redefinED

Every legislative session the debates surrounding education choice remind me how our perceptions of reality are influenced by our cognitive biases, and why teaching students (and adults) about these biases is so important. Opponents of education choice regularly attack these programs for, among other things, taking money away from district schools, promoting racial segregation, only serving high-performing students, lacking accountability,...

‘When I was arrested, Oceania was at war with Eastasia. With Eastasia. Good. And Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia, has it not?’  Winston drew in his breath. He opened his mouth to speak and then did not speak. He could not take his eyes away from the dial.  ‘The truth, please, Winston. YOUR truth. Tell me...

Editor’s note: This month, redefinED is revisiting the best examples of our Voucher Left series, which focuses on the center-left roots of school choice. Today’s post from March 2016 illustrates how civil rights activist Rosa Parks believed in the value of giving parents more educational choice. If the full, rich history of school choice wasn’t so hidden, perhaps it’d...

It became clear early in the 2019 Florida legislative session that lawmakers were poised to make sweeping changes to benefit education choice. It became equally clear that not all lawmakers agreed those changes would move the state in the right direction. A flurry of misinformation ensued. Some was unintentional, but much of it followed a calculated pattern of mistruths as...

Largely unnoticed in the debate over a new K-12 voucher program intended to reduce the waiting list for Florida Tax Credit Scholarships was the money state lawmakers budgeted for Gardiner Scholarships. Gardiner was created in 2014 to serve students with severe special needs, and the appropriations bill awaiting the signature of Gov. Ron DeSantis boosts funding by $23 million...

In a historic expansion of school choice in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed into a law a bill that creates a new, state-funded voucher program. DeSantis officially signed the legislation before a passionate crowd of students, educators, lawmakers and school choice supporters at William A. Kirlew Junior Academy, a private K-8 school, in Miami Gardens. The Family Empowerment Scholarship...

Several weeks ago, we looked at American racial achievement gaps in math and reading from an international perspective using data from the Program for International Student Assessment, an international test that every three years measures reading, mathematics and science literacy of 15-year-olds. In 2012, the PISA exam included subgroup specifically for Florida. Let’s take a look: So, a couple of notes....

https://youtu.be/Z8dedKF25DI POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – When Julia Musella enrolled her son Luciano in preschool in Italy, her understanding of education underwent a sea change. “People were talking to children as if they were adults,” she said. “They were respecting their intelligence. They were really fostering community, working collaboratively, cooperatively, giving them experiences that made them think rather than just teach at...

Florida’s 2019 legislative session rewarded supporters of school choice as the House and Senate created the Family Empowerment Scholarship and boosted funding for charter schools. The new state-funded K-12 scholarship will help get 18,000 low-income and working-class students off a waiting list for the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC) for lower-income families. (The FTC scholarship is managed by non-profits such...