Charter schools: The Palm Beach County school district recommends rejecting two charter schools and approving eight others. Palm Beach Post. Pasco County charter Classical Preparatory School hasn't opened yet despite being approved to debut this fall. Tampa Bay Times. A Broward County charter school that has struggled to find permanent housing this year gets the final ax. Sun Sentinel. Traffic congestion surrounding the Ben Gamla Charter School divides this Broward community and causes more issues for the school. Miami Herald. Lake Wales Charter Schools offers new STEM programs. The Ledger.

In training: Broward County high school students get a taste of what it's like to be in the Coral Springs Police Academy. Sun Sentinel.

Common Core: Pasco schools stand by the new education standards. The Tampa Tribune.

Dual enrollment: Pasco-Hernando Community College trustees put the heat on two feeder school districts by adopting a policy on dual enrollment fees that district officials are trying to eliminate. Tampa Bay Times.

National award: A Palm Beach County school psychologist is climbing the ranks to national recognition. Sun Sentinel.

School programs: Pinellas is planning to open "school-within-a-school" programs at seven or eight of its campuses. Tampa Bay Times. The mother of a 12-year-old who took her own life last month partners with a safe social media website to prevent online bullying. The Ledger.

School spending: Lake County schools are getting help with budgeting from billionaire Bill Gates' foundation, which is behind a $1.2 million initiative examining how the district can improve spending to help students. Orlando Sentinel.

Low performers: Orange County's 22 D- and F-graded public schools tell the school board how they plan to improve. Orlando Sentinel.

High performers: A Brevard County elementary principal allows students to "slime'' him to celebrate the school's seventh consecutive A grade. Florida Today.

School grades: Collier County's schools superintendent tells parents not to judge schools by their state-assigned letter grade because the system is flawed. Naples Daily News.

School boards: Manatee County School Board members focus on how to communicate with the public. Bradenton Herald. Hernando County School Board members will share the dais with a student representative from each of the district's five high schools. Tampa Bay Times.

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I was honored to attend the recent state education summit called by Florida Gov. Rick Scott. The governor invited a diverse group of elected officials, political activists, educators and parents to spend two and a half days discussing how best to implement the Common Core State Standards, a state assessment system to measure these new standards, public school grades and teacher evaluations.

The last time Florida convened such a group was in 1991, and it met monthly for seven years. I was a member of this earlier group for four years, so I was anxious to see how this new gathering would compare.

I was very impressed.

All the participants worked hard grappling with complex issues. Without exception, the large and small group dialogue was thoughtful and civil. People with opposing positions listened carefully to those they disagreed with, and sincerely sought common ground. This was democracy at its finest.

Pam Stewart, Florida’s interim commissioner of education, did a great job managing the summit. Gov. Scott wisely gave Pam the opportunity to prove she could lead, and she excelled. Pam will probably have the interim removed from her title at today’s State Board of Education meeting. She deserves this promotion, and Florida needs her leadership.

Despite all the rhetoric and theatrics surrounding Common Core, Florida has no intentions of not fully implementing these standards. The support for them at the summit was wide and deep. There will be no turning back, although Republican elected officials are wisely giving Common Core opponents, who represent a vocal minority of their political base, some opportunities to vent.

Florida’s state assessment system is going to be in transition for the next several years. Most school districts, as well as many charter and private schools, will initially use paper and paper tests to assess these more rigorous standards. Florida will need another four or five years before all the technology is in place to move the entire state to online assessments, but that’s where we’re headed.

The state’s public school grading system is also going to be evolving over the next four-to-five years. (more…)

School grades: It’s time to debunk the myth that Utah's school grading system is similar to the one adopted by Florida, writes The Salt Lake Tribune.

BOE meets: The state Board of Education meets Tuesday to discuss plans to turn around troubled schools, approve next year’s legislative budget request and find Florida’s next education commissioner. Palm Beach Post.

Dream Act: The Miami Herald follows up on the path of an undocumented teen whose dream was derailed by immigration red tape.

Single-gendered: A Hernando County pilot program that separated girls and boys in one elementary school seems to have lost its cache. Tampa Bay Times. Flagler County students who spent last school year in all-boys or all-girls classes outperform their peers in mixed-gender classes on standardized tests. Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Dual enrollment: A Polk County high school partners with the private faith-based Southeastern University to provide college-credit courses. The Ledger. Treasure Coast school districts grapple with the financial impact of a new state law that requires districts to pay the tuition of dual-enrollment courses for the first time. TC Palm.

STEM: Polk County looks at exposing more girls to science, technology, engineering and math to introduce them to careers in those fields. The Ledger.

Common Core: Naples Daily News looks at a proposal from state Rep. Debbie Mayfield to stop the state from implementing the new education standards.

Virtual ed: Hillsborough County used to encourage students taking courses above and beyond their school day to go to Florida Virtual School because FLVS could earn more funding for them then the district could, but now the push is to keep the kids in the district. The Tampa Tribune. Online education will be one of the great learning tools of the 21st century, writes the Daytona Beach News-Journal. The state must be ahead of the curve in using technology to improve education.

