Today's news

SCHOLARSHIP FRAUD: Harvest Christian Academy in Tampa is under investigation by the Department of Financial Services for misusing McKay scholarships.

MAKE CHOICE TRANSPARENT: Hillsborough School Board member Candy Olson wants the district to clarify the guidelines for school choice decisions in the wake of questions about how Tony Dungy's son got into full Plant High. (See second item.)

BEHIND IN BACKGROUND CHECKS: A generally clean state financial and operational audit finds Pasco schools lagging behind a recommended schedule to fingerprint all employees.

BEEF IS BACK: Broward and Palm Beach schools return beef to the cafeteria menu after learning their supply doesn't come from a California slaughterhouse that's under investigation, the Sun-Sentinel reports. See also this Palm Beach Post story.

A NEW WAY TO GRADE SCHOOLS: The Denver, Colorado, school system devises a new system for measuring school success - one that includes much more than student test results, the Rocky Mountain News reports. A model, perhaps, as Florida looks to expand its own system.

MORE CLASSROOMS, FEWER AIDES: The Pembroke Pines charter school system's money goes only so far, the Miami Herald reports, so it has to choose - 50 new classrooms or more than 100 aides.

NEVER MIND: Miami-Dade superintendent Rudy Crew's hotly contested plan to close 10 under-enrolled schools flops, the Miami Herald reports. Perhaps not coincidentally, Crews also announces a plan to expand magnet programs, the Herald reports.

FIGHTING THE ACLU: The Palm Beach school district moves to hire extra lawyers to battle an expected ACLU lawsuit over low graduation rates of black students, the Palm Beach Post reports.

FAMU GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS: The university's journalism school regains full accreditation, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. But the law school is under investigation, the Democrat reports.

FCAT COACHES: The number of educators dedicated to pinpointing and fixing students' shortcomings on FCAT skills rises along with the stakes, the Herald-Tribune reports.

NO DEAL: Collier's former superintendent can't reach a settlement with the School Board over his firing, so his case goes to court, the Naples Daily News reports.