Tale from the front line

In case you missed it, check out this must-read account of one teacher's experience working in an unnamed Hillsborough high school:

It's sixth period, my first day teaching high school, and my regular Junior English class refuses to settle down. I give them a brief talk, amid the jostling and visiting (and the walking, and the love taps, and the food trading, and the vaulting over desks) about respect. I will respect them, I say, and they will respect me ... For about 30 seconds, they like the idea of my respecting them, and then they're up again.

Melanie Hubbard has a doctorate in English and has taught at the college level. This spring, she tried out the public school setting, where everyone knows there is a shortage of qualified instructors. Her experience, described in a first-person story for the St. Petersburg Times over the weekend, sounds alarms on many levels.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on this story and whether it rings true to what you know about the public high school setting.

(Photo: Melanie Hubbard)

Candy-flavored meth and marijuana gumballs

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has joined forces with the Florida Association of School Resource Officers to warn parents and educators about an "alarming trend" of flavored drugs circulating around the country, luring younger children.

According to the press release:

Methamphetamine with added flavors was first noticed on the West Coast, but is rapidly making its way across the country. Flavors can include strawberry, chocolate, cola and others. The flavoring reduces the bitter taste of the drug and does not affect the potency of the drug. Children may mistake the drug for candy pop rocks.

"This a grave problem and shows to what lengths drug dealers will go," Robert Tricquet, president of the Florida Association of School Resource Officers, said in the release. "This is a direct attempt to reach out and attract a younger age group luring them into the drug culture. We must be ever vigilant with our children to protect them from these predators."

To read more, click here.

Wednesday is...pull up your britches day?!?

His legislation went nowhere this past spring, but Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, is trying again.

The Senate's Pre K-12 committee tomorrow will consider his proposed bill that would force kids to pull up droopy, underwear-revealing britches or face penalties.

“This bill aids in the creation of a professional environment, eliminating one of the many distractions found in public schools,” Siplin said. “It puts the focus where it should be: on the blackboard, not the backside.”   

He proposes that students caught exposing their underwear be warned the first time, face a 3 day in-school suspension on the second offense, face 10 days of in-school suspension on the third offense, and be suspended out of school if caught for a fourth time.

Identical legislation is being sponsored in the House by Representative Ed Bullard (D-Miami).

What to do with cell phones

There has been of late much discussion about the myriad ways students can use their cell phones and other electronic devices to cheat on exams. Witness these recent stories in the Sun-Sentinel and the Stuart News.

But just because teens can cheat with them doesn't mean they will. So maybe it's not the best idea to act as if bad behavior is a foregone conclusion.

That's the position the Sun-Sentinel editorial board took this week. The paper editorializes that the technology has some valid uses - calling home after a team practice, long after the buses have left campus, for one.

School districts should consider that before banning cell phones outright. The better approach, the Sun-Sentinel suggests, is to punish the kids that cheat, and not the ones who don't. Sounds logical to us. How about to you?

Too harsh?

About two dozen students in a suburban Chicago high school decided to protest the Iraq war. They did it in the cafeteria and a hallway. And they got suspended, with the threat of expulsion.

The district superintendent said in a statement that he was not punishing the teens for their views, but rather for their interruption of the school day, the New York Times reports. Several of the protesters said they followed the administration's instructions.

Parents now are complaining that the punishment was too harsh. At worst, they said, the students were loitering, not being involved in mob action, as the district contended.

The ACLU is looking into the matter. The executive director of the Illinois chapter told the Times that public school students generally have constitutional rights, but public schools have some ability to limit those.

Hillsborough school board suspends three

TAMPA -- Hillsborough County School Board members on Tuesday suspended without pay three of its employees, including two teachers arrested on charges stemming from sexual involvement with teenagers and a custodian accused of murder.

"They're off our campuses or classroom, as the case may be. They're not being paid," said Hillsborough schools spokesman Steve Hegarty. "That's appropriate, that's where we should be. "

From left to right in pictures above:

• Christy Ayala, a secretary at Dickenson Elementary accused of three counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a 15-year-old boy. Three times between February and September, Hillsborough sheriff's detectives say,  Ayala and the boy met at his home, where she fondled, kissed and hugged the boy and asked him to touch her in inappropriate places.

• Stanley Telfare, a Blake High School custodian arrested on murder charges in the death of school secretary Elalia Walker, who died a week after being hospitalized with severe brain injuries. On Oct. 11, a witness told Temple Terrace police he saw a man hit a woman then throw her into a van within the Orange River Estates subdivision. Police never found the van, but later that evening, Telfare brought a severely-injured Walker to her home. Her family asked what happened. Telfare told them Walker jumped from a van as they were driving, police said. Originally charged with felony battery and kidnapping, charges against Telfare were upgraded to first-degree murder after Walker's death.

• Christina Butler, the Middleton High School special education teacher recently arrested on charges of having sex with a 16-year-old student. A bizarre traffic stop in late October involving a group of teenagers ultimately led to the arrest of Butler. She later admitted to having sex with a 16-year-old boy up to a dozen times. Fifteen-year-old Shatavia Kendricks said she tried repeatedly to report the inappropriate relationship to school officials, but the school suspended her for 'spreading rumors.'  In response, Kendricks' family is suing  the school board.