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Common Core: The Florida Department of Education is tweeting a Standard of the Day to help the public understand the new Common Core State Standards. The Buzz. More from StateImpact Florida.

MRSA rumor: An Orange County principal quells rumors of a MRSA outbreak at Boone High School when eight football players are sent to doctors because of skin infections. One student is diagnosed with a Staph infection. Orlando Sentinel.

Media specialists: Many Duval County high schools drop the media specialists while many elementary schools opt to have one part-time or full-time. Florida Times-Union.

Enrollment: Fewer students than anticipated are enrolled in Lee County schools. Fort Myers News-Press. The Hernando County School District has implemented a temporary hiring freeze after initial enrollment numbers fell below staff projections. Tampa Bay Times. Enrollment in Pinellas County Schools is down slightly again this year. Tampa Bay Times. Pasco County's student population is definitely on the rise. Just not as fast as district officials originally thought. Tampa Bay Times.

Eligibility: Hillsborough County School Board Chairwoman April Griffin writes a letter to the Florida High School Athletics Association to reconsider a ruling that a student was ineligible to play sports at Plant High, despite her own district's similar ruling. The Tampa Tribune. More from the Tampa Bay Times.

An "A'' school: Pinellas County's Lakewood High has never been rated an A before by the state - until now. Tampa Bay Times.

Teacher pay: Pinellas County schools and the local teachers union tentatively agree to provide employees in that bargaining unit with 5 percent across-the-board raises. Tampa Bay Times.

Disaster plans: Florida is among states that lack disaster plans to protect children in school. Associated Press.

Ben Gamla: Ben Gamla Charter School parents are upset after comments by a civic activist renew the debate over whether or not the Broward County public school teaches religion. Sun Sentinel.

One of the most celebrated charter school outfits in the country has yet to hit its stride in Florida. The KIPP Impact Middle School in Jacksonville saw its school grade fall from a B to a C this year, and it was spared from sliding further by a state “safety net.”

Still, organizers are optimistic that great things are still to come.

“There is a sort of tortoise and hare component to this work,’’ said KIPP Jacksonville Executive Director Tom Majdanics. “We realize we certainly have a lot more work to do, but we’re still in the early innings.’’

KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) schools are nationally renowned for focusing on high-poverty students and setting the bar high for academic success. When the Jacksonville KIPP opened in 2010 to 80 fifth-graders – a model favored by KIPP – U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan cut the ribbon.

“I want every child in the country to have these kinds of opportunities, where there are such high expectations, where there’s a college going culture from day one,’’ he said at the time.

Despite the high hopes, the school ended its first year with an F. The next year, it rebounded to a B, with progress fueled in large part by big learning gains for sixth-graders in reading and math. But even with those sixth-graders moving on to seventh-grade last year, KIPP fell to a C.

The school would have earned a D without a provision the state Board of Education passed in July to keep schools from falling more than one letter grade. Gary Chartrand, BOE chairman, is a member of the KIPP Impact board of director and helped bring the school to Florida.

The cushion affected hundreds of schools, with district schools benefitting at a higher rate than charters.

“We still made gains, but not as eye-popping as the year before,’’ said Majdanics, who noted a few factors that influenced the grade.

Because KIPP Impact didn’t have eighth-graders last year, school grading rules required it be given the average writing score for the school district it’s located in – and Majdanics suggested KIPP would have scored higher. The school also didn’t have the opportunity to earn extra points, like other middle schools did, by enrolling eighth-graders in Algebra I.

“That would have been a healthy boost to our grade’’ and landed the school a solid C without the safety net, Majdanics said.

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#EdSummitFL: State Sen. Dwight Bullard calls Gov. Scott's education summit a "missed opportunity.'' Meanwhile, other legislative leaders praise the three-day event that ends today. The Buzz. Common Core discussions draw debate from legislators, superintendents and parents. StateImpact Florida. More from Tampa Bay Times.  Board of Education Chairman Gary Chartrand says he did not call for screening books on homosexuality or socialism during the summit. Miami Herald. He offers more of an explanation to the Tampa Bay Times.

Safety net: The Board of Education looks at extending the controversial school grade "safety net'' another year with a vote scheduled for October. School Zone. More from the Fort Myers News-Press.

Dual enrollment: The Manatee County School Board makes attaining funding for dual enrollment programs a top priority this legislative session following recent changes in law that have cost the district $180,000. Bradenton Herald.

Virtual ed: Hernando County's eSchool is on pace to double enrollment this school year. Tampa Bay Times. Experts in online education say legislative changes affecting Florida Virtual School are a national trend. Education Week.

School lunch: About 40 Broward County middle and high schools have Star Food Healthy Express vending machines in their cafeterias. Sun Sentinel.

Teacher raises: The Palm Beach County school district offers $2,000 pay increases for its teachers, but the local teachers union wants to negotiate. Palm Beach Post. The Orange County school district and the teachers union reach a stalemate that puts raises on hold. Orlando Sentinel. St. Lucie School Board members name interim Superintendent Genelle Yost as the permanent leader and approve $9.9 million in salary increases. TC Palm.

