Tax credit scholarships. Tampa Bay Times columnist Robyn Blumner doesn't like U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio's proposal for federal scholarships.

Charter schools. Tampa Bay Times columnist John Romano bemoans the number of charter schools that close because of low enrollment (but curiously doesn't mention traditional public schools that don't get closed despite the same problem). The Cape Coral City Council will consider a resolution asking the Lee County School Board to share capital funding with the city's  charter schools, reports the Cape Coral Daily Breeze. More from the Fort Myers News Press.

Virtual schools. Expanding digital education is a top issue in the coming legislative session. The Florida Current.

Jeb Bush. In education, "he has a record of making messes," the Palm Beach Post editorializes (just days after two more credible, independent reports find Florida students leading the country in progress).

Parental engagement. Duval Superintendent Nikolai Vitti wants to import a Parents Academy program similar to one he worked with in Miami-Dade. Florida Times Union.

Education leadership. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune profiles Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, the chair of the Senate Education Appropriations Subcommittee.

Teacher evaluations. The first year of statewide teacher evaluation data using the complicated the VAM formula shows the big difference in progress for students with the highest-rated teachers versus the lowest-rated teachers. StateImpact Florida.

Teacher testimony. Megan Allen, Florida's 2010 Teacher of the Year,  testifies movingly before Congress about the impact that budget cuts will have on high-needs students. Answer Sheet. (more…)

Teaching to the test. The FEA is rallying members to a petition started by UFS Professor/blogger Sherman Dorn. Gradebook.

Charter schools. In a vote along party lines, the House Choice and Innovation Subcommittee approves a bill that would allow charter schools to move into unused district buildings. redefinED. Coverage also from the Palm Beach Post, Tallahassee Democrat, Gradebook, StateImpact Florida.

Poverty. South Florida Sun Sentinel: "More than half a million kids under 18 in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties live in low-income households that earn up to 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University reports. For a single mom and child, that translates into an income of $30,260 a year or less."

School security. A jury orders the Palm Beach County School Board to pay $1.7 million in a case involving a mentally challenged, 3-year-old girl who was sexually attacked by a 15-year-old ninth grader on a school bus in 2007, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel. More from the Palm Beach Post. A Hernando County middle school teacher on paid administrative leave since last April is on a keep-off-campus list generated by district officials after the Newtown tragedy, reports Hernando Today. Osceola will beef up police presence at elementary schools, reports SchoolZone. The video of a girl beating another girl on a Pasco school bus gets posted on Facebook; arrests ensue, reports the Tampa Bay Times. An 11-year-old, special needs student in Duval either falls or jumps out of a school bus and sustains life threatening injuries, reports the Florida Times Union.

Teacher evaluations. The Florida Times-Union files suit against the Department of Education to force the release of teacher evaluation data. (more…)

More Crist on vouchers: Charlie Crist on “Hardball” last night: MSNBC host Chris Matthews warned Crist that there was a “blue plate special aspect” now that he’s changed parties, and that he’d have to buy into Democratic mainstream arguments: opposing vouchers, supporting the public school teachers union. “I’m fine with that,” Crist insisted, to which Matthews replied that it’s “quite a switch.”

Jeb Bush on poverty and education. From an interview with Andy Rotherham in Time: “I would reverse the question: education impacts poverty, not the other way around. If we don’t empower families to be able to have a quality education, then their children for the first time in American history, truly the first time, will not have the same economic opportunities. That’s not speculation. The evidence is in.”

Poverty categorical. From the News Service of Florida: “School districts with a higher percentage of low income students would receive additional funding from the state, under a bill filed Monday by Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami. The bill (HB 31) would authorize state education officials to create another special category of funding to address districts with higher percentages of low income students. … The bill would leave up to school districts how to divvy up the money, but the funding must be used for class size reduction, reading initiatives and intervention programs targeting students in kindergarten through third grade.”

Florida readers second in the world. In fourth grade, only students in Hong Kong did better on an international test, reports the Orlando Sentinel. The results were solid but not as impressive in math and science.

Imagine troubles. The Imagine charter school in St. Petersburg is recommended for closure, again, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

Charter school debate. The Florida Times Union offers pro and con.

More on remediation. StateImpact Florida.

More on teacher evals. Palm Beach Post.

Special education changes. A district task force in Hillsborough recommends many in a report following the deaths of two special need students, reports the Tampa Bay Times.