-- Casey Cora, Times staff writer

Booking photos courtesy of Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office

Zero tolerance? Depends on district size

Once upon a time, many of the infractions that now get kids expelled from school used to get handled in the principal's office. The advent of zero-tolerance policies after the 1994 Gun-Free Schools Act changed all that, perhaps with unintended consequences, University of Florida doctoral candidate Brian Schoonover finds.

Now, the law that was meant to keep guns away from schools has turned into wide-ranging policies that might find 5-year-olds tossed out for bringing toy weapons to campus. What's interesting, Schoonover discovers, is that students are more likely to face zero-tolerance punishments in large Florida school districts than in small ones.

He attributes that disparity to the fact that big districts have alternative programs, while smaller districts do not.

To read more about his research, which he will present Tuesday at the National Conference for Safe Schools and Communities, click here.

A new way to punish?

First, the Palm Beach superintendent calls for an alternative to suspending kids who misbehave. Now, a group of Miami-Dade students tells its School Board that detention and suspension simply don't work.

Palm Beach super Art Johnson's (left) recommendation is to put the wayward teens into centers where they will focus on education, social skills and maybe even job skills. Working with civic leaders, he's already got them ready to open in January.

The Miami students have a different idea. They told the School Board to try "restorative justice." That's where the violators and victims get together to decide on an way to right the wrong. The board agreed to explore the idea.

Maybe it's just us, but after reporting about schools for years, these concepts seem to make too much sense. Too often, kids who hate school use the system to get what they want - out of school. But what value, really, is there in putting teens who probably need school - and a good teacher who can encourage and guide them - on the street?

Maybe this is the start of a sea change. Or maybe it's just a South Florida thing. Time will tell.

Zero tolerance run amok

Kids have gotten suspended from school for toy guns, water guns, notes about guns. But a drawing of one?

The Associated Press is reporting that a 13-year-old in Arizona has been put out for a crude sketch of a gun. School officials deemed the drawing a threat, and invoked Columbine while talking to the parents, who called the sketch a "harmless doodle."

Enough said.

Today's news

THINK BEFORE YOU DRINK: Before prom begins, students at Admiral Farragut Academy hear from a woman who's about to stand trial for DUI manslaughter. It gives them pause, though some say they'll probably still toss back a few.

SIGN THE DARNED BILL: Florida's three top research universities could improve with a cash infusion. Gov. Crist now must decide whether cheap tuition or top-notch education matters more, the editorial board says.

USF SETS GLOBAL VISION: The university has put forth a strategic plan that seeks to prepare students for the global economy, provost Renu Khator writes in a guest column.

SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN THERE, BUT ... Pasco School Board member Cathi Martin explains in a letter to the editor that she missed the last board meeting because of a medical emergency. The editorial board had called for her to rethink her job if she can't show up.

FINALLY READY: One of the Charlotte County schools destroyed by Hurricane Charley in 2004 will open in August, the Herald-Tribune reports. Four others should reopen in 2009.

PRINCIPALS GET AN EARFUL: Duval County's superintendent, who has $24,000 in bonuses riding on test results, angrily lectures district principals about poor third-grade FCAT scores and tells them to work harder, the Florida Times-Union reports.

MAYBE SITTING ON THEM IS A BIT MUCH: Palm Beach County, facing a parent complaint about teachers who restrained a child with cerebral palsy, will revisit its 13-year-old policy that lets school officials protect themselves from children with disabilities who are lashing out, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

FAMU PREZ SETS AGENDA: James Ammons, who takes over the school in July, plans to give students better accessibility to leadership in his effort to turn the university around, reports Black College Wire. Meanwhile, the financially troubled school ends its lease of space it has used at the Tallahassee airport to greet visitors since 1999, the AP reports.

Today's news

HELPING HAND: The Pinellas County Juvenile Welfare Board wants to expand a program that offers tutoring and extra aid, sometimes in the home, to needy students and their families throughout the county.

COPS WANTED: Turnover at the University of South Florida police department is alarming officials, especially as they seek to boost campus security in light of the recent massacre at Virginia Tech.

FROM THE OP-ED PAGES: The FCAT reading cut score for high school sophomores is too high and needs to be more in line with the students' real abilities, the editorial board says.

HOW MUCH TO BUILD A SCHOOL? Broward County taxpayers soon might be longing for the days of a $90-million high school. The next one on the books looks to be costing closer to $130-million, the Sun-Sentinel reports. (Remember when folks thought a $40-million high school was extravagant, about four years ago?)

LIFE SKILLS NEEDED: But now that the state has dropped the life management skills health class as a graduation requirement, many students who need to lessons might not get them, the Miami Herald reports.

PLAYING FAVORITES: As lawmakers prepare to let USF, UF and FSU raise their tuition, leaders at other state universities are complaining that they need some love and money, too, the Palm Beach Post reports.

IS IT FANTASY, OR A THREAT? Teachers and school administrators look at more than just words in students' writing assignments when the message on the page causes alarm, the Chicago Tribune reports.

