A weekend interview with...

....Alexander Flores, a sixth grader at Cambridge Christian School in central Tampa. Alexander, 11, just got back from Washington DC, where he followed President Obama's inauguration from the Junior Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference. He spoke with Letitia Stein about the experience.

Why did you want to go to the Inauguration?

I wanted to go to the Inauguration to see history being made.

What events did you attend?

I went to the Inauguration and we want to the gala ball at the University of Maryland. We had three speakers, one was Erik Weihenmayer. Also we got retired Gen. Colin L. Powell. Also we got to hear from Al Gore.

What was most exciting and why?

It was probably the Inauguration, because there was so many people there and everybody was excited to hear President Obama get sworn in.

Today's news

ICYMI - SANSOM QUITS AS SPEAKER: Florida House speaker Ray Sansom steps down over his ties to Northwest Florida State College. (Photo from Associated Press)

FEWER SUMMER OPPORTUNITIES: Tampa-area technology businesses have less to offer teachers who often seek inspiration through summer internships.

SEEKING STABILITY: Moon Lake Elementary in Pasco hopes to have a principal who will stay awhile in Elise Landahl. Centennial Elementary in Pasco also gets a new leader.

A VOUCHER PROBLEM: The state accuses a Miami private school of voucher fraud, the Miami Herald reports.

BOARD CLASH: Martin board members, their new superintendent and the teachers union feud over negotiations, the Stuart News reports.

JURY REJECTS TEACHER SUIT: Jurors side with the Palm Beach district over a former teacher's accusations that it was negligent in not warning her about a potentially violent student who attacked her, the Palm Beach Post reports.

THIS SOUNDS FAMILIAR: Teacher groups are mounting opposition to California's plan to let school districts be more flexible in their implementation of the state's class-size reduction law, the LA Times reports.

STIMULUS NEWS: The federal spending package could help save teacher jobs and spur school construction projects, the Orlando Sentinel reports. That's if Florida hasn't done in its chance to get some cash by cutting its education budget too much, the Tallahassee Democrat editorializes.

GOOD NEWS FOR FAMU: The state gives once-troubled Florida A&M a clean financial audit report for the second straight year, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.

Visit the Gradebook at noon for an interview with Alexander Flores, a sixth grader at Cambridge Christian School in central Tampa, who talks about attending the Obama inauguration.

Poll: Reasonable protection?

Should Florida adopt a law that would force school districts to steer any new money to teacher pay before giving administrators raises?
Yes, without teachers you have no education.
No, the state should stop telling districts what to do.

Starkey makes her House candidacy official

Pasco School Board member Kathryn Starkey has formally thrown her name into contention for the state House seat being vacated by Rep. Tom Anderson in 2010.

Starkey told the Gradebook a week ago that she was virtually certain to run for the District 45 position, which comes open because of term limits. She filed with the state Division of Elections six days later. Her press release came Friday.

"I'm looking forward to the challenge of serving the people of Pasco and Pinellas counties," she told the Gradebook.

Unlike her recent School Board election, which she won unopposed, Starkey is likely to face some competition for this position. Richard Corcoran, former chief of staff to one-time House speaker Marco Rubio, has been testing the political waters for a run, and at least one candidate from the Pinellas section of the district is expected to mount a campaign.

Economy threatens teacher internship program

The lagging economy is threatening to scuttle the expansion of a popular schools-to-business partnership in the Tampa Bay area.

Since 1997, the state’s independent Technological Research and Development Authority has put more than 1,500 Florida teachers to work on paid summer internships in the science and technology sectors.

Now the TRDA and the Helios Education Foundation are hoping to boost the Teacher Quest program with a three-year, $300,000 pilot program focusing on middle school teachers in the Tampa Bay region.

But this year, budget-conscious firms are holding back.

So Education Week's Quality Counts report isn't about education quality?

News that Florida stacks up pretty well against other states in the most recent Quality Counts report is rubbing some people the wrong way.

In this recent issue brief, "We're No. 10? Not So Fast," the Florida Center for Fiscal & Economic Policy says Education Week didn't say Florida was 10th best in the nation (which is technically, hair-splittingly true, but in terms of overall point score, Florida did in fact come in at No. 10) and "furthermore, a definitive grade of 'education quality' is impossible to determine anyway."

"While it's tempting to adopt the shorthand phrase, "education quality," to explain the Education Week report, its use confuses and masks problems in Florida education. Such shorthand allows some to maintain, as they did during the legislative session to excuse education budget cuts, that Florida's education system is achieving high quality regardless of funding levels."

FCFEP's 9-member board of directors includes Marshall Ogletree, lobbyist for the Florida teachers union; Dawn Steward, legislative chairperson for the Florida PTA; and Keith Baker, former senior vice president and chief operating officer of Florida Taxwatch Research Institute.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

New teachers cut, weak links stay?

It's not a good time to be a teacher in Florida, but especially if you're a young teacher.

As budget cuts have forced districts to look everywhere for savings, many have turned their sights to teachers on annual contract, with the latest example making headlines being down in Indian River County. But is this really the best thing to do?

Wouldn't it be better if school districts let their worst teachers go, whether they were rookies or veterans? That's what the left-leaning Center for American Progress argues in a recent issue brief:

"Dismissing the least experienced teachers may have a negative effect on average teacher quality.

"Some of the most energetic and positive teachers are those with very little experience. For example, Teach for America corps members, who are carefully selected for academic skill and commitment to working in high-poverty schools, have been shown to be at least as effective as more experienced teachers. And what about teachers who are new to their current employer but have documented records of success elsewhere? They are just as vulnerable to being laid off as hapless rookies."

