Today's news

BRAIN DRAIN: Some of Florida's best and brightest scholars are leaving for places where academia is better supported.

A PLACE FOR YOUR KIDS: Hillsborough commissioners say they have no plans to cancel the parks department after-school programs. Where they'll find the money to run them is another thing.

WHO'S YOUR FAVORITE TEACHER? Each year, Ridgewood High teacher Bob Selfe has his students write letters to their best or favorite teacher. He's retiring, but the lesson will live on.

GRADUATIONS: We've got photos from Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando, and stories from Land O'Lakes High and Wesley Chapel High. Columnist C.T. Bowen has some advice for graduates, too.

YOUR TURN: The Florida Taxation and Budget Commission did its part, and now voters must have the final say on tax and education issues coming up in November, commission chairman Alan Bense writes in an op-ed piece.

SCHOOLS NEED LIGHTS, TOO: Broward superintendent James Notter calls upon lawmakers to hold education harmless, like they promised, from a proposed utility rate hike from FPL, the Sun-Sentinel reports. More from the Miami Herald.

ONE MORE F AND THIS SCHOOL IS HISTORY: Broward officials plan to close the charter Smart School over the summer if its state grade doesn't improve, leaving students to wonder if they'll have a place to go next fall, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

WAIT TO HAVE DEBATE: The Collier School Board moves its planned local tax referendum from August to November to give voters time to better understand the issues, the Naples Daily News reports.

WAKE UP! Orange is investigating reports that some of its school security officers are sleeping on the job, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

ONE LAST LESSON: A popular Manatee student-athlete is banned from his graduation (though he will officially graduate) because of his involvement in threatening rap songs that popped up on MySpace, the Herald-Tribune reports.

Comments

Good for the Republican Legislature - they have worked hard to ensure that our smart students leave the state so the schools, otherwise known as drop-out factories, can continue supporting Florida's #1 growth industry - private prisons!

Thank you Fasano, Posey, Rubio, Webster, and all your cohorts!!!!

Remember in November!