THE 24/7 REPORT CARD: Parents can get immediate updates on their kids' school progress through Edline and programs like it that their schools adopt. Then they can ask lots of questions. Parents like it, but the kids, not so much, the Washington Post reports.

Today's news

PUSHING FOR NEW STANDARDS: Dissatisfied with the "intellectual incest" of the Florida Sunshine State Standards, GOP lawmakers want to go global, rewriting the standards to "world-class" levels. Detractors call the idea "silly" and say it misses the mark on what's needed in education, the Herald-Tribune reports. Count the Times editorial board among the latter group: "If this is the path to world-class education, maybe Florida can wait," the Times opines.

TO WALK, OR NOT TO WALK: The Pasco School Board has stood nearly alone in Florida in requiring seniors to have passed the exit-level exam if they want to walk at graduation. It's poised to change that rule next week. The advisory council of the county's only D-rated high school is not pleased.

DUMB COLLEGE STUDENTS: The USF freshmen were bored after playing frisbee on a Saturday afternoon. So they set off a dry ice bomb - basicially dry ice and water in a plastic bottle -  in an open field on campus. Their impromptu chemistry experiment, once considered a prank at many colleges, got them suspended from school and now they face five years in prison.

HILLSBOROUGH LOOKS AT BUDGET: The School Board considers cuts to courtesy busing, travel and administrative hiring to keep spending in line.

ALL THIS FOR $9.75 AN HOUR: School crossing guards brave whizzing traffic in some of the more dangerous intersections to get kids to campus safely. No wonder Hillsborough can't fill all the positions.

A DIRTY JOB: A custodian talks about cleaning the bathrooms after classes end at a Tampa-area high school.

WANT LUNCH? HOLD OUT YOUR HAND: And give a fingerprint. The Seminole County school district is testing the fingerprint identification system in one elementary school cafeteria. If it works well, the district is looking to expand the system county-wide, and not just in lunch rooms, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

DON'T CUFF 'EM: The Milwaukee, Wis., school district is rethinking a policy that would have let officers use flexible handcuffs to restrain out-of-control students. The unsurprising reason: Parents complained, the Journal-Sentinel reports.

Today's news

TOUGHER THAN THE STREETS: Dan Hansen spent 31 years patrolling Pinellas Park. Now his beat is the 185-student Sanders School for the severely emotionally disturbed. It's a job that Hansen acknowledges many cops would never take. But he finds it rewarding.

$3.5-MILLION REQUEST: The state university system Board of Governors asks for money to improve communication systems and to add police officers on campuses, as an immediate response to the Virginia Tech massacre. Lawmakers are expected to take up the issue during budget negotiations.

SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER? Those kids sure do know a lot as they prepare to enter middle school, contestants in a local version of the television contest find at Macfarlane Park School for International Studies  in Tampa.

ACTING UP: Student actors from across Florida fill the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center for the state thespian festival.

COUNTING ON A SCHOLARSHIP: A Sarasota girl fulfilled all the requirements for a tuition and books scholarship offered by a local karate expert. But when she asked for the funds to help pay for the University of Central Florida, she found the donor had changed the rules and would not pay, Herald-Tribune columnist Tom Lyons reports.

Today's news

NO PASS, NO PLAY: Florida middle schools have rules about students playing sports - they need to keep a C average to participate. Enforcement can be pretty lax. But not at Gulf Middle in New Port Richey, where even one needs improvement in "punctuality" can put a kid on the bench.

MAYBE THEY NEED AN OPT-OUT FORM: Don't think this is about a gay-straight alliance. The Hernando County School Board is looking into how to inform parents about campus blood drives and make sure they're OK with their children donating. Why? A parent complaint that his son fainted with extremely low blood pressure after giving a pint, and dad didn't know he would be giving.

THE LETTER IS IN THE MAIL: And you should get it by Saturday. No, really. The Pinellas school district has sent out answers to the 18,000 or so parents who applied for school choice for their children. On the waiting list? You could get the seat you wanted as early as May.

RUSHING TO FINISH: Construction on a new elementary school in Wesley Chapel is about two months behind schedule to open in January. Crews started working double-time Tuesday to meet the deadline.

SHOOTING ON THEIR MINDS: Students at universities across Florida worry that a tragedy like what happened at Virginia Tech could happen at their schools, too. The chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee plans to have a hearing this month to determine what university leaders are doing to ensure that it doesn't, the Lakeland Ledger reports.

LOWE OUT: The Florida Senate won't take up FAMU board chair Challis Lowe's reappointment, ending her term quietly. She just couldn't overcome her vote against incoming president James Ammons.

SUPERINTENDENT WITH A TWIST: Broward County doesn't have an elected superintendent. But the School Board of Florida's second-largest district says it won't give interim CEO Jim Notter the job permanently unless the public approves, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

CUFF 'EM: The Milwaukee (Wis.) school district will allow its safety aides to restrain "thrashers" with flexible handcuffs, the Journal-Sentinel reports. Better than having a 300-pound officer sit on them until they calm down, officials reason.

