Today's news

IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE: Florida's budget woes force schools to make some hard choices about what to cut. At least lawmakers left the decisions up to local officials, some lobbyists say.

TAKE A HIKE: A handful of Tampa schools like the annual International Walk to School Day so much that they decide to do it monthly. (Times photo, Carrie Pratt)

RELIEF FOR RUSKIN: One of Hillsborough's most crowded elementary schools will send nearly 25 percent of its students away through boundary changes.

HERNANDO SRO PUT ON LEAVE: Deputy Tommy Harris is charged with a count of battery against his girlfriend.

LOOKING FOR A SCAPEGOAT: Deerwood Academy founder Hank Johnson blamed everyone but himself for the failure of his Pasco charter school. The district was right to hold its ground and fight back, the Times editorializes.

PRIVATE SCHOOL NEWS: Carrollwood Day School's new principal predicts a great fit; Pasco prep school's handbell ringers will perform in France

LOTS OF EDUCATION BILLS: The Florida House ran through a string of education-related bills Wednesday, giving them all its tentative approval. One of the highlights was a bill that would update the state standards, change the FCAT administration date and prohibit what many have come to call "FCAT frenzy," the Palm Beach Post reports.

PRAISE, BUT NO CASH: Palm Beach superintendent Art Johnson gets a great review and an extra year on his contract, but no raise, to lead the nation's 11th-largest school district, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

NOT THE RIGHT TIME: With budgets tight, Florida lawmakers should not put extra funding into corporate income tax credit scholarships or charter school construction projects, the Tallahassee Democrat editorializes.

SURPRISE: The Miami-Dade School Board agrees to cover all costs associated with health insurance premium hikes, ending a months-long dispute, the Miami Herald reports.