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Even for Florida, a state that has put education policy on overdrive for 15 years, Monday’s summit was remarkable: Three dozen education leaders, business leaders and lawmakers, all but locked in a room to hash it out over the state’s contentious approach to standards, testing and accountability.

Gov. Rick Scott called the three-day event at St. Petersburg College after a tough summer for those who back Florida’s current vision of education reform. The goal, if reachable, might be even more remarkable: A common road map for an education system that has generated some of the biggest academic gains in the nation over the past 15 years yet has also been subject to relentless criticism and, more recently, self-inflicted wounds.

The participants, who also included teachers, parents, superintendents and school board members, politely hinted at the divisions during introductions.

Florida’s accountability system “has had a great deal to do with rising student achievement,” said Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, who was House speaker when the heart of the system was installed under former Gov. Jeb Bush. “I hope we don’t take a step backwards.”

“Florida has been on the right course,” said Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. But “it doesn’t mean we’ve done everything right.”

Now, he continued, we have the opportunity to fix the rest.

The state's fledgling teacher evaluation system, one of four areas targeted for discussion, also surfaced as a sore point.

Teachers "don't trust the system," said Joanne McCall, vice president of the Florida Education Association.

But Keith Calloway, with the Professional Educators Network of Florida, said teachers were not uniformly opposed. "There are many of us teachers out there right now that like the evaluations," he said.

It remains to be seen whether parties long at odds can agree on meaningful steps in the short term, let alone stick together on common ground for the long haul. History suggests it will be tough. (more…)

Between 2011 and 2012, the number of Florida high school graduates passing college-caliber Advanced Placement exams jumped from 36,707 to 39,306 – a robust 7.1 percent. The increase wasn’t an anomaly. Florida ranks No. 4 in the country in the rate of grads passing AP exams. Over the past decade, it ranks No. 2 in gains.

These AP results are but one of the encouraging indicators of academic progress in Florida schools. But you wouldn’t know it from some of the media coverage, which often overlooks them and ignores or distorts the context. The same goes for a good number of critics. Many of them continue to be quoted as credible sources, rarely if ever challenged, despite assertions that are at odds with credible evidence.

In the wake of Education Commissioner Tony Bennett’s departure, some particularly harsh spotlights have been put on Florida’s school grading system and on former Gov. Jeb Bush, who led the effort to install it. I can’t defend some of the recent problems with grading (the errors, the padding) and I do wonder whether there should be more value put on progress than proficiency.

But I have no doubt, from years of reporting on Florida schools, that school grades and other Bush-era policies nudged schools and school districts into putting more time, energy and creativity on the low-income and minority kids who struggle the most. I also have no doubt that those efforts, carried out by hard-working, highly skilled teachers, moved the needle for those students and the system as a whole. To cite but one example: Between 2003 and 2011, Florida comes in at No. 9 among states in closing the achievement gap, in fourth-grade reading, between low-income students and their more affluent peers. In closing the gap in eighth-grade math, it comes in at No. 6. But don’t believe me. Take it from Education Week, where those rankings come from.

To those who approach education improvement with an open mind: Isn’t it troubling that such stats are rarely reported? And isn’t it odd that they’re rarely commended by teachers unions, school boards and superintendents who should be claiming credit? (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…)

Interim chief: Florida's chancellor of public  schools, Pam  Stewart, will step in again as interim education commissioner after Tony Bennett's resignation. The Buzz. Is all this hoopla a sign the top education post should be an elected position? The Buzz. And the Sun Sentinel editorialized, "Rather than a divisive leader, let's find a crusader who can rally disparate people around a common shared value: creating a prosperous future for Florida's children.'' More from John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times.

Hot mess: The Orlando Sentinel's Scott Maxwell writes that even before Tony Bennett resigned, we knew things were messed up with Florida education. Bennett's controversy casts a pall on school grading systems. Times/Herald. More from TCPalm and Tallahassee Democrat. "If the goal of school grades is to clearly communicate quality, then Florida has consistently earned an F,'' writes Mark Woods of the Florida Times-Union.

Civil  rights: The Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County and the Southern Poverty Law Center file a complaint alleging the state's race-based education goals for minority students violate civil rights law. Sun Sentinel.

Outreach: Broward County's South Plantation High School students start a website for socially isolated middle school students. Sun Sentinel. Miami's Edison High offers dual-language program in English and Creole. Miami Herald. A preschool for students with autism expands into an academy for 5- and 6-year-olds with the disorder. Miami Herald.

Charter schools: An F grade for Orange County's Renaissance Charter School at Chickasaw Trail could result in its parent chain, Charter Schools USA, losing its "high-performing'' status. Orlando Sentinel. Academica is taking over the small Somerset Bay at Pinewood Acres charter in East Kendall, but hasn't told residents how many students to expect. Miami Herald. Polk  County school district receives five new charter applications. The Ledger.

Career academies: The Miami-Dade school district hopes to start a Transportation Academy at three of its schools to meet projected growth of new jobs. Miami Herald. (more…)