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Analysis

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Courts, facts, logic refute false claims of education choice critics

redefinED staff
redefinED staff

Editor’s note: Our critics often assert that giving lower-income families access to more learning options hurts district schools. Below we have assembled evidence showing that these claims are false. Empowering Florida’s lower-income families to access the best education options for their children does no harm.

COURT CASES

June 2015 Second Circuit Court decision in McCall v. Scott (Florida Education Association lawsuit against Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC) program for low-income students)

Conclusion: Court determines that FEA’s allegations of FTC program causing harm to traditional district schools were insufficient to establish standing. Court offers an opportunity to amend complaint to include additional factional allegations to support their claim of harm. FEA declined the offer. Circuit Judge George Reynolds dismisses case with prejudice.

“… Whether any diminution of public school resources resulting from the Tax Credit program will actually take place is speculative, as is any claim that any such diminution would result in reduced per-pupil spending or in any adverse impact on the quality of education. The purported injury asserted here – the loss of money to local school districts – is necessarily speculative…(and) requires speculation about whether a decrease in students will reduce public school costs and about how the legislature will respond to the decrease in students attending public schools… Hence, any claim of special injury to any Plaintiff is speculative and conclusory.”

Link to decision: Second Circuit Court – McCall v. Scott

August 2016 Appellate Court decision in McCall v. Scott

Conclusion:  The First District Court of Appeal upholds the lower court decision ruling that the Appellant’s claim that the FTC program creates “special injury” or harm to district schools is without merit.

“… The trial court correctly determined that Appellants lacked special injury standing because they failed to allege that they suffered a harm distinct from that suffered by the general public. Indeed, Appellants failed to allege any concrete harm whatsoever.”

“Appellants’ diversion theory is incorrect as a matter of law. A close examination of the statutory provisions authorizing the (FTC program) exposes the flaws under Appellants’ argument.”

“Further, even assuming that Appellants’ diversion theory was legally sufficient, Appellants’ allegations that the (FTC program) has harmed them are conclusory and speculative.”

Link to decision: First District Court of Appeal – McCall v. Scott

January 2017 Florida Supreme Court decision in McCall v. Scott

Conclusion: Court declines to hear the case, reaffirming First District Court of Appeal that there is no evidence showing that the FTC program harms district schools.

Link to decision: Florida Supreme Court – McCall v. Scott

FISCAL STUDIES

Collins Center for Public Policy 2007 Fiscal Analysis

Conclusion: The FTC program did not have a negative impact upon K-12 General Fund Revenues for public education for the three years studied (2002-2004).

“In fact, K-12 General Fund revenues increased over $2 billion during a three-year period while the state accrued $139.8 million in actual revenues by saving the difference between the value of the $3,500 scholarship and the value of K-12 per pupil revenue. These savings would allow the state to increase per pupil spending by an average of $17.92 per year for the 2.6 million children in the public schools during this period.”

Link: Collins Center for Public Policy Updated Fiscal Analysis

OPPAGA December 2008 and March 2010 studies examined the fiscal impact of FTC scholarships

Conclusion: No evidence that the FTC program adversely impacts the state budget or school district budgets.

From December 2008 report: – “…in Fiscal Year 2007-08, taxpayers saved $1.49 in state education funding or every dollar loss in corporate tax revenue due to credits for scholarship contributions. Expanding the cap on tax credit would produce additional savings if there is sufficient demand for the scholarship.”

From March 2010 report: “For Fiscal Year 2008-2009, OPPAGA estimates that the scholarship program saved (a net of) $36.2 million.”

Links: OPPAGA December 2008 Report; OPPAGA March 2010 Report.

Florida Revenue Estimating Conference 2012 Analysis of FTC scholarship tax credit cap increase

Conclusion:  Fiscal impact created by increasing scholarship cap is offset by the savings of the cost of the scholarship vs. per-pupil FEFP dollar amount.

Line 55 of the analysis shows net FEFP savings for 2012-13 as $57.9 million, $57 million for 2013-14, $48.8 million for ’14-15, and $36.1 million for ’15-16.