Today's news

CONSEQUENCE STANDS: The Pinellas County kid who mooned his teacher, got transferred to a new high school and then sued will have to live with the results, a judge rules. In fact, the judge says, he's lucky the punishment wasn't worse.

THEY SING, TOO: By day, they teach. But some of the Pine View Middle School teachers in Land O'Lakes are karaoke addicts by night. (Some are actually good, too.) They merge their loves to raise money for cancer research with a school version of American Idol. Some of the kids are tougher judges than Simon.

ON THE OP-ED PAGES: Sure, Wal-Mart can build a supercenter just steps from a school complex. But Hernando County officials ought to think hard about whether it's best for the youth before approving the project, guest columnist Arnold Silver writes.

PASCO CHARTER NEWS: The school district recommends closure of one charter school, citing irreparable financial problems, and denial of the proposed expansion of another.

BAD TEACHER: Charles F. Taylor was a popular teacher at Tyrone Middle in St. Petersburg. But he also appears to have enjoyed child pornography while at home.

PARENTS SWAY GIFTED DEBATE: The Gradebook has detailed the Legislature's changing winds on how to fund gifted education for next year. Active Sarasota parents played a big role in the debate, the Herald-Tribune reports.

VOUCHER RALLY: Thousands show up in Tallahassee to support school choice, the Florida Times-Union reports.

WARFORD FOR COMMISSIONER: Ousted by and highly critical of the Bush administration, former K-12 chancellor Jim Warford is a leading candidate to take over the Department of Education, the Palm Beach Post reports.

CALI CLASS SIZE SCANDAL GROWS: Santa Ana (Cal.) school officials said the phantom classes and other misstatements designed to get class-size reduction funds were limited to the elementary level. Now it turns out there were problems in the ninth grade, too, the LA Times reports.

Today's news

CARING FOR COWS: St. Petersburg College is looking at a partnership with the University of Florida to create the state's second veterinary school.

HEADING DOWN THE HOMESTRETCH: And the Legislature still has much work to do. One key unresolved issue is whether to increase tuition for the state's universities. Lawmakers say yes, the governor says no.

FROM THE OP-ED PAGE: Florida's promise for high-quality universal prekindergarten is a promise unkept, the editorial board says. Maybe Gov. Charlie Crist can cash in on all the talk about improvement.

A DIFFICULT DEMAND: Florida, like all other states, is trying to fill its classrooms with highly qualified teachers - those who know their content area and have the right preparation, too. It's not proving easy, as nearly half of the state's new teachers don't have a degree in education, the Palm Beach Post reports.

A 'MORAL IMPERATIVE': A suburban New York school district pays extra attention to black boys to ease the achievement gap, offering special mentoring with black teachers, extra homework and cultural activities. Black girls were doing well enough and didn't need the attention, the New York Times reports.

HATE DETENTION? A Milwaukee-area school district lets kids work off their misdeeds cleaning the cafeteria, weeding the garden and performing other "soft labor" instead on Amnesty Day, the Journal-Sentinel reports.

Today's news

HIGH HOPES: Florida A&M stalwarts look to James Ammons to lead their school out of scandal and back to success. He's got a promising track record at North Carolina Central University. Already, Ammons has begun his work, meeting with Florida lawmakers despite not officially taking the reins until July. To read an exclusive interview with Ammons, click here.

WAYNE'S WORLD: Wayne Alexander is Hernando County's new schools superintendent. Coming from Connecticut, he offers his views about education, leadership and the Boston Red Sox.

DON'T SAY 'FAT': Parents, politicians and educators want overweight kids to lose the pounds. One way is to make it fun, rather than punishing. Another is to banish the oppressive words like 'fat' and 'diet.'

THE FIRST TO GO: The saying goes that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. So you've got to wonder what it means when schools eliminate recess so kids can prepare for FCAT. That's what is happening in Lee County, the Naples Daily News reports, and parents are not too happy.

FROM THE OP-ED PAGES: The Palm Beach Post argues that the House bill pushing "world class"  standards does anything but.

A BIG GAP: Black males in Bay County aren't meeting expectations in school. In third grade, for instance, just one black boy was reading at grade level on the FCAT. County officials are now trying to tackle the problem, the Panama City News Herald reports.

MARKETING 'HONORS': The teens are seeking an edge to get into college. The companies? Well, they're selling something that purports to carry significance. Some of them are just scams, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

THEY CALL IT CHEESE: It's really a mix of black tar heroin and crushed Tylenol PM. It sells for as little as $2 a hit. And the drug is becoming a big problem for Dallas public schools, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Today's news

LET'S MAKE A DEAL: Wayne Alexander gets a two-year contract worth about $153,000 annually to take over as Hernando County's new schools superintendent.

AP AUDIT: The explosion of Advanced Placement courses in Florida and across the country has college admission officers questioning whether the classes are all as rigorous as they are supposed to be. The College Board responds by conducting its first ever audit of AP classes.

SUING OVER MOONING: The family of the Pinellas County boy who got suspended and transferred for mooning a teacher has sued the school district. To read the full story, click here. To participate in the lively reader conversation about this, click here.

FAMU UPDATE: Summer school enrollment is on track despite all the hubbub, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.

