Education bill: A national school choice group is urging Gov. Rick Scott to sign H.B. 7069. The Center for Education Reform, based in Washington, D.C., says the Legislature's education bill would "help successful charter schools to grow and to serve more low-income students" and "ensure equitable distribution of Title I funds." The bill would give charter schools a share of local property taxes, offer financial incentives for charter companies to start schools in areas with persistently low-performing traditional public schools, and more. Miami Herald. House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, says he hopes the governor doesn't veto the education bill. Rep. Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah, who helped put together the bill, is urging Scott to read the bill, independent from misleading “rhetoric” critics have used, before making a decision. Miami Herald. More local districts, political leaders and groups are urging Scott to veto the bill. Sun Sentinel. Orlando Sentinel. Florida Today. Lakeland Ledger. Port St. Joe Star. Associated Press. Creative Loafing Tampa.

Interim superintendent: The Duval County School Board chooses Patricia Willis to be interim superintendent. Willis is a former Duval deputy superintendent who retired in 2012. She takes over for Nikolai Vitti, whose last day is Friday, and will be paid $22,916 a month through Jan. 31, 2018, if necessary. Florida Times-Union. WJAX.

State of the schools: In her annual state of the schools speech, Orange County School Superintendent Barbara Jenkins says two of the biggest issues the district faces are the rapid growth of student enrollment and the shortage of teachers. WFTV.

Testing troubles: Pasco County students are not doing well in district-designed course finals, and teacher say the reason is that the tests do not reflect what the students have learned this year. The district is calling for a deeper look at the criticism to see if a new approach is warranted. Gradebook. (more…)