Link: 2012 Florida Revenue Estimating Conference Analysis

EdChoice 2016 Tax-Credit Scholarship Audit (Martin Lueken)

Conclusion: FTC program saved taxpayers between $372 million and $550 million since its inception in 2003 (as of 2014), or $1,100 to $1,700 per scholarship recipient.

Link: 2016 EdChoice Tax-Credit Scholarship Audit (Florida pg. 39)

 ACADEMIC OUTCOMES

Urban Institute 2019 report by Matt Chingos on effects of private school choice on college enrollment and graduation.

Conclusion: Several findings in the study. Chingos compared college enrollment and graduation outcomes of scholarship students with a group of similarly disadvantaged students in public schools.

Scholarship students up to 45 percent more likely to get college degree.

FTC students were 11-20 percent more likely than similarly disadvantaged students in public schools to earn a bachelor’s degree. Those who were on the scholarship for at least four years were 45 percent more likely to earn a degree.

FTC students were 16 to 43 percent more likely than similarly disadvantaged students in public schools to attend a four-year college. Those who were on the scholarship for at least four years were 99 percent more likely to attend college.

FTC students were 12 to 19 percent more likely than similarly disadvantaged students in public schools to attend either a two OR four-year college. Those who were on the scholarship for at least four years were 38 percent more likely.

“The available evidence indicates that FTC enrolls students who are triply disadvantaged. They have low family incomes, they are enrolled at low-performing public schools (as measured by test scores), and they have poorer initial test performance compared with their peers.”

Link to study: The Effects of the FTC program on College Enrollment and Graduation – An Update

Original 2017 study: The Effects of Statewide Private School Choice on College Enrollment and Graduation

David Figlio (Northwestern) and Cassandra Hart (UC-Davis) June 2010 academic study examined the competitive impact of FTC on district school achievement.

Conclusion: Found that the academic achievement in district schools most impacted by tax credit scholarships increased.

“Our results indicate that the increased competitive pressure faced by public schools associated with the introduction if Florida’s FTC Scholarship Program led to general improvements in public school performance.”

Link to study: Competitive Effects of Means-Tested School Vouchers

In 2006, the Florida Legislature required that every scholarship student in grades 3-10 take a nationally norm-referenced test approved by the Department of Education every year. Those test scores are reported to a research team under contract with DOE to write an annual evaluation. Evaluations are currently done by researchers at the Learning Systems Institute at Florida State University.

Conclusion: FTC students make roughly the same annual learning gains as students from all income levels nationally. This is despite the reality that the FTC students are typically the lowest-performing students from the lowest-performing public schools in their area, with an annual household income of $26,578 for a family of four. Fifty-three percent of all scholarship students are from single-parent households. (NOTE: Cassandra Hart October 2011 study examining characteristics of scholarship participating students can be found HERE.)

From the 2011-12 report: “There exists compelling causal evidence indicating that the FTC Scholarship Program has led to modest and statistically significant improvements in public school performance across the state. Therefore, a cautious read of the weight of the available evidence suggests that the FTC Scholarship Program has boosted student performance in public schools statewide, that the program draws disproportionately low-income, poorly-performing students from the public schools into the private schools, and that the students who moved perform as well or better once they move to the private schools.”

Links to Learning Systems Institute’s annual assessments: 2008 (baseline report), 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

In May 2014, former state Senator Nan Rich claimed $3 billion over the subsequent five years “…will be taken out of our public schools and be put into vouchers.”

Conclusion: The statement was analyzed by Politfact in June 2014. They rated the claim Mostly False.

“Based on the program’s size, it’s possible that it could fund a voucher program in the ballpark of $3 billion over the next five years. But there’s no guarantee that money would otherwise have gone to public schools. And, private school vouchers tend to cost less than what it costs to educate a child in public schools, which complicates how much money taxpayers would pay if the children in private schools instead went to public schools.”

Link to Politifact analysis: Politifact on Sen. Rich’s voucher claim

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AnalysisCharter SchoolsDemographic ResearchEducation ChoiceEducation PollingFeaturedMagnet SchoolsPrivate School ScholarshipsPrivate SchoolsPublic School ChoiceSchool Choice

Office of the President releases new data on education choice

Patrick R. Gibbons
Patrick R. Gibbons

Percentage distribution of students age 5 through 17 attending kindergarten through 12th grade by school type, 1999 and 2016

The percentage of students accessing schools of choice has increased dramatically over the past 30 years, with growth coming from the expansion of both public and private school choice options, according to a new report from the Council of Economic Advisers.

