Today's news

$394 MORE PER STUDENT: That's how much Gov. Crist proposes to add to Florida's education budget, also promising to cover all the losses of Amendment 1 if it passes. But he offers few specifics on how to pay for the increase. Critics accuse him of trying to prop up the Jan. 29 referendum. (AP photo)

HOMEWORK HELP: Hillsborough High senior Spencer Simonsen launches a web site called NoobsHelp.com for high schoolers to network for academic aid, regardless of which school they attend.

IDEA WOULD CHANGE EDUCATION FUNDING: Former Senate president John McKay's proposal to eliminate sales tax exemptions and use the revenue to pay for Florida schools makes it past a key committee of the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission.

RENEW THE TAX: Mitch Lee, a member of the Pinellas Education Foundation board, urges voters to support the school district's Jan. 29 referendum to continue a local property tax option of 0.5 mills to ensure adequate funding of education.

END THE GAMBLE: Florida needs a simple and enforceable way to ensure that revenue from gambling goes to schools, former FSU president Talbot D'Alemberte writes in an op-ed piece.

CHARTER CONCERNS: A group of Broward parents worries that Imagine Schools, a charter company, plans to convert their private school into a charter against their wishes, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

NO MORE HAPPY MEALS: McDonald's has ended its controversial sponsorship of report card jackets in Seminole County, the NY Times reports.

LET PARENTS DECIDE: Florida's parents, and not the courts or schools, should choose whether their children say the Pledge of Allegiance at school, Attorney General Bill McCollum writes in an op-ed piece for the Palm Beach Post.

"FLORIDA'S CHEAP": The saying goes, you get what you pay for. And while some call Florida's universities a bargain, commentator Diane Roberts calls them cheap - "as in tawdry, low-rent, lousy, poor-quality" - in a column for the Tallahassee Democrat.

SO YOU WANT TO BE A COP: Miami-Dade is set to open a high school dedicated to law enforcement education, the Miami Herald reports.

EVOLUTION DEBATE IN BREVARD: Even in a county like Brevard, where the economy relies of businesses that require scientific thought, folks don't agree on the subject, Florida Today reports.

EXIT EXAMS: The Pennsylvania State Board of Education approves a plan to require seniors to pass a slate of exams before graduating, the NY Times reports. The plan next faces a year of review by lawmakers.