Ron Matus, State Education Reporter

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Pasco contract all over but the counting

The deal wasn't close to what anyone wanted. Some Pasco teachers even talked briefly of voting against their proposed contract -- which includes no raises but fully covers employee health insurance -- just to register their displeasure.

But in the end, the United School Employees of Pasco Building Representatives overwhelmingly recommended that the membership ratify the agreement, suggesting that starting over could turn out even worse.

"If the contract is not ratified, both sides must go back to the table and start over, which could result in rolling back the board's additional $191 contribution to the employees' benefit package," USEP president Lynne Webb observed in her e-mail update to members.

Now all that's left is to find out the results.

The employee vote took place Thursday, with the count scheduled to take place Monday. The School Board is slated to take up the contract Tuesday.

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Today's news

MORE BRAIN DRAIN: The University of South Florida loses its business dean and a key researcher as top-flight academics continue to depart Florida universities for greener pastures.

A RARE WIN: Pinellas gets a judge's agreement to fire a teacher the district had deemed incompetent.

STILL WAITING: Pasco revises its impact fee needs as it awaits the County Commission's action on its request.

SOME TRADE: Oral Roberts University's board chairman donates $10 million to Southeastern University in Lakeland, where Oral Roberts found its new president, the Tulsa World reports.

RALLIES FOR EDUCATION: Seminole plans events all over the county to raise awareness for its funding needs, the Oviedo Voice reports.

STIMULUS SNAG: Florida might not be able to get its share of the federal package aimed at schools because it has already cut the education budget too much, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

TEACHER NEWS: Indian River might fire all 251 of its teachers on annual contract, the Vero Beach Press-Journal reports. A special magistrate rules that Miami-Dade should not have to pay teacher raises, the Miami Herald reports. Volusia teachers and administrators clash over pay during contract negotiations, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports.

NO SUB, NO CLASS: At DeLand High in Volusia, the substitute teacher budget is so low that some kids end up just sitting in an old gym when their teacher calls in sick, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

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Florida Board of Governors approves USF pharmacy program

After a robust discussion in a subcommittee meeting earlier today, members of the group that oversees Florida’s 11 public universities approved the University of South Florida’s proposal to establish a four-year doctor of pharmacy degree program.

The approval means that USF Health can begin planning the four-year professional degree program using a $1 million donation and funds from the College of Medicine. The university will not apply to the Florida Legislature for program funding until 2011, the year it expects to welcome its first class of 50 students.

“The institutional commitment that is being made in the three planning years is probably unprecedented, but it’s probably indicative of the changing landscape of funding for higher education,” said USF provost Ralph Wilcox. “Either we sit back and wait for the economic conditions to improve and risk failing in our mission to meet the needs of the community we serve, or we adopt a different model than we’ve had in the past.”

The full-service pharmacy program will emphasize interdisciplinary collaborations that will draw on faculty and other resources from USF Health’s Colleges of Medicine, Nursing and Public Health.

Donna Winchester, higher education reporter

Hillsborough gets new principals

Hillsborough superintendent MaryEllen Elia likes to keep her principals on the move as a way to keep leadership ideas fresh. The School Board approved another shift this week. They are:

•  George Fekete, currently assistant principal at Hillsborough High, will lead Gaither High.
•  Craig Horstman, currently assistant principal at Lennard, will become that school's principal.
•  Victor Fernandez, currently principal at Pierce Middle, will move up the road to Leto High.
• Brent McBrien, currently principal of Webb Middle, will head Davidsen Middle.
• Judith Rainone, currently principal at Greco Middle, will go to central office as director of administration.

The middle schools that lost principals in this switch -- Greco, Pierce and Webb -- will get new ones soon. Around and around they go ...

Who wants to oversee Florida's testing program?

Jay Pfeiffer, for years Florida's deputy commissioner of accountability, research and measurement, quietly retired this month, leaving a key spot at the DOE ripe for the taking.

For now, assistant deputy commissioner Jeff Sellers is holding down the fort. But the department is conducting a national search for a full-time replacement to manage the 100-person division responsible for assessments and accountability (among other things).

The application deadline is tomorrow (Jan. 30). Proact Search, which brought Eric J. Smith to the commissioner's chair, is running the show.

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Florida Board of Governors discusses $24 million opportunity for students

Members of the strategic planning and academic and system oversight committee just completed a short discussion on a new state report indicating that as many as 22,000 Florida students who attended public universities in 2005 may have missed out on federal financial aid for which they were eligible.

Why did $24 million in free money go unused? Because not everyone is getting the message that the aid, in the form of federal Pell Grants, is available.

“I think this is great news for our state that we possibly have these available dollars,” said Board of Governors member Ann W. Duncan, the only one to comment on the subject.

Judge: Pinellas teacher should be fired for incompetence

In a rare teacher-firing case, a state hearing administrative judge is recommending that Pinellas fire a middle school math teacher for incompetence and insubordination.

Pinellas proved that Curtis Brown, 68, who was suspended without pay last year from John Hopkins Middle School in St. Petersburg, failed to prepare adequate lesson plans or teach the assigned subject matter, and did not improve despite repeated attempts by administrators to help him, says the 17-page recommended order filed Friday by Judge Jeff B. Clark.

School Board attorney Laurie Dart said the ruling should send a message to principals, who often complain that documenting the shortcomings of problem teachers takes too much time, and that because of protections built into state law it isn't likely to result in a teacher's removal anyway.

"I hope this case helps administrators realize that their hard work may result in something," she told the Gradebook this morning.

Florida gets C- for retaining young teachers

That's the bad news, according to a National Council on Teacher Quality report, released this morning, that takes a hard look at how well states are holding on to effective, new teachers. The good news, which isn't really good, is that the highest grade any state received was a B-.