Among the findings of the council, an agency within the Executive Office of the President charged with offering the President objective economic advice on the formulation of domestic and international economic policy:

Private school scholarships have grown considerably, but still make up a small portion of the K-12 student population, with 539,000 students utilizing tax-credit scholarships, vouchers or education savings accounts to enroll in private schools.

With the inclusion of public options, more than 5.8 million students were enrolled in charter and magnet schools in 2016, the latest available public school data. That figure was up from about 1.5 million students enrolled in charter and magnet schools in 2000.

Importantly, the number of students attending their assigned public school dropped from 74.1% to 68.8% between 1999 and 2016. In Florida, 54.8 percent of K-12 students attended assigned public schools in 2018-19, the most recent figure available.

Public choice schools grew by 4.3 percentage points and home education grew by 1.6 percentage points. Though private school scholarships have grown considerably, private school enrollment has dropped 0.8 percentage points nationwide.

The report’s authors conclude that expanding choice options could help low-income and minority students. Florida already is a national leader on that front, with 41% of students attending schools of choice in 2018-19, the latest data available.

The state’s most popular options include charter schools, open enrollment, magnet schools and career academies enrolling more than 600,000 students, about half of all choice students in the state. By comparison, only about 152,000 students utilized scholarships to attend private schools in Florida.

With the inclusion of 237,200 students attending private schools through private pay, more than 45% of Florida students attend schools of choice.

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2020 Presidential ElectionAnalysisCommentary and OpinionCoronavirus / COVID-19Demographic ResearchEducation SpendingFeaturedTesting and Accountability

NAEP scores: American public schools spend more but deliver less for students, families, taxpayers

Matthew Ladner
Matthew Ladner

The performance of American public schools was in decline before the pandemic struck; based on the latest results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress released Wednesday by the National Center for Education Statistics, things are likely to only get worse from here.

The data show the average reading score for the nation’s 12th-graders declined between 2015 and 2019. Meanwhile, there was no statistically significant change in 12th-graders’ average mathematics score for the same time period.

Bottom line: considerably more money per pupil was spent to get the same not-so-great results.

The tests upon which the data is based were given in spring 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The indications are now worse: Inflation-adjusted spending per pupil is up, childhood poverty is down, and scores are down rather than flat.

The earliest 12th-grade reading score in this series comes from 1992. The Class of 1992 benefited from a nationwide average of $105,560 in 2018 constant dollars spent on their K-12 education. The Class of 2017, the cohort from which we have the most recently available data, had a nationwide average of $158,431 in constant dollars spent on their education – approximately 50% more. The figure for the Class of 2019 will be even higher.

Which class, 1992 or 2017, demonstrated better reading ability? Let’s break down the results by parental education.

Regardless of the level of a parent’s education, reading scores were lower for the Class of 2019 than the Class of 1992. All of the above differences are statistically significant.

Now take a look at the chart below, provided by Michael J. Petrilli from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, showing the decline in childhood poverty rates from the 1980s and 1990s.

What the chart shows: higher spending, less poverty and lower national achievement.

 Mind you, this was the trend before the current massive decline in instruction time due to the pandemic. I’ll dare to predict that if the NCES manages to conduct the scheduled 2021 NAEP, exams scores will decline across the board and achievement gaps will grow. K-3 kids who are in their literacy acquisition windows, for instance, in districts like Los Angeles Unified, Clark County Nevada and New York have been receiving less than half the amount of instruction time delivered during a normal school year.

And finally, special education trends were a disaster in many states before the pandemic, as detailed in this chart.

It’s difficult to imagine that this already dismal chart won’t look even worse with 2021 data, coming in the aftermath of generally reduced instruction time and special education being attempted using the Zoom platform. We are not out of the pandemic yet, but the academic damage seems likely to greatly outlive the virus.

These most recent data came among favorable conditions of declining poverty and increased spending. Very soon, we’ll be forced to face what happens when you reverse these favorable trends and we end up with a large percentage of students with huge academic deficits.