FOCUS ON VOCATIONS: Call it career and technical education, call it multiple pathways, call it what you will, vocational classes are all the rage these days. And they're academically challenging, not like in the past. The debate is on over whether it's the right way to go, the LA Times reports.

MEET THE SUBSTITUTE: Arnold Blume is 81, and, after 29 years as a teacher, he has retired to a life of substitute teaching in New York. Check out this nice NY Times profile.

PITCHING FOR PROSPECTS: A growing D.C. suburb school district hones its marketing effort to attract teachers as it competes with surrounding districts in the shrinking pool of candidates, the Washington Post reports.

Sue you

The family of Taylor Tillung, the Pinellas high school senior who mooned a teacher in February, is suing the School Board to get his punishment reduced.

A student at Palm Harbor University High when the incident occurred, Taylor was suspended for six days and reassigned to Clearwater High. A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court alleges the transfer was unreasonably harsh because it will deny him the once-in-a-lifetime chance to graduate with his class, participate in senior activities leading up to graduation and play his final season as a starter on Palm Harbor’s varsity baseball team. The suit also says school administrators did not correctly follow discipline procedures outlined in the district's Code of Student Conduct.

The boy mooned the teacher "suddenly and without thinking about the consequences," the lawsuit states. It says the boy saw the act as a "childish joke" and did not mean to insult the teacher. Click here to read the complaint.

Legal threats by parents against the School Board are not uncommon, but relatively few families actually follow through.

To those who say the family is taking the issue too far, Tillung's lawyer, B. Edwin Johnson, said "they don't know the facts." He added: "This kid deserves a break."

School Board Attorney Jim Robinson said late Tuesday he had not seen the lawsuit, but declared the district would "review it and defend it." He said, "Without knowing the allegations, we're confident in the administration's position on this case."

- Tom Tobin, Pinellas County education reporter

Today's news

TAKE ME OUT TO COMMENCEMENT: Tropicana Field is an increasingly popular graduation spot for Pinellas County high schools. But what to do when eight want the Trop on the same week, during a Rays homestand?

BAD KIDS (LOCAL EDITION): Two eighth graders lace their teacher's Pepsi with Febreze at Giunta Middle School. They're in trouble. She's taking leave to sort things out in her head.

THEY NEED A DEGREE: Gov. Charlie Crist joins several of his predecessors in saying that the state's prekindergarten teachers should have four-year degrees. Whether the Legislature will join the call remains to be seen.

BAD BUS DRIVER: One school bus driver didn't like how the other was driving during a student field trip to Georgia. So he shot him dead. No students were present at the time, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

DO YOU HAVE TO SAY YES, SIR? The Troops to Teachers initiative takes hold in Florida schools, as more and more retired soldiers enter the classroom, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

STUDENTS HAVE SPECIAL NEEDS: Parents demand better treatment of children in Sarasota County's exceptional student education program, where substitutes have taken the place of permanent teacher aides, the Herald-Tribune reports.

STUDENTS HAVE RIGHTS: This time, it's a New York state fourth grader, whose school stopped her from distributing a personal religious message to classmates. A judge slaps down the district, saying it violated the girl's First Amendment rights, the Associated Press reports. The Florida-based Liberty Counsel, which pops up in these cases all over the place, is in this one, too.

CLASS-SIZE DISPUTE GROWS: The California school district that lied about its efforts to shrink its classes to meet state mandates faces another round of allegations, as more teachers step up to say they were asked to sign that they had fewer students than they did, the LA Times reports. Are you watching this, Florida? Class size counts go to the classroom level next year.

Today's news

'GET OVER IT': Ridgewood High School special education teacher Nichole Shuler doesn't let her students use their disabilities as a crutch. She just looks at them and says, "Get over it. I have one, too." Shuler has refused to allow severe cerebral palsy stop her from achieving her dream of teaching. Now she seeks to inspire her students to achieve. To read Shuler's story, click here. To watch a student's video profile of Shuler, click here.

LOCK THE MEDICINE CABINET: You might be helping your own kids get high. School resource officers notice a growing number of students abusing nonprescription drugs such as Coricidin HBP

FROM THE OP/ED PAGE: As charter schooling becomes an industry, the state has an obligation to monitor them and hold them accountable, the editorial board says. And, the cut-and-paste world of the Internet has dramatically changed education, making it harder to test what students actually know, former teacher Jason Johnson writes.

NO MORE CASH:  The Game of Life goes plastic, including a branded Visa card instead of all that fake colored money. Folks who focus on teaching kids about finances fret that the change will give preteens a credit-card mentality, LA Times finance columnist Kathy Kristof writes.

NOT EASY TO BE AMAZING: Girls seek to be high achieving, ambitious, confident and involved, yet sometimes feel that's still not enough as they try to get into college, the New York Times reports.

Today's news

LAND DEAL QUESTIONED: Critics accuse the Hillsborough school district of cronyism for buying 34 acres from a retired School Board member. District officials say they did everything by the book.

LENDING PRACTICES INVESTIGATED: The U.S. Department of Education and Congress are looking into whether colleges and universities, including some in Florida, steer students toward financial aid packages that earn the schools money.

