GARDEN LESSONS: Students with special needs at Pasco's Moore-Mickens Education Center learn job skills through gardening. (Times photo, Michele Miller)

TOUGHER STANDARDS: Florida lawmakers are poised to make it harder to hang on to a Bright Futures scholarship.

SINGLE-GENDER CLASSROOMS: The results of splitting boys from girls have been good enough at Hernando's Westside Elementary for the principal to ask for an extension of the initiative.

TOP CHOICE: Kenneth Atwater of South Mountain Community College in Arizona is the leading choice to become Hillsborough Community College president.

DISCIPLINE DEAL: Pinellas school district leaders consider an agreement that would change the way black students are disciplined.

THEY LIKE IT: Stakeholders including Florida's state teachers union find agreement in seeking Race to the Top funding, the Orlando Sentinel reports. More from the Miami Herald.

CUTS COMING: The proposed Florida budget does not alleviate the need to cut school spending in Manatee, the Bradenton Herald reports. • Broward leaders review a long list of possible budget moves including a four-day week and charging for some bus rides, the Sun-Sentinel reports. • Indian River makes $12 million in cuts, the Vero Beach Press Journal reports.

CONTINUED CONCERN: Southwest Florida educators say Florida's push to alter teacher contracts might still keep students out of the teaching profession, the Naples Daily News reports.