The NCTQ analysis looked at state policies in 15 areas that fit three major headings: identifying effective teachers, keeping the good ones and booting the bad. Florida got a C in the first category and a C- in the last two.

Today's news

EVERYBODY SHIFT: Hillsborough approves new attendance zones for three east county elementary schools. Meanwhile, parents and students balk at new proposed boundaries for their east county high schools. People in north-central Hillsborough aren't too thrilled about suggested new high school boundaries there either. (Times photo, Daniel Wallace)

FLORIDA NEEDS PHARMACISTS: So USF seeks state approval to start a pharmacy school.

ANOTHER CELL PHONE DEAL: Cimino Elementary is the latest to look to letting a cell tower rise on campus to raise money.

GOING GREEN: The University of Tampa reviews its commitment to the environment.

SUPER HOOPLA: American Idol winner Jordin Sparks and Tennessee Titans star Albert Haynes surprise the kids at Seven Oaks Elementary in Pasco as part of this week's Super Bowl activities.

POOR LESSON: Fired Pasco sub Jim Piculas offers a bad example to kids in suing the school district over losing his job, the Times editorializes.

FREE MONEY: Thousands of Florida college students aren't applying for Pell Grants they're likely eligible for, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

GET REAL: Seminole officials say Florida should find a real fix for public education funding, and not just hope for federal bailout money, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

DISSATISFIED: A regional survey finds just 31 percent of Duval residents satisfied with their public education system, the Florida Times-Union reports.

CLEARED: Lee board member Steven Teuber is cleared in two ethics cases, the Fort Myers News-Press reports.

THIS WILL HURT: Broward leaders say layoffs, sports cuts and more are options as the district goes into budget crisis mode, the Miami Herald reports. FSU president T.K. Wetherell paints a grim picture of the school's future in the wake of pending budget cuts, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.

CHARTER CONVERSION: Volusia plans to close the only school in Oak Hill. Parents hope it will become a charter school, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports.

AROUND THE NATION: A Maryland district looks at ways to go paperless to cut spending, the Washington Post reports. Cal State students worry about the effect of proposed financial aid cuts, the LA Times reports. New York chancellor Joel Klein asks state lawmakers for flexibility in funding to avoid huge layoffs, the NY Times reports.

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New Pasco elementary principals selected

The principal churn at Moon Lake Elementary is almost over.

Superintendent Heather Fiorentino has chosen Anclote Elementary assistant principal Elise Landahl (left) to run Moon Lake as soon as the FCAT testing ends. She's also picked former administrator Cindy Harper to run Centennial Elementary after Scott Mitchell moves to new Watergrass Elementary.

To avoid disruption to students before the annual test, though, Fiorentino will place Harper -- who currently doesn't work for the district -- at Moon Lake. That way Landahl can help steer Anclote through the exam period while also having someone in charge at Moon Lake.

Current principal Cara Allen has resigned effective Feb. 13.

After the music stops and everyone has a chair, Fiorentino said she hopes that -- particularly for Moon Lake -- the new leaders will stay put for some time to come.

Charlie Crist, 'champion of education'

Sure, Gov. Crist may have let the vast majority of about $500 million in education budget cuts move ahead untouched. But his veto of a proposed 20 percent reduction to the bonuses for National Board certified teachers has won him strong praise from, you guessed it, National Board certified teachers.

"Governor Charlie Crist took a courageous stand to support National Board Certification — a proven pay-for performance approach that keeps America's best teachers in the classroom and is a solid investment in the future of our nation's workforce," the group said in a press release.

National Board teachers consistently have decried efforts to slash support for their program, especially as it was done disproportionately to other budget cuts. They said they planned a lobbying effort to show politicians the value of their certification.

Apparently, Gov. Crist listened.

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Legislation says pay teachers first

Cutting teacher pay would become more difficult under legislation that will be filed soon by two South Florida lawmakers.

District officials could not recommend salary increases for administrators until they had first increased teacher pay by a greater percentage, and district administrators could not make more than twice what the district's average teacher makes, according to the bills being prepared by Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, and Rep. Luis Garcia, D-Miami Beach.

"I view teachers as the goose that lays the golden egg," Villalobos said during a press conference this morning. "You have to take care of them first."

The legislation would also allow citizens to recall school board members.

Florida teacher pay raises are skimpy at best

Seven months into the fiscal year, and 37 of 67 Florida school districts (including Pinellas) still don't know for sure how much they're going to pay their teachers. Of those that have reached agreements with their unions, the average raise is 2 percent, according to the latest reports from Florida Educational Negotiators.

Given that the budget looks even worse for next year, does anyone want to hazard a guess as to how many districts will cut teacher salaries, a la Manatee? A couple of districts (Lee and Clay) are already floating that idea.

But wait: State Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, state Rep. Luis Garcia, D-Miami Beach, and United Teachers of Dade president Karen Aronowitz are holding a press conference this morning to announce "likely action by the state to protect further cuts in teacher salaries here and across Florida."

Hmmm. Stay tuned …

Ron Matus, state education reporter

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Today's news

SPORTS ON THE TABLE: Pinellas superintendent Julie Janssen says cuts to athletic programs are in consideration as a way to balance the budget. (Times photo of Palm Harbor University High soccer, 2007)

VETOES: Gov. Crist rejects a handful of budget cuts, including a few for education.

NO ANSWER: The apparent theft of $20,000 from Pasco High will go unpunished, as prosecutors lack enough information to charge anyone.