Buckle up.

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AnalysisEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceFamily Empowerment ScholarshipFeaturedFlorida Tax Credit ScholarshipGardiner ScholarshipMcKay ScholarshipNewsParental ChoicePrivate School ScholarshipsSchool ChoiceTax Credit Scholarships

Florida K-12 scholarship programs earn top rankings in national guidebook

Lisa Buie
Lisa Buie

Five Florida K-12 scholarship programs have landed in the top tier of education choice programs ranked by a national school choice advocacy group.

The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship and the McKay Scholarship programs each took top honors in their respective categories in rankings released today by the American Federation for Children.

The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship  program, which serves lower-income families, finished first out of 20 in rankings of tax credit scholarship programs across the United States, followed by Florida’s Hope Scholarship program, which allows students who have been bullied in public schools to transfer to participating private schools.

The McKay Scholarship program for students with disabilities, which is open to all students who are on individualized education plans or other plans approved by law, took the No. 1 spot out of 17 programs in the special education category. The Gardiner Scholarship, an educational savings account that serves students with unique abilities and certain special needs, ranked fifth.

The Family  Empowerment Scholarship  program, which was approved by the Florida Legislature in 2018 and began serving families during the 2019-20 school year, ranked fourth on the list of the nation’s scholarship programs. In its first year, scholarships were awarded to 17,802 students.

Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps manage all but the McKay Scholarship, which is administered by the Florida Department of Education. John F. Kirtley, the founder of Step Up For Students, is vice president of the organization’s 12-member board of directors.

“We were amazed to see that the Florida Family Empowerment program came so close to meeting its 18,000-student enrollment cap in 2019-20, the program’s first year of operation,” American Federation for Children officials said in a news release. “In response to the popularity of this program, Florida legislators raised the enrollment cap to 46,000 students; Florida is now reporting that over 32,000 students are enrolled in the program for the 2020-21 school year, all of whom meet the lower-income requirements for participating families.”

Each year, AFC compiles a guidebook of comprehensive information on private school choice programs in America. Today, those programs serve more than 575,000 children in 26 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The organization’s leaders say the goal is for the guidebook is to serve as a resource for those looking to better understand educational choice and to advocate for new and improved private school choice policies in 2021.

AFC rankings were based on information primarily from the 2019-20 school year. The group singled out Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio for their impressive growth in education choice programs.

“One commonality across these three states … is a strong nonprofit organization on the ground that does both legislative advocacy and parent empowerment work,” the news release said. “Creating strong educational ecosystems takes coordinated work at all levels, starting with parents and going all the way to governors.

“In the midst of so much uncertainty about the future of our education system, we’re happy to see that some of these ecosystems seem to be working for the best interest of kids.”

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AnalysisCharter SchoolsCoronavirus / COVID-19CustomizationEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceEducation EquityEducation SpendingFeaturedHomeschoolingMicroschoolsParental ChoicePrivate SchoolsSchool Choice

‘Emergency mindset’ needed to address education inequities

redefinED staff
redefinED staff

As the first full year of schooling during the coronavirus pandemic launches, a national education advocacy network is sounding the alarm in a research brief that America’s K-12 education system is in crisis.

To ensure a more flexible, equitable and student-centered system of education both now and post-pandemic, the independent non-profit organization 50CAN is calling for a national response to that crisis, starting with a greater level of federal support for new learning modes to extend greater choice for families, including distance learning, homeschooling, and micro-schools and learning pods.

While schooling traditionally has been funded through a mix of local property taxes and state revenue with the federal government paying only about 10% of total costs, 50CAN observes, a greater level of federal support across these three modes of learning is needed. 

Among 50CAN’s overall policy recommendations:

 ·       All district, charter and private schools should receive emergency funding to support safely running in-person schooling this school year if they are able to do so and to provide a flexible, high-quality online schooling option for all students.

 ·       Families should be able to easily move into or out of these in-person and online options as their health circumstances and risk factors change throughout the year.

 ·       Families should have the option to enroll their student in an online district school program outside of their neighborhood boundaries or in an online charter school or private school program anywhere in the country with no restrictions to these online transfers, such as state enrollment caps.