SUPERINTENDENT SIGNING: The Hernando County School Board expects to complete its contract with superintendent-designate Wayne Alexander on Tuesday. The details are still being hashed out.

WEIGHING IN ON P.E.: Citrus County stands ready to implement Gov. Crist's desire to have all elementary kids do 30 minutes of daily physical activity. One problem, though, and it's not FCAT prep. There are too many kids and not enough money to hire all the needed PE teachers, they say.

FROM THE OPINION PAGES: Six former governors call upon the current one to improve the state's Universal Prekindergarten program. The former Board of Regents chairman says more college students should study abroad.

QUITTING NEA: Collier County school employees switch to the Teamsters. It's proving a controversial move, the Naples Daily News reports.

PRE-K SHRINKS: Some of Orange County's neediest children might lose access to the free state pre-k program because the schools nearest them did not meet state class-size reduction requirements, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

BAD KID ALERTS: Five Suffolk County, N.Y., eighth graders hand out doughnuts filled with laxatives to their classmates and teachers, USA Today reports. Two Seattle-area girls contaminate their teacher's coffee cup with lip gloss, the Seattle Times reports.

Today's news

FORGET EQUAL ACCESS: A group of black Pinellas County residents argues that black children deserve special treatment as a group if the district truly intends to eliminate the achievement gap. School district officials contend that a color-blind approach is better. A lawsuit exploring the issue is set for trial July 9.

DO YOU KNOW MAX THOMPSON? Pasco County teachers do. They're training in his teaching methods, which the school district has adopted for everyone to use, at a cost of $4.5-million. Some love the system. Some are so upset they've filed a grievance against its implementation.

DISAPPOINTED AND ANGRY: Students of the Richard Milburn Academy and their parents decry the loss of their charter high school, which closes in June. It had been their only alternative to the mainstream Pasco County school system.

NOT QUITE A DEGREE: The University of Florida finds a way to honor former governor Jeb Bush, after all. The school makes him an honorary alum, even though he couldn't find a way to earn his honorary degree.

TEACHER TALK: Often isolated in their classrooms, teachers increasingly turn to blogs, listservs and other forms of electronic communication to keep up with their peers and their profession, the Miami Herald reports.

CHARTER SCHOOL PAINS: The publicly funded, privately run schools serve a smaller proportion of poor, minority and disabled students now than when the movement began a decade ago, the Orlando Sentinel reports. That despite the state's recent brag that charters help close the achievement gap because of their diversity.

A GOOD TEACHER IS HARD TO FIND: So Duval County is joining a growing list of districts looking overseas to fill the ranks, the Florida Times-Union reports.

A TEST YOU CAN'T STUDY FOR: A growing number of school districts adopt random drug testing for students who want to participate in extracurriculars. The New York Times looks at the pros and cons, noting several studies question whether the policy actually works.

A right to go to prom?

A group (one?) of Land O'Lakes High School students are circulating a form letter complaining about their principal. Why? She's enforcing the school district policy that says students who have 10 or more unexcused absences within 90 days cannot participate in extracurricular activities. In this case, it means that dozens of kids won't be allowed to attend prom. "We all believe this is extremely unfair to the seniors that have waited four years, or even their whole life, to go to the senior prom," the students write. "I understand if we were all failing, but the majority of us have senioritis." School district officials are having none of the wailing, saying the policy is clearly stated in the handbooks the students carry with them every day. "It's a natural consequence for not being present," student services director Lizette Alexander says. Who's right?

Today's news

THE TROUBLE WITH TOILETS: Kids stuff them with paper, scrawl graffiti on the walls, sometimes have sex there. And then they wonder why school officials try to control access to the restrooms.

CRIST TO SIGN: The governor says he's pleased with the new Merit Award Program that lawmakers overwhelmingly approved this week. Here's the Miami Herald version of the story.

PRIVATE FEEL, PUBLIC SCHOOL: Students and parents who don't want to get lost in the crowd of a super-sized public high school are taking a close look at 300-student Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High School, a charter school that opens in the fall.

KIDS ARE JUST KIDS: Even if they're in high school. So says the newest high school principal in Hillsborough County.

SCHOOL JANITOR ARRESTED: For inappropriately touching an 11-year-old girl at a Clearwater school. Enough said.

WHAT A LESSON: Some Palm Beach County students studying marine biology in the keys make a detour to save three stranded fishermen, the Palm Beach Post reports.

WHEN YOU THINK YOUR BOARD IS BAD ... Just think about this guy. The Orange County, Calif., school board member goes on about conspiracy theories, refuses to participate in many votes and discussions, and generally makes himself disliked to the point where parents are trying to remove him, the LA Times reports.

Today's news

CALL IT 'MAP' NOW: Senators move to replace the controversial Special Teachers Are Rewarded performance pay plan with a compromise Merit Award Program. The House is slated to act on the plan today. Other states are noticing the debate - the Houston Chronicle's blog School Zone picked up the Times' recent story of teachers who voted against STAR and titled its entry 'And you thought Houston teachers hate merit pay.'