TOP OF THE CLASS: 'Crazy About Credit' dishes out financial ed (Wesley Chapel High); Work ethic pays off for schools (John Long Middle); Technical schools a hands-on, low-cost choice (special to the Times)

DIDN'T THE LEGISLATURE BAN THIS? Palm Beach schools enter a two-month period where all they will do is focus on the FCAT, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

IS THAT BUBBLE GUM YOU SMELL? Haile Middle in Bradenton uses grape bubblegum-scented mist to get rid of vultures that have been swarming the school, the Bradenton Herald reports.

AUDIT US: A Lee board member calls for a state audit of the district's books, saying the district has "inadequate financial oversight," the Naples Daily News reports.

SLOW DOWN CLASS SIZE: Florida lawmakers should find a way to ease the financial crunch of the class size amendment without hurting students in the process, the Lakeland Ledger editorializes.

TEACHER SUES OVER ATTACK: A former Palm Beach teacher is suing the district for not informing her that one of her students was known to be potentially violent, the Palm Beach Post reports.

PAY UP: Subcontractors who helped build Imagine School's new charter in Vero Beach are still looking to get paid, the Vero Beach Press-Journal reports.

BUDGET ROUNDUP: In-state students will pay about $1,000 more to attend the University of Central Florida, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Brevard teachers reach contract agreement that includes a pay freeze, Florida Today reports. Dozens of parents protest the planned closure of two Bay schools, the Panama City News-Herald reports. Flagler leaders seek ways to prevent huge budget cuts, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports.

No prosecution to come in case of missing Pasco cash

The two-year-old case of Pasco High School's missing money appears unlikely to ever be solved.

School district officials received a letter from the State Attorney's Office late Monday informing them that there simply wasn't enough information available to prosecute anyone over $20,000 in lost athletic event gate receipts.

"We have no way to prove who took the money, plus we don't really know how much was taken," chief financial officer Olga Swinson told the Gradebook.

See tampabay.com or the St. Petersburg Times tomorrow for more details.

Florida bill would tackle teacher turnover

The Florida Department of Education would be required to determine the annual cost of teacher attrition and its effect on student achievement, and some districts would have to submit plans for improving attrition rates, under a bill filed by state Rep. Marty Kiar, D-Davie.

HB 355 would also require that Florida parents be informed of their school's turnover rate. And it would set up a new state program, the Florida Teacher Induction Initiative, to offer more support to new teachers.

"When you constantly have different teachers coming in, it affects education," said Kiar, the Democrats' point man on education issues in the House. "I think we have a crisis in retaining our teachers. I know they don't make ends meet."

Some national estimates say that 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession within five years. One study put the annual cost at $7 billion a year.

Under the bill, districts that don't show improvement in the retention of new teachers in D and F schools would have to submit improvement plans to the state. It's not clear from the bill if "retention" includes teachers transferring from one school to another, something that plagues many high-poverty schools.

Ron Matus, State Education Reporter

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Crist vetoes cuts to teacher bonuses

Gov. Charlie Crist just signed off on the budget cuts made during the special session, but vetoed some of them, including $13 million to the bonus program for national board certified teachers.

“The most important ingredient in a world class education is our teachers, and high performing teachers deserve financial recognition for their hard work,” he wrote in this letter to Secretary of State Kurt Browning.

Crist also vetoed $15 million in cuts to adult education and workforce development; $411,000 to autism programs; and $821,000 to the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind.

No money, no bill

House education policy chairman John Legg has a message for anyone coming before his committee this spring: Anyone seeking to alter education rules must include a money source if the change will cost anything.

"I can't let something come out of my committee that we can't pay for," Legg told a gathering of Pasco educators Monday. "Any bill that is requiring districts to spend more money but doesn't include flexibility ... is DOA."

That does not mean, though, that the Legislature won't be considering policy issues, he quickly added. Among the big items on the table, Legg said, are:

• Making Florida's A-Plus plan jibe with national accountability rules.
• Increasing the state's academic standards.
• Continuing the move toward end-of-course exams.
• "Fixing" laws governing Bright Futures, school recognition fund spending and mandatory P.E. courses.
• Finding an affordable solution to implementing the class size amendment.

One thing Legg said he wants to avoid is "debate for the sake of debating." With bills coming through drafting on issues as hot as getting rid of teacher tenure, though, that might be hard to do.

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No school closings for Diocese of St. Petersburg -- for now

The news that the Archdiocese of Miami plans to close six of its schools because of funding woes got us wondering whether the same might be true for the Diocese of St. Petersburg. Things are tough all over, right?

Diocese spokesman Frank Murphy told the Gradebook that the church has no plans to close any schools at the moment.

"However," Murphy continued -- you knew one of those was coming -- "as you've seen schools close in Pinellas County in various areas, the demographics are shifting." Some of the Catholic schools in the region have seen big enrollment dips, while others have grown.

"So we are always looking at and asking, 'How do we position our schools?' " Murphy said.

Bishop Lynch has put together a task force to examine which schools might need to expand and which might need to close. Murphy expected the study to be complete in about a year.

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Today's news

USF FREEZES HIRING, SPENDING: In preparation for big budget cuts, USF president Judy Genshaft aims to ensure that student graduation plans and research activities continue. Faced with similar financial problems, FAMU considers an employee furlough among its options, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. (Times photo, 2008)

PARENTS BLAST BOUNDARIES: More than 400 east Hillsborough parents show up to comment on proposed new high school zones. Most don't like them.

SUB SUES PASCO: Jim Piculas, who accused the Pasco district of firing him for "wizardry," now accuses the district of slander, defamation and libel.

'THIS IS YOURS': Pasco teacher of the year Kathryn Bylsma tells her class that she couldn't have earned the honor without their efforts.

