Education news and notes from Tampa Bay and Florida  Is money
the answer to Florida's education system?    When the Florida
Board of Education meets Tuesday, its primary focus will be
funding and whether there's enough of it for public education.
To prepare, board members received loads of data to ponder.
(Find links to it all here.)   Within the myriad documents are
details that raise some interesting points. Consider these two:
• Florida was 38th nationally in 2005-06 per-pupil spending, at
$4,584. Florida was also 38th nationally in per-pupil spending
in 2008-09 (most recent available) at $5,293.   • Florida spent
more per student on average at its F-rated schools than at
schools with any other grade in 2009-10.  Does this tell us that
the Sunshine State needs more money to secure academic success?
Or doesn't it? Certainly Florida doesn't seem to be keeping up
with the national averages, but then, if its poorest performing
schools get the most, why aren't they better, if money matters
so much?  The arg