MAKING STRIDES: Hernando County's Title I schools, serving the poorest students, take advantage of their federal funds to boost their students' performance. (Times file photo)

SPORTS MATTER: For some students, being able to participate in school athletics gives them a reason to work hard, columnist Dan DeWitt writes.

IMPLOSION: People are blaming the Pinellas school district's shift back to neighborhood schools as the reason for John Hopkins Middle School's struggles.

ON TO NATIONALS: Tommy Foster of Carrollwood wins the Tampa Bay area home-schoolers spelling bee.

NOT WORTH A LIFE: The Hernando School Board made a sensible decision in not eliminating courtesy bus rides, the Times editorializes.

USE THE SAT INSTEAD: Florida should abandon the high school level FCAT in favor of college placement tests, the Sun-Sentinel editorializes.

SMART MOVES: Florida's drive to change teacher evaluations and pay, graduation requirements and the like will push the state's schools to even higher success, Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas writes.

POOR PAY: Polk schoolteachers with advanced degrees and decades of experience earn less than some entry-level professionals with bachelor's degrees, the Lakeland Ledger reports.

CAN'T READ: More than half of South Florida high school sophomores can't read at grade level, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

"THE CUSP OF GREATNESS": Florida Atlantic University's new president has high hopes for the school, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

HARD SELL: Sarasota school officials try to explain to voters why the promises they made for a local tax for education didn't all materialize, as they aim to get support for a tax extension, the Herald-Tribune reports.

WHISTLEBLOWERS: Two former finance officials for Monroe schools sue to have their jobs back with back pay, the Keynoter reports.

READY OR NOT: Florida students who are still mastering the English language face a daunting task in having to pass their FCAT exams, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

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