TEACHER PAY ON THE TABLE: Clay officials consider cutting salaries by 3 percent to deal with their budget shortfall, the Florida Times-Union reports. Lee teachers ponder how to answer a survey asking if they'd take pay cuts to avoid layoffs, the Fort Myers News-Press reports. A special magistrate rules that Polk has no money for raises this year, the Lakeland Ledger reports.

UNHAPPY WITH GIFTED CHANGES: Collier parents ask officials to end an abrupt move to mainstream their gifted children, but get no promises, the Naples Daily News reports.

CLASS SIZE CONCERNS: Lee school and political leaders worry that they can't afford to fully implement the class size amendment, WINK-TV in Fort Myers reports.

WHERE IN THE WORLD? Geography classes are disappearing from Brevard schools, Florida Today reports.

CHARTER WOES: The city of Pembroke Pines seeks to raise more money to keep its A-rated charter school system afloat, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Lake hires an independent auditor to ensure that the charter schools in the district have fixed their financial problems, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

NO UNION: The Tallahassee Community College board of trustees will not recognize the United Faculty of Florida to represent its teachers, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.

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Rep. Weatherford issues class size challenge

Asked for their views on state education policy, some Pasco school administrators told two key lawmakers that they would like to have more flexibility in implementing the class size amendment.

They'd prefer to keep it at the school level than force classroom counts.

State Rep. Will Weatherford, the Wesley Chapel Republican in line to become House speaker in 2012, told the group that the Legislature could have the question "off the floor and on the ballot within two weeks."

Just one problem, Weatherford said: "I'm worried about the (teachers) union. .... Frankly, they're the only ones standing in the way."

He urged the administrators to talk to teachers and impress upon them the growing cost of the 2002 amendment and ask them not to fight an effort to scale back its implementation.

He and Rep. John Legg, a New Port Richey Republican who chairs the House Pre-K-12 Education Policy Committee, predicted that dealing with class size will be one of the biggest issues facing the Legislature this spring.

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Pasco sub fired for 'wizardry' sues district for slander

Former Pasco substitute teacher Jim Piculas got his 15 minutes of fame last year when he accused the district of firing him for "wizardry."

Now he's suing the school district, as promised, based on its public response to his accusation.

In a complaint to the Pasco Circuit Court, which has not yet been recorded, lawyer Jeffrey "Jack" Gordon accuses the district and two employees of slander, libel and defamation against Piculas.

Gordon also said the district's public statements that Piculas had acted unprofessionally had injured his opportunity to get a job in teaching.

"He has taken some jobs here and there, but none of them has been as a substitute teacher or in the teaching industry," Gordon said. "He really feels blackballed." And after reading some documents from Hillsborough and other districts, Gordon added, "I don't think he's paranoid."

Pasco School Board attorney Dennis Alfonso said he had not seen the complaint. But he added that the district generally stands by its treatment of Piculas.

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Maybe Florida has more smart kids than it used to

It's commonly assumed by parents and teachers that accountability systems like Florida's have resulted in a terrible tradeoff: more attention for struggling students, less attention for high-performing ones. But is that really true?

The Sunday St. Petersburg Times story that briefly explored the issue noted some evidence to the contrary, and included a chart listing NAEP and AP scores for Florida kids. More than ever are passing AP tests. And with the exception of eighth-grade math, more than ever are not only reaching the basic level on NAEP but scoring at the proficient and advanced levels. (For what it's worth, more are also scoring at Levels 4 and 5 on the FCAT.)

So does that suggest we might actually have more bright kids than we used to? And that –- dare we say it -- accountability has somehow helped the brightest, too?

USF professor Sherman Dorn offered his take on yesterday's story. I don't know if his blog headline will grab you as much as it did me -– "Ron Matus drinks the Kool-Aid" –- but Dorn never fails to make good points. Read on for my response.

Sen. Wise scholarship plan plods along

With the state budget being cut and cut and cut again, good education programs are either being whacked or whittled (reading coaches), offered up for a delay (virtual schooling) or starting to look like those snowballs in hell (longer school day). But state Sen. Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville, says he’s still going to give one of his pet ideas a shot during the upcoming legislative session.

As we reported last year, Wise, who chairs the education appropriations committee in the Senate, wants to set up an endowment that could provide scholarships to every low-income sixth-grader who stays in school, avoids trouble with the law and graduates.

He's looking at lottery, slot machine and Indian gaming money to do it, along with private contributions. He thinks if he can pull it off, the incentives for at-risk kids would change behavior enough to cut juvenile crime by 25 percent.

The budget situation will make it tough to get traction, and a committee staff analysis says as much. But "I'm just going to plod along," Wise told the Gradebook. He said he recently presented his idea to Gov. Charlie Crist and has talked to Stan Tate, founder and former chairman of the Florida Prepaid College Board.

Ron Matus, State Education Reporter

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Today's news

TAKING A HARD LINE: Pasco superintendent Heather Fiorentino aggressively pursues getting rid of teachers she doesn't think belong in the classroom.

IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN: Only half of Hillsborough schools recycle paper, and just two dozen recycle ink cartridges. District leaders want better results.

SLIPPERY SLOPE? Early learning advocates in Duval worry that the state's cuts to prekindergarten programs would hurt families that need the program most, the Florida Times-Union reports.

UNPOPULAR CHOICES: Central Florida school officials prepare for another round of budget cuts that are likely to affect students and classrooms, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Walton leaders take a look at the same difficult choices, the Northwest Florida Daily News reports. Gov. Charlie Crist is hoping to rely on a federal government package to get schools and other services out of their predicament, the Sentinel reports.

TEXTBOOK SAVVY: Students at Florida's universities find ways to buy textbooks on the cheap, and now the state is mandating that their schools help, the Palm Beach Post reports.

