School grades were released yesterday. With the inclusion of Science in this year's grading computation, the number of "F" schools in Miami-Dade grew from 5 to 26. Miami Edison Senior was just 8 points away from a "C".  What a relief for those students, their parents, the school administration, faculty and community.

Extremely disheartening is the repeat "F" for Miami Central Senior High School. What that means for the school and community is left to be seen. It's time to do something new at Miami Central; changing the administrative structure and bringing in a proven seasoned principal may be a start.

Certainly district and school administrators will begin colloborating on corrective action plans for Miami-Dade Schools. As the test data is analyzed, parents and students must put it in its proper place with in their lives.

Teachers must teach the students, not the test. Assessment options must be offered that do not psychologically damage students for the rest of their lives.

While the school grades show a mixed bag as far as results are concerned, there is tremendous work to be done throughout the county and the state.

For more information, click on the links below:

Miami-Dade County School Performance Grades

Florida School Grades

The Miami Herald has published a scathing expose' titled "Poverty Peddler" that focuses on several prominent Blacks in Miami. There are reports of free vehicles, donations to favored non-profit organizations, contracts secured by a questionable developer and more.

Based on the reprt, it doesn't look good for former U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, her son U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Dorrin Rolle. How the Black Miami community and its leaders respond to this will be interesting.

If recent history proves correct, the Herald expose' will do little more than assure sales of their paper and readership on the internet. Remember the award-winning  House of Lies investigative series did no harm to Rolle during his last political campaign. He trounced two opponents and kept his seat without a run-off election.

Twenty-three year-old Florida Memorial University senior, Barrington Irving is scheduled to return tomorrow from his historic solo flight around the world. Irving is the youngest person and this first black person to accomplish such a feat.

Irving fell in love with aviation after dreams of a ticket to college via athletics. He was able to build his plane from $300,000 in donated parts ad in controbitons from several organizations and individuals.

Check out his site at www.experienceaviation.org.