transfers to any public school that has openings. The Osceola school district has received 2,477 applications, and the Lake district about 900. Orange and Volusia counties are taking transfer applications now, and Seminole begins signups April 16. Officials in all four counties say there are limited spaces available in schools. Orlando Sentinel. The Clay County School Board is expected to vote April 6 on a proposed plan to deal with open enrollment. District officials say 11 schools are under the 85 percent enrollment threshold, and 1,557 spots at those schools will be available for transfers. Florida Times-Union.

That's our satellite: A satellite built by students at the Weiss School in Palm Beach Gardens will be launched into space by NASA sometime in 2018, 2019 or 2020, according to U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. The WeissSat-1 will study bacteria that has thawed after being trapped in ice. The Weiss satellite is one of 34 chosen by NASA, and is only the second built by elementary and middle school students. Palm Beach Post. (more…)

LGBT policy: The Brevard County School Board is expected to decide Tuesday whether to expand the district's anti-harassment policy by banning discrimination against students and staff on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. In April, on a 3-2 vote, the board agreed to schedule a vote on the policy to add lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as a protected class. Florida Today.

Soft landing: A year after new school busing routes caused confusion and delays in Palm Beach County, the administrator most directly responsible for the problem is now making $111,000 a year in a district job in which he supervises three people and makes more than the department director. Steve Bonino was demoted in January from director of operations after the busing crisis, and now supervises the district’s program to remodel school cafeterias. Palm Beach Post.

Records lawsuit: The Orange County teachers union is suing the school district, accusing it of "completely ignoring" state law on open records. The union charges that the district put up roadblocks or ignored requests from the union for documents on employee discipline. saying it did not respond or that it put up hurdles when the union requested documents related to employee discipline. The district has not commented. Orlando Sentinel.

Art referendum: Pinellas County voters will be asked in November to renew a tax referendum that supports arts instruction in the district's schools. The tax, first passed in 2004, provides about $33 million a year to the district. Tampa Bay Times.

Driver's ed: Driver's education classes return to the Bay County School District for the first time since the program was cut to save money about a decade ago. Panama City News Herald. (more…)