Today's news

65 PERCENT SOLUTION LIVES: Call Florida the last bastion of a bad idea. The "65 percent solution," abandoned in every other state as poor education funding policy, will come to Florida voters - along with vouchers - courtesy of the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission. Many say the political move does neither issue proper justice.

SECOND CHANCE: Pinellas parents who don't like the school their children are assigned to in the district's new attendance zone plan can apply for a transfer, starting today.

STEPS STOPPED: Pasco's school employees and administration agree to delay step increases until at least July 31, so they can collect more financial information.

HAPPY NEW LAW DAY: It's July 1, so it must mean that all the legislation that Gov. Charlie Crist has signed into law takes effect today. Several education-related bills are among them, the AP reports. One causing perhaps the most angst is the educator ethics bill and its after-the-fact penalties, WMNF-FM reports.

SAVE THE TEST: The Florida Department of Education's decision to cancel the nationally norm-referenced annual exam that compares our kids to those in other states might save money, but it's a bad idea, the Tallahassee Democrat editorializes.

FUNDING WOES HIT HS SPORTS: Coaches and athletic directors from across Florida lament the cuts their programs are facing as the state's financial picture worsens, the Palm Beach Post reports.

MORE FOR GAS: The Polk school district increases its diesel budget by $2.3-million - more than 33 percent higher than the past year - to keep up with rising costs, the Lakeland Ledger reports. The added price will be a hiring freeze, a delay in new computer purchasing and more.

NEGOTIATE YOURSELVES: The Manatee Education Association says it won't show up for a planned special hearing over proposed salary cuts, contending the district administration improperly declared a fiscal emergency, the Bradenton Herald reports.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR OWN: Leon is getting tough on families from outside the county who ask to send their kids to Leon schools because of medical hardships, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.

Comments

[What about PSC actions from today?]

Isn't the PSC going to give a bunch of utility companies huge rate increases today that will create the need for hundreds of millions of additional cuts to the public schools? What did they do?