NO MORE CAMPUS COPS: Seeking to save money, the City of Clearwater says it won't pay to keep police officers in the city's two high schools any more. Clearwater is the first, but likely isn't the last government entity expected to slash the school resource officer budget amid fears that new tax laws being hashed out in Tallahassee will crimp their spending style. (Times photo, Chris Zuppa)
BRIDGING THE GAP: The transition from elementary to middle school, and from middle to high school, is not easy. Pasco schools aim to help with a new program that allows some of the students to preview what's in store, during a three-week summer session.
TOO MUCH TESTING: The St. Lucie school system thought it had a way to beat the FCAT odds. It would test students more frequently to determine their weaknesses, and then target instruction toward them. After two years, and half of sophomores still scoring at Level 1 on reading, the district is reconsidering, the Treasure Coast Newspapers report.
NO MORE SEARCHING: The Broward School Board is poised to simply drop the interim part of interim superintendent Jim Notter's title, keeping him to lead the state's second-largest school district, the Sun-Sentinel reports.
HIGH-STAKES CHEATING: The higher the stakes, the greater the odds of cheating. That's what the experts say is happening in the world of FCAT, TAKS and other statewide exams, the Dallas Morning News reports in its final installment of a 3-part series.
WHEN DONORS COME CALLING: The money doesn't always get spread evenly among all schools, prompting some to cry foul, the New York Times reports. Policy makers must wrestle with the implications of letting givers give to a favorite school, while others get nothing.
ONE MORE TESTING STORY: Florida has its misscored FCAT. Texas has its cheated upon TAKS. Virginia has a standardized online test filled with glitches that the testing company is pledging to fix, the Washington Post reports. Enough said.