TOO MANY SUBS: Lee schools have so many substitute teachers that the district can't use them all, the Naples Daily News reports.

NO NEW TEACHERS: Treasure Coast school districts seek to use class-size reduction funds to pay for operating expenses rather than lower the student-teacher ratio, the Stuart News reports.

DON'T MESS WITH GIFTED PARENTS: Collier feels the force of angry parents who weren't informed that the district was going to change their children's gifted program, the Naples Daily News reports.

ABOUT THAT GRANT: Florida lawmakers are reluctant to cut the Florida Resident Access Grant to students who attend in-state private universities, even as Gov. Charlie Crist talks about slashing it, the Herald-Tribune reports.

UNION PUSH: The United Faculty of Florida tries to make inroads into Tallahassee Community College, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.

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Coming up

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Tuesday: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday: Florida Board of Governors, 8 a.m., Tallahassee

Friday: Commission for Independent Education, 9 a.m., Lake Buena Vista

Feb. 3: Pasco School Board, 9:30 a.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 4: Senate Higher Education Committee, 9 a.m.; Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: Senate Higher Education and Education Pre-K-12 appropriations committees, 9 a.m.

Feb. 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.

Feb. 17: Pasco School Board, 6 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 2 p.m. workshop, 7 p.m. meeting

Feb. 24: Hillsborough School Board, 3 p.m.; Pinellas School Board, 5 p.m.

Feb. 26: Florida Board of Governors, conference call

Today's news

BRIGHT AND BORED: Some of Florida's smartest students say school doesn't challenge them, a concern that resonates as No Child Left Behind critics argue that education reform has focused on low performers to the detriment of the gifted. (Times photo, Edmund Fountain)

IN THE LURCH: Whether Hernando superintendent Wayne Alexander stays in Hernando depends on a family judge in Connecticut. Speaking of Alexander, the Times editorially wonders whether he has any other secrets he's keeping from the board.

20 YEARS AND GOING STRONG: Pinellas celebrates the 20th anniversary of its Gus Stavros Institute.

MAKING THEIR VOICES HEARD: Parents around Florida look for ways to get lawmakers to understand they want adequate funding for public education, the Miami Herald reports.

KEEPING SCHOOLS OPEN: Martin and Indian River officials say they won't close schools to save money, while St. Lucie leaders say it's an idea of last resort, the Stuart News reports.

JOB SHARING: Duval sees an increase in the number of teachers who split a position so they can have more flexible schedules but still teach, the Florida Times-Union reports.

ANOTHER LOOK: Manatee school advisory councils revise their budgets as lawmakers cut school improvement funds, the Bradenton Herald reports.

ALL UNANIMOUS, ALL THE TIME: The Northwest Florida Daily News finds few if any dissenting voices on the boards of trustees at its region's colleges and universities.

LAYOFFS LIKELY: The dean of UF's biggest college warns that faculty members could lose their jobs as the budget continues to shrink, the Gainesville Sun reports.

CUTTING PRE-K: Lake looks to its early education program to save some money, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

Kathryn Bylsma named Pasco teacher of the year

Kathryn Bylsma, science department head at John Long Middle School in Wesley Chapel, has been selected Pasco County's 2009 teacher of the year.

Bylsma, 49, has taught in Pasco since 1993. She recently served on the committee that helped draft Florida's new science standards.

She told the Pasco Education Foundation, which sponsors the award, that teachers must be keen observers, empathetic listeners, flexible facilitators, truthful reflectors, purposeful evaluators, unending learners, and enthusiastic communicators -- in other words, practically super human.

"You do what you need to do for kids," Bylsma said in a recent interview.

Other awards announced Saturday evening were:

• Administrator of the year:  Terry Rhum, director, employee relations.
• SRP of the year:   Donna Lyons, secretary, Mary Giella Elementary School
• Non-instructional non-bargaining employee of the year: Leroy Christopher, plant manager, Stewart Middle School

A weekend interview with ...

... Phyllis Musumeci, founder of Florida Families Against Restraint and Seclusion. Musumeci, a Palm Beach mom, recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to testify before Congress about the need to ban the use of seclusion and restraint on children in schools. She spoke with Jeff Solochek about the issue.

Talk about why you were in Washington testifying before Congress.

Well, I went to Washington because my son was restrained in school and put in seclusion, and I didn't know about it. The seclusion I knew, but I didn't understand at the time what was really going on. They used to drag his desk out in the hall and leave him by himself. That was almost every day when he was in seventh grade. The restraining I didn't know about. My son's behaviors started changing. His personality started changing. ... He went from a happy little boy to a very unhappy, angry little boy and I didn't know what was going on. That happened over a period of time, like about one year. And so at the end of seventh grade, he just flipped out one day when I picked him up. ... I was scared.

It was about four days before school let out. I called the doctor immediately and brought him in, and he suggested I take him to a psychiatrist. ... I had some tests run on him and then about maybe a month or two later I brought him back to the psychiatrist and he was put on some medication to help with his anxiety, aggression, depression, which he had never had before.

You found all of this tied back to the school?

Well, I can only assume that this was the reaction to what they were doing to him.

Is that when you became an advocate, or an activist?

Today's news

FIND ANOTHER SNACK: Area school districts remove peanut butter products from their cafeterias and vending machines in the wake of a national salmonella scare. (Image from current.com)

CUT ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS: Pinellas needs to slash its administration expenses and have more money reach the classroom, the Times editorializes.

WORST CASE SCENARIO: For Lee, that would be a $70-million cut and 1,000 layoffs, the Naples Daily News reports. More from the Fort Myers News-Press.

MAKING BOOKS CHEAPER: The State Board of Education tells colleges and universities they must post a required textbook list for each class 45 days before the class begins, so students have more time to seek deals, the Florida Times-Union reports.

