Today's news

SHE LOVES WORDS: Alice Chang, a Gulf High junior, will represent Florida in the National Vocabulary Championship. The Pasco teen says she's surprised to have made the finals, and "terrified" about competing with some of the country's top students.

HILLSBOROUGH'S TOP TEACHER: Debby Dowell, who teaches language arts at Bartels Middle, is Hillsborough's 2008 teacher of the year.

DROP-OUTS: Two popular Hillsborough principals must leave their jobs because of their participation in the state's retirement program.

CHARTERS GO A NEW WAY: Eleven Broward charter school operators turn to the Florida Schools of Excellence Commission for permission to open. Just two win state charters, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

SPEND MORE ON EDUCATION: The Miami-Dade teachers union joins with former Jeb Bush economic adviser Antonio Villamil to push lawmakers to put more money into the state's school system, the AP reports.

BRIGHT FUTURES OFF THE TABLE: The scholarship program might be running out of money. But the political will is not in Tallahassee to do anything about it, the Fort Myers News-Press reports.

A "TRULY SAD DAY IN FLORIDA": The state's university system is falling so far behind that Floridians are heading to Mississippi to get a good college education, FSU senior Sean Jacobus writes in the Tallahassee Democrat.

SAVE OUR SCHOOL: About 200 FAU students rally to protest cuts at the school, the Palm Beach Post reports.

THAT'S A DISQUALIFIER: A Lee County teacher is dropped from contention for teacher of the year as the state investigates accusations that she hit students while teaching in Charlotte County, the Fort Myers News-Press reports.