TALKING TAXES: As Florida's budget scenario worsens, many education leaders suggest different ways to raise revenue in support of schools. (Image from photos.com)

SPEAKING OF REVENUE SHORTFALLS ... Pinellas decides to close five elementary schools, reorganize fundamental schools and look at canceling bus service for some students to save $40-million. Pasco, meanwhile, plans a Dec. 1 budget workshop to look at ways to cut close to $16-million. In one of the state's biggest single cuts, Miami-Dade slashes $89-million in spending, the Miami Herald reports.

CHARTERS APPROVED: Hillsborough authorizes four new charter schools and rejects the applications for two others. Miami-Dade approves 19 new charters, the Miami Herald reports.

HELPING DROPOUTS: Hernando considers hiring a private online firm to get at-risk high school students to graduate.

BIG GIFT FOR ECKERD: Miles Collier, chairman of Eckerd College's trustees, pledges a $15-million matching grant to the school to help build a new science building.

TOP OF THE CLASS: Pasco's marching bands take their exams on the field; Optimist Club's Unsung Hero goes from truant to tutor.

BREAKING STEREOTYPES: St. Johns looks to hire more black male teachers, the Florida Times-Union reports.

WHO'S TEACHING THE KIDS? In Manatee, it's more possible that the teacher might be a sub who doesn't even have a college degree as the district aims to save money, the Herald-Tribune reports. More from the Bradenton Herald.

BARGAINING CHIP: Florida teachers should consider whether merit pay might be an acceptable tradeoff for education funding, the Palm Beach Post editorializes.

FEDERAL INVESTIGATION: The FBI looks into possible bid tampering in Polk schools, the Lakeland Ledger reports.

GRADING MATTERS: St. Lucie moves to set a more uniform grading system, but teachers balk at having little input, the Fort Pierce Tribune reports.

SHE'S OUTTA HERE: Lori Portillo, the St. Lucie teacher who let her kindergarten class vote an autistic classmate out, is suspended for a year, according to the Port St. Lucie News.

BE ETHICAL: A community group asks Palm Beach educators to sign an ethics pledge, the Palm Beach Post reports. Meanwhile, in Jackson County, some residents question the outcome of a teacher's discipline case after learning the superintendent is related to the teacher, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.

LEVY BOARD MEMBER RESIGNS: Billy Morrison sent his letter to Gov. Charlie Crist a month after being arrested for indecent exposure, the Gainesville Sun reports.

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