BUDGET CRISIS? A private school in Bradenton prepares a multimillion-dollar expansion, with the first phase to be complete in a year, the Bradenton Herald reports. And, a Gainesville Catholic school sails through the recession essentially unscathed as other Catholic schools close their doors, the Gainesville Sun reports.

LEARNING FROM A KID: Broward teachers get lessons in how to effectively teach children from an 11-year-old prodigy, the Miami Herald reports.

LOOKING FOR LOCAL SUPPORT: Seminole considers asking voters to increase their property taxes to support public schools, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

AROUND THE NATION: The evolution battle in Texas closes with both sides claiming partial victory, the NY Times reports. LA schools reverse course and don't lay off 2,300 teachers as planned, the LA Times reports.

Visit the Gradebook at noon for an interview with Phyllis Musumeci, founder of Florida Families Against Restraint and Seclusion. And at 10 p.m., we'll let you know who won Pasco teacher of the year.

College retention rates dropping, according to ACT study

A new study released Thursday by ACT Inc., the independent organization that provides assessment, research, and program management services in the areas of education and workforce development, indicates that fewer U.S. students are returning to the same school for their second year of college.

The data shows that only 66 percent of first-year college students returned to the same institution for their sophomore year in the 2007–2008 academic year, the lowest percentage since 1989. That figure is down from 68 percent in 2006–07 and from 69 percent in 2005–06.

While not all of those non-returning students are necessarily dropping out – some may be transferring to a different institution, while others may be "stopping out," perhaps to earn more money, with plans to return to school at a later date – the trend is troubling, says Wes Habley, ACT's principal associate, who has been conducting these analyses since 1983.

The report did note one bright spot. Two-year public colleges seem to be bucking the downward trend, and in fact posted retention rates that were at an all-time high. Fifty-four percent of students at two-year public colleges returned for their second year in 2007–2008, up from 51 percent the previous year.

Donna Winchester, higher education reporter

Report: Brain functions different in low-income kids

If Florida teachers and schools knew some of their students had what amounts to brain damage, would they change what they do?

In a finding that hasn't gotten nearly enough media attention, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, recently discovered big differences in certain brain functions between low-income 9- and 10-year-olds and their more affluent peers.

The poor kids showed a lower response in the part of the brain that's key to solving problems and regulating impulses – so much so that one of the scientists likened their brain activity to that of adults with brain damage.

"This is a wake-up call," said Robert Knight, director of Berkeley's neuroscience institute.

Saint Leo students push to protect their aid

Ever since Florida lawmakers started cutting budgets, the Florida Resident Access Grant for students who attend eligible private schools in the state has had a target on it.

Student leaders from Saint Leo University today urged their Pasco County legislative delegation -- which includes several key committee chairmen -- to shield the $2,800 grant from cuts.

At the very least, Class of 2010 president Nick Bliesner suggested, "make (cuts to) FRAG equal ... don't cut it completely."

Lawmakers offered their support.

"You're not going to be held harmless," Senate president pro tem Mike Fasano said. "But you're not going to see FRAG go away."

Rep. Will Weatherford, in line to become House speaker in 2012, also pledged his backing. "I'm very supportive of it and frankly it helps the state," said Weatherford, a past FRAG recipient. "It's a great program and we'll continue to fight for it."

Jeb wants school grades to go national

In a slap at No Child Left Behind, Jeb Bush argues in today’s National Review Online that the feds should drop NCLB’s pass-or-fail system and adopt something more nuanced. You guessed it. Something like Florida’s A-to-F scale. “Such a system will remove the deterrent to rigorous academic standards, reward schools that are great but not perfect, and acknowledge that improvement is worthy of recognition, even if students are not yet performing on grade level."

Study: Community colleges boost Florida student earnings

A little college really can help you earn more money.

That's the conclusion of an ambitious, multi-year study of Florida high school graduates conducted by the nonpartisan Hudson Institute.

Class size reduction: not for Florida charter schools

While pondering how to cope with the expense of the state's class size mandates, perhaps Florida's public education leaders might want to chew on this: A state hearing officer has ruled that the 2002 class size amendment does not apply to charter schools.

In a nutshell, the Renaissance Charter School Inc. and the Lee Charter Foundation Inc. -- both subsets of Charter Schools USA -- complained to the state last March that the class size amendment was hurting their operations.

Yet the Florida Department of Education hasn't adopted any rules for charter schools to follow if they haven't met the amendment's requirements. So charter schools shouldn't have to comply. Right?

Right, says administrative law judge Suzanne Hood.

Poll: What to cut?

Florida schools face huge budget reductions this year and next. What areas should they target?
Employee benefits - make the workers pay more
Sports and extracurriculars - that will make parents pay attention
Layoffs - give those who remain can get the raises they deserve
Class size - just ignore it until we can afford it
Textbooks - language arts is language arts
Taxes - forget cuts, we need more cash

Search begins for a new state university system chancellor

The group that oversees Florida’s 11 public universities voted unanimously Thursday to hire a Dallas search firm to aid in hiring a new chancellor for the state university system.

The 14-member committee, which includes nine representatives from the Board of Governors, a Florida businessman and two university boards of trustees chairs, selected the firm of R. William Funk & Associates to find a replacement for Chancellor Mark Rosenberg, who announced his resignation in September.

Dubbed the “guru of higher education recruiting” by the Chronicle of Higher Education, Funk has conducted approximately 300 searches for college and university presidents and chancellors. Among the 70 sitting presidents the company has recruited are Mark Yudof at the University of California System, John Lombardi at Louisiana State University, and Donna Shalala at the University of Miami.

