Vice President Joe Biden will appear at Jackson Milddle School in Orlando to discuss the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly known as the federal stimulus plan.

Biden, also in town for fundraisers for U.S. Reps. Alan Grayson and Suzanne Kosmas, will be joined by Education Secretary Arne Duncan for the 10 a.m. event.

Gov. Charlie Crist, who has been hammered in some GOP circles for taking the federal money, has said it was vital to Florida's schools. And today, Jeb Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education said the state was "well positioned" to get additional funds that are tied to a proposal using student test scores to evaluate teachers -- a plan that has rankled some educators and Democrats who opposed President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind act.

"Whether you supported the stimulus package or railed against it, we can all agree the new “Race to the Top Fund” has the potential to turn our schools into world-class centers of learning," the foundation's executive director, Patricia Levesque, wrote in an e-mail.

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