PROMISE TO PROTECT: Members of the Legislature's black caucus say they won't let Florida A&M University, the state's beleaguered historically black university,  go down in flames over mismanagement and money problems. Click here for more.

VENTURE INTO DEGREES: Citrus County high school students already can take dual enrollment courses that count toward a college degree. Now the school district is exploring creation of an academy at its technical institute that would offer degrees itself.

FROM THE EDITORIAL PAGES: Citrus school officials need to reassert what constitutes proper behavior, in the wake of recent teen sexcapades that a bus driver watched but did not report, the editorial board says.

NOT TIGGER, TOO: Six students sue the Napa Valley, Calif., school district for its "unconstitutionally vague" dress code. One of the girls got in trouble for wearing socks with Tigger - Winnie the Pooh's friend - on them, the New York Times reports.

SODAS STILL SELLING: School districts are finding it hard to get sugary sodas out of their vending machines because of tight contracts (like ones most Tampa Bay area district have with Coke or Pepsi), despite promises by beverage companies to limit their sales, the Washington Post reports.

NO HYPOCRISY HERE: The superintendent of highly rated Fairfax, Va., schools stands firm against the culture of NCLB, even when facing the loss of millions in federal funding. Check out this Washington Post column about Jack Dale.

Today's news

SHE WANTED NEW HUBCAPS: But Pinellas County teacher of the year Sherry Brock could not make herself vote for a performance bonus under STAR. She and some of the other teachers who overwhelmingly rejected more pay on principle explain why they stood together against the system, which is now being rewritten.

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION SOUGHT: Lawmakers call for an investigation into Florida A&M University as they review an audit report showing millions of dollars unaccounted for.

BUT DOES HE CLEAN UP AFTERWARD? Crystal River High senior Joshua Dawson won a regional battle of the chefs with his sauteed chicken in basil sauce, and now heads to Dallas to compete, Iron Chef style, with 22 other top teen chefs for a $40,000 scholarship.

HOPING TO BE HEARD: Deaf students from Land O'Lakes High head to Tallahassee to rally for a bill that would require all sign language interpreters to have a state license. Then they will meet with lawmakers to make their case in person.

GO SUCK ON A CANDY CANE: To relieve test anxiety, that is. Researchers are finding that the scent of peppermint helps people concentrate on tests, the Washington Post reports.

BONG HITS 4 JESUS: The kid called it a joke. The principal accused him of advocating a toke. Now the U.S. Supreme Court is weighing the whole free speech vs. school discipline issue. Here's the USA Today report on yesterday's court hearing.

Today's news

THIS ONE, OR START OVER: Hernando County's School Board, rejected by its first choice to become superintendent, turns to finalist No. 2. If Wayne Alexander doesn't pan out in contract negotiations, though, board members are suggesting they'd rather renew their search than pick from the other three hopefuls who came for interviews this week.

CHOICE DEADLINE APPROACHES: Pinellas parents have until March 24 to pick a school for their children. Here are three things every parent should know.

AUDIT WOES: Things aren't getting better for Florida A&M University. Months after an interim president took over to fix the school's money problems, a preliminary audit of her time in office turns up a lengthy list of holes and errors in FAMU's finances.

LATEST ON PERFORMANCE PAY: A compromise measure aimed at resolving complaints about the Special Teachers Are Rewarded law wins a key House committee vote as it heads to the floors of the House and Senate next week, the Associated Press reports.

CHARLIE IN MANATEE COUNTY: The gov heads to the spot where a boy was abducted while waiting for a school bus to announce the "Safe to School" initiative, the Herald-Tribune reports. He also rode in the nation's first plug-in hybrid electric school bus.

JEB IN GEORGIA: Florida's former voucher champion in chief takes his message on the road, writing an op-ed piece in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution supporting scholarships for students with special needs. Georgia lawmakers are considering creating a plan similar to Florida's McKay scholarships. Florida, meanwhile, has seen its ranks of voucher supporters shrink, the Palm Beach Post reports.

PRAYER AT SCHOOL: The joke goes that kids do it every day, silently before each test. But when they stand in the middle of a crowded hallway, they get suspended. That's what happened at a Washington state high school, and a national debate has erupted about student rights to gather and express themselves, the Spokane Spokesman-Review reports.

REGULATING CLUBS: Speaking of kids' activities at schools, Utah lawmakers have decided that students should not be allowed to participate in clubs without parent permission. The law takes effect next month. Critics contend the target wasn't all clubs, just the gay-straight alliances, the New York Times reports.

Today's news

STUDENT BEHAVING BADLY: A Palm Harbor University High student mooned his teacher from the school bus, got suspended and transferred to another school. His parents are fighting the discipline, saying the school is being unreasonable.

CLEAN IT UP: Lawmakers threaten to cut funding to Florida A&M University if its leaders don't fix the school's financial and management problems, fast.

EASY CHOICE: Broward school administrator Harry LaCava stood out among the five finalists for Hernando superintendent, winning the job less than an hour after the School Board ended a day of interviews with all five.

SAVING HIM A SEAT: San Antonio Elementary School tries to cope with the accidental death of second grader Robert Britton III.

