Ashli McCall of Tallahassee speaks with the Florida Channel about how the new PLSA will benefit her son Emmil who has been diagnosed with Autism.
The Florida teachers union got a lot of ink this week after it filed suit against SB 850, the bill that created a new scholarship accounts program for students with special needs. No surprise there. But a good bit of the coverage also featured something often missing in stories about parental choice.
Actual parents.
From across the state, parents of students with significant special needs are weighing in on behalf of the new Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts, which some have likened to manna from heaven and winning the lottery. And thanks to some fair reporting, readers and viewers from across the state are seeing and hearing their stories.
For example, from the Tampa Tribune:
It’s just a phenomenal opportunity,” said John Kurnik of Tampa, who hopes to open an account for his son John, who is home-schooled and has autism. “We haven’t had a whole lot of luck with services for John. The resources we have as home-school families aren’t that plentiful.
And from WEAR TV in Pensacola:
Alisha Sloan of Pensacola is applying for her son Christopher, who is living with autism. "To hear about this scholarship was very exciting to us, because with Christopher, you know, there are different things that you need, software, adaptive curriculum, different therapies that would definitely help in taking him out and homeschooling him.
And from the Florida Times Union in Jacksonville:
Some parents, such as Northside resident Melissa Ward, fear the lawsuit’s effect on students, especially students with special needs.
She home-schools Ethan, her 8-year-old third-grader, who has cerebral palsy. The family of four children has thousands of dollars in medical and therapy debts already, she said, so she rations his physical, occupational and speech therapy, paying for only one therapy at a time over several months, even though he needs them all.
She hopes the new personal learning scholarship program will help her afford more therapy and a math tutor.
“If these programs … are going to provide services to people that need help, I don’t see why getting bogged down in a bureaucratic mess would be beneficial to anyone,” she said.
“You need to look at what the purposes of the program are and what they can accomplish. I hope that people would not want to deny children what they need.”
Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog, is among the organizations authorized to administer PLSAs. As the lawsuit plays out, don’t be surprised if more parents speak up for the scholarship accounts. In the meantime, here are more examples of others who already have: First Coast News in Jacksonville. WCJB in Gainesville. NBC-2 in Fort Myers. The Florida Channel in Tallahassee.
Melissa, a Jacksonville mom, speaks to FCN about how PLSAs can help her son Ethan.
Barbara, a mom in Gainesville, speaks with TV 20 News about how the PLSA will help her son who has Down syndrome.
The FEA is suing to stop the new PLSA but Aleta says she needs the scholarship to help her child.
Ashli McCall of Tallahassee speaks with the Florida Channel about how the new PLSA will benefit her son Emmil who has been diagnosed with Autism.
Alisha of Pensacola speaks with WEAR TV about a new scholarship that will benefit her son.