The firm agreed to undertake the search for $75,000 plus expenses, $23,000 less than the next lowest bidder. But Board of Governors member and search committee chair Carolyn Roberts said that while the group should be concerned about how much the search will cost, its primary concern must be finding the right person for the job.

“This is a critical search,” Roberts said. “We need someone with the skills to navigate through some difficult times.”

Today's news

LEAVE BRIGHT FUTURES BE: A newly released poll shows Floridians don't want the Bright Futures scholarship programs sacrificed at the altar of budget cutting.

PICKING A NEW CHANCELLOR: The Board of Governors picks a Dallas search firm to help find a new leader for Florida's university system.

HELP ON THE WAY? Florida's public schools could get $1.96-billion over two years from a proposed federal economic stimulus package.

MUSICAL CHAIRS: Hillsborough announces proposed high school boundary changes that would move more than 4,000 students.

FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO CUT: Top Florida lawmakers say Gov. Crist must suggest additional budget cuts if he vetoes reductions in their budget amendments, the AP reports. Crist has said he might not support reductions in bonuses to National Board certified teachers, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.

PASS THE FCAT INSTEAD: Anyone old enough to still be trying to pass the HSCT - last used nearly a decade ago - now will have to take the FCAT as the State Board dumps the older high school exit exam, the Miami Herald reports.

NONE OF THE SCENARIOS LOOK GOOD: Lee schools consider layoffs, the Naples Daily News reports. The University of North Florida looks at axing academic programs, the Florida Times-Union reports. Orange considers slashing its elementary magnet program, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Brevard leaders say school closings, layoffs and the end of some sports programs could result from budget cuts, Florida Today reports.

NEW FIELD OF STUDY: CORRUPTION: Florida Atlantic University opens a new Public Ethics Academy in the wake of several South Florida political scandals, the Palm Beach Post reports.

SEEING THE SCHOOL NURSE: A growing number of children rely on their school nurse for health care as the ranks of Florida's uninsured grows, the High Springs Herald reports.

Hillsborough high school boundary changes to move 4,000 students

Hillsborough school officials are proposing a series of boundary changes that would require 4,000 students to change high schools next year.The moves center around the opening of two new schools in the northwest and eastern county.

Steinbrenner High School in Lutz would enroll about 2,000 students, affecting nearby Sickles, Alonso and Gaither high schools. School officials are not recommending any changes to Freedom High, despite intense lobbying from Lutz parents.

The Lutz community currently is split between Freedom and other schools and some wanted to have its children united at one campus. The district also would not touch Chamberlain High, despite significant overcrowding there.

In the Dover area, Strawberry Crest would have about 1,600 students. Its opening brings boundary changes for Durant, Armwood and Plant City high schools.

The final boundaries have to be approved by the School Board. Community meetings are scheduled for next week. Seniors do not have to move in their final year of high school, but other students are not grandfathered into their current schools. Requests to stay would be considered on a case by case basis.

Read tomorrow's St. Petersburg Times for more information.

More Tax Man sightings in Tally

Count state Sen. Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville, as another conservative Republican who says the GOP-dominated Legislature is considering breaking a party commandment: Thou shalt not raise taxes. But Wise, who chairs the education appropriations committee in the Senate, goes a step further – and predicts the Leg will do exactly that during the session that begins in March.

Wise told the Gradebook today that he foresees lawmakers raising the cigarette tax and eliminating some sales tax exemptions.

"I believe some will be undone, but I don't know which ones," he said. He added he would support eliminating some of those exemptions but does not back a general sales tax hike, which is being pushed by the state teachers union.

After two years of budget cuts, Wise and other Republicans are reluctantly talking taxes because another massive revenue shortfall - $3.5 billion, at this point – looms darkly on the horizon.

"The party line still is 'let's not increase taxes,' but we are in a once-in-a-lifetime situation with a very serious economy and critical services have to be met," Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, R-Miami, told the Times/Herald Capital Bureau earlier this week.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

How much will the stimulus package help? This much

Education groups throughout Florida have been hoping the $825-billion federal stimulus package now rolling through Congress would ease the pain of some truly gruesome budget cuts ahead. But it has been unclear, until now, how much federal relief may be coming our way.

In this new analysis, the Congressional Research Service calculated district-by-district estimates for the stimulus funds that are specifically targeted to federal programs for low-income and disabled students, and for construction. Here are the figures for the four districts around Tampa Bay:

• Pinellas: $56.1-million in 2009, $30.1-million in 2010
• Hillsborough: $93.6-million in 2009, $49-million in 2010
• Pasco: $24.3-million in 2009, $13.5-million in 2010
• Hernando: $9.1-million in 2009, $4.8-million in 2010

The total statewide: $1.3-billion in 2009, and another $670-million in 2010.

School district leaders talk about collaboration

Leaders from the Hillsborough and Pasco school districts have started talking about how they -- along with district officials from Hernando, Pinellas, Manatee, Polk and Sarasota -- might pool their resources to better advocate for education issues on a regional and state basis.

Superintendents MaryEllen Elia and Heather Fiorentino and board members Jennifer Faliero and Kathryn Starkey got together for a lunch meeting late last week to discuss ideas such as closer relationships with the business community and improved ways to promote good news.

"We're looking at a seven-district council with a school board member from each," Starkey told the Gradebook, calling the initial meeting a positive first step.

Faliero agreed, calling the conversation "really great" and adding, "We're going to continue these." She said she knew a board member in Pinellas who might also want to start more regional collaborations.

At the same time, Hillsborough district spokesman Steve Hegarty told the Gradebook, while Elia is interested in the concept, dealing with the state's budget crisis is the current priority.

(Image from zoomstart.com)

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