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But despite a major effort to cut and reclassify costs, it still spends more per pupil on general administration than just about every other large district in Florida, according to a St. Petersburg Times analysis.

Prices shot up this year, with the cost of one prepaid tuition plan more than quadrupling. "It blows my mind," said Johnson, 44, a St. Petersburg nurse.

But through a new initiative state university system officials plan to announce today, Florida college students can get digital versions of some of those pricey textbooks for free. Students who really want a print version can order one custom-bound for between $30 and $50

But what about those actually subjected to it? You know, the short ones with backpacks? What do they think?

The federal stimulus has gotten a lot of bad press lately. Critics say the government is spending too much, or not enough, or hasn't gotten money into the economy quickly enough to do any good.

TALLAHASSEE — The popular Bright Futures scholarship program is now worth less and carries more financial penalties than ever before, prompting concerns among Florida university officials about the impact on students — particularly those from lower-income families.

My day job is teaching introductory economics to about 700 Harvard undergraduates a year. Lately, when people hear that, they often ask how the economic crisis is changing what's offered in a freshman course.

That question could apply to the Florida Department of Education. It says such an opening line by students writing essays for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test has become too common

Supporters often say school vouchers are lifelines to low-income students trapped in subpar public schools. But academically, students using vouchers to attend private schools in Florida are doing no better and no worse than similar students in public schools, says a study ordered by the state Legislature.