redefinED

There is nothing to prevent teachers unions starting their own charter schools. Indeed, here and there, a few have done so. Yet most union leaders constantly blast this option as “private” and “wasteful” and “un-American” and “segregationist” and . . . (fill in the blank). At least one of these intended insults seems valid, but an unwitting compliment; most charters...

Editor’s note: This is a transcript of the moving speech Shareka Wright gave at Gov. Ron DeSantis’s education scholarship event at Calvary City Christian Academy & Preschool Feb. 15 in Orlando. Good morning. These are my two boys. This is Zion, he’s 8. Jayden, he’s 6. I’m a single mother of three. I drive a garbage truck for the city of...

“That this social order with its pauperism, famines, prisons, gallows, armies, and wars is necessary to society; that still greater disaster would ensue if this organization were destroyed; all this is said only by those who profit by this organization, while those who suffer from it – and they are ten times as numerous – think and say quite...

Editor’s note: This February marks the 43rd anniversary of Black History Month. redefinED is taking the opportunity to revisit some pieces from our archives appropriate for this annual celebration. The article below originally appeared in redefinED in March 2017. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited the school featured in this article while on the campaign trail. Angela Kennedy’s decision to...

MIAMI -- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told a crowd at Greater Miami Adventist Academy on Friday that he wants to create a state-funded program that would help reduce the number of families on a waiting list to receive the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC) for lower-income families. “I’m asking the Legislature to build off the tax credit scholarship success,” the...

ORLANDO -- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday called on the Legislature to create a new state-funded program that would reduce the number of families on a waiting list to receive the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC) for lower-income families. Speaking at Calvary City Christian Academy & Preschool, DeSantis proposed establishing an “equal opportunity scholarship” funded in the state budget...

Recently, I was invited to a local coffee and conversation-type event in Florida between my former state representative and former neighbors who are predominantly white progressive women. Then I was invited to a conversation at a late-night dinner event in New Jersey with five conservative white men. Both discussions were more similar than different. Both discussions involved topics about educational choice and...

TALLAHASSEE -- Three students from rural, impoverished Jefferson County on Tuesday testified before Florida’s House Education Committee about dramatic improvements at their schools since 2017, when the local district relinquished control of its traditional public schools to a charter school operator. Prior to the historic transformation, Jefferson County had been among the state’s lowest-performing districts for about a decade. More...

TAMPA – Aleena Martinez bounded into her family’s small, sparsely furnished living room as if it were an inflatable bounce house. A pair of blue rabbit ears crowned her dark curls and a menagerie of stuffed animals filled her arms. The 12-year-old abandoned the animals on the couch and ran to the kitchen, where she began rummaging in the cabinets....