Today's news

DIP IN: Once reluctant Florida House leaders agree with Gov. Crist's proposal to use the state's reserve accounts to cover some expenses in the coming budget cycle, which projects revenue at 2005-06 levels.

NUMBERS GAME: How many Hernando teens dropped out of school? Depends who you ask and how they look at the stats. School Board members want to know as they dig in to find a way to help more kids through to their diploma. To help with the numbers part, the Bush administration announces it will require all states to use the same formula to determine graduation and dropout rates, the NY Times reports. (Times photo, 2007)

MERIT PAY MISUNDERSTANDING: Pasco school district officials tell the Dayspring Academy charter school that it must return the money it received for teacher performance pay. The charter's leaders - and others around the state - say they think the district is wrong.

DO THE JOB AND STOP FIGHTING: Pinellas superintendent Clayton Wilcox and school board attorney Jim Robinson reach an agreement to stop feuding and to work more collaboratively.

PUT YOUR FINGER THERE: Two Pasco schools will test a fingerprint identification system in hopes of speeding up their lunchroom lines.

LET HIM DO THE JOB: Hernando's School Board should remember it hired superintendent Wayne Alexander to run the district's daily operations and not meddle too much as it reviews his reorganization plan, the Times editorializes.

THEY CAN'T EVEN AGREE ON A TIME: Collier's teachers association, fighting the school district over its salary proposal, opposes a time set to sit down and hash it out, too, the Naples Daily News reports.

BOX 'EM UP, SHIP 'EM OFF: The FCAT season has finally ended as school districts send their test booklets off for grading, the Palm Beach Post reports.

ABOUT TIME: The Legislature's plan to change the way Florida grades its schools is sensible and deserves approval, the Sun-Sentinel editorializes.

THE BIGGEST HIT: South Florida's schools would have to take more than half the state's planned education cuts because enrollment there is dropping fastest, the Sun-Sentinel reports. That doesn't stop educators in other parts of the state from being nervous about what will happen in their districts, as reported in the Tallahassee Democrat and the Orlando Sentinel.

SHARE THE COST: Miami-Dade's teachers and the district agree to split the cost of health insurance increases after a six-month fight, the Miami Herald reports.