LOSE THE TONGUE STUD: A six-month simmering debate on whether Pasco County school employees wear appropriate clothing ends with a committee recommending no change to the teacher dress code. But the committee jumps into the fray by suggesting restrictions on body piercings and tattoos, instead.

HANG ON TO THE PLASTIC: Some Hillsborough parents take their kids to the shopping mall to practice their math.

NO MORE VALS AND SALS: Palm Beach County considers doing away with the "cutthroat competition" to graduate first or second in your high school class, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

NO MORE TESTS: Two Republican U.S. senators propose eliminating mandatory exams from the No Child Left Behind law, McClatchy News reports. "States should be given the flexibility to design educational programs that fit the local needs of individual districts, parents and children," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said.

Today's news

PRE-K PROGRAM "PARTICULARLY WORRISOME": Access to Florida's Voluntary Prekindergarten program is fourth-best in the nation, but its per-student funding is 35th of 38 states that have pre-k systems, the National Institute for Early Education Research reports in its latest preschool survey. That disconnect leads to low quality, researcher Steve Barnett said. But there's no activity in Tallahassee to change the program.

REFS CRY FOUL: Some sports referees are threatening to stop working games in Citrus County unless the school district changes its background check procedure. They complain that the $61 fingerprint fee, along with the cost of renewing their badges, is a burden. District officials say the Jessica Lundsford Act gives them little wiggle room.

MATH PROBLEMS: Some parents have found shortcomings with Hillsborough County's elementary-level math curriculum. Several teachers have concerns about it, too. Now the district is seeking outside advice as it looks to update the way it teaches math.

SLIM BUDGET PICKINGS: The GOP-dominated Florida legislature trimmed Gov. Charlie Crist's education spending proposal by about $200-million, blaming a "modest budget year," the Fort Myers News-Press reports.

ANTI-BULLYING OR ANTI-GAY? As anti-harassment legislation winds through Tallahassee, some lawmakers face criticism for not including specific protection for gay students, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.

CELL PHONE DEBATE: Parents like them to keep tabs on their children. Teachers don't like them when they're used in class. Palm Beach's schools superintendent says they might be used to "cyber-bully." So he's recommending several alternatives, including banning cell phones from campus, the Palm Beach Post reports.

UNREASONABLE EXPECTATIONS? Congress takes a closer look at whether all children really can read and do math at grade level by 2014, as it  considers renewal of No Child Left Behind, the Washington Post reports.

Today's news

MORE CANDIDATE PROBLEMS: One finalist for Hernando County superintendent withdrew after the Times discovered lies on his resume. Now another is on the ropes after reporter Tom Marshall found that she misstated enrollment figures by as much as 50 percent for the districts where she has worked.

VIRTUAL SCHOOLING GROWS: So Florida lawmakers want to take a closer look at the online program, to make sure the money is being spent wisely, the Florida Times-Union reports.

LESSONS IN EATING: As concerns rise over obesity and food allergies, preschools and schools take a closer look at how they teach about food and nutrition, the New York Times reports.

HE NEVER WORE A CROWN: But the middle school textbook depicted Sikh founder Guru Nanak wearing one. So leaders of that religion protested to the California Board of Education, which agreed to remove the offending picture from future editions, the New York Times reports.

CASE COULD AFFECT STUDENTS' FREE SPEECH: An Alaska high school student was disciplined by his school after displaying a banner saying "Bong hits 4 Jesus." He sued, and the U.S. Supreme Court is going to consider the case. Education Week examines the issue.

Today's news

'THEY'RE JUST KIDS': A Citrus County school bus driver finds himself in hot water after failing to report wild activity on the bus. What did they do? One girl flashed her breasts and performed oral sex on a boy while others watched, according to student accounts.

TENSION REMAINS: Sure, the FCAT ends today. But for nine Pasco County schools that have never made adequate yearly progress, the worrying intensifies as they settle in for the 3-month wait for results. If they miss the mark again, they face "restructuring," and they don't know exactly what that means.

HELPING HAND: Students at an east Hillsborough County high school collect funds for seniors at a west county school, where the senior class adviser stole money intended to pay for prom and graduation events.

ANIMALS EVERYWHERE: An inner-city Tampa school revels in its new animal science magnet program. "A lot of my students had never seen a rabbit before," one teacher relates.

OMG. THEY'RE IM'ing: Kids seem to be able to send 1000s of text messages, even while in school. Teachers struggle to keep their attention.

SUPERINTENDENT CANDIDATE OUT: In case you missed it yesterday, a candidate for Hernando County superintendent pulled out of contention after reporter Tom Marshall uncovered lies in the candidate's resume.

IS HE FAIR? T. Willard Fair, a holdover from the Jeb Bush era, remains State Board of Education chairman. Some wonder why Gov. Charlie Crist would keep him around, the Herald-Tribune reports, while others are not worried.

THEY WERE JUST READING THE ARTICLES: Can't find that Sports Illustrated with swimsuit-clad Beyonce in the school library? You're not alone. Turns out that Time-Warner didn't ship them to schools, after years of criticism from parents for letting it go to schools, the LA Times reports.