 ·       Families should receive funding to enroll their child in an in-person school in a neighboring district or in a charter school or private school if their district school does not offer an in-person option.

 ·       Families up to 200% of the poverty line should receive a direct payment of $2,000 per child to pay for supplemental educational materials, tutoring, technology and other learning expenses, building upon payments — $1,200 per adult and $500 per child – in the CARES Act.

 The independent non-profit organization, launched in 2011, has a presence in eight states with affiliates in additional cities including Miami.

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AnalysisCoronavirus / COVID-19Demographic ResearchEducation ChoiceEducation PollingFeaturedParental ChoiceSchool Choice

New poll: Support for school choice continues to grow

redefinED staff
redefinED staff

A survey of 2,020 registered voters conducted by RealClear Opinion Research indicates support for school choice is surging as families become increasingly frustrated with district schools’ response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Since April, overall support for the concept of school choice among families with children in public schools has jumped 10 percentage points, from 67% to 77% according to poll results released today.

That support is relatively even across political lines, with 76% of Republicans, 73% of Independents and 72% of Democrats responding affirmatively that they would support giving parents a portion of the $15,424 per student the average American taxpayer spends on K-12 public education for home, virtual or private education if public schools do not reopen for in-person classes.

Additionally, 78% of public school parents and 79% of non-public school parents said they would support the governor of their state putting federal funding for the purchase of education technology and materials, private school tuition and home education directly in the hands of families and allowing them to choose how to use those funds to support their child’s education.

Support for this effort also was evenly distributed among party lines, with 68% of Republicans, 68% of Independents, and 66% of Democrats agreeing.

“The inflexibility of our K-12 system is on full display, leaving families to scramble as the special interests that have controlled our public education system for generations continue to oppose giving families and students greater educational choice,” said John Schilling, president of the American Federation for Children. “It could not be more clear that families are desperate for other options and will support governors and other policymakers as they pursue policies that let them control their child’s education funding.”

The RealClear poll was conducted Aug. 19-21 and carries a margin of error of +/1 2.4%.

More school choice polling can be found here.

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AnalysisCoronavirus / COVID-19Demographic ResearchEducation ResearchFeaturedNews

Florida Council of 100 releases study showing “rigor gap” in Florida classrooms

redefinED staff
redefinED staff

A detailed study released today by the Florida Council of 100 in cooperation with the Florida Department of Education includes data indicating the state can do more to align efforts on student growth by helping students and families in real time.

Coming on the heels of last year’s dismal National Assessment of Educational Progress scores, the study shows a substantial “rigor gap” between the grades Florida high school students receive and their mastery of content required to pass end-of-course exams in Algebra I and Grade 10 English Language Arts.

Among the findings:

·       Seventy-two percent of English 2 students and 55% of Algebra I students who did not pass the corresponding end-of-course exam received a course grade of C or higher.

·       Thirty-seven percent of 10th-grade English students and 12% of Algebra I students who did not pass the corresponding end-of-course exam received a course grade of B or higher.

While the study, which relied on three years of data from the Florida Department of Education, does not include student data from the COVID–19 pandemic, the researchers hypothesize that the pandemic has increased the identified rigor gap due in part to more lenient grading practices and issues related to delivering high-quality distance learning.  

“Our analysis concludes that if teachers, leaders, and administrators hold students accountable throughout the school year for the standards they’ll be evaluated on at the end of the year, their grades and test scores will be closely aligned,” said Chris Corr, Council of 100 chairperson. “The rigor gap we see instead indicates the contrary, the result being that students are less prepared for success at the postsecondary level or in the workplace.”

Corr noted that while the responsibility for closing the rigor gap falls upon the system as a whole, he referenced a 2010 study that indicated students tend to study 50% less when they expect teachers to award relatively higher grades, leaving them surprised by less favorable end-of-course exam scores.

Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran warned in comments included in a Council of 100 news release about the study that “we can love someone into mediocrity,” and observed that challenges brought about by the pandemic have made it more important than ever to deliver a quality education driven by high expectations.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has likely exacerbated gaps in student achievement, so it is imperative that all students, especially low-income students, students with special needs, English Language Learners, and other struggling students are given the supports and honest learning feedback to achieve their individualized educational dreams,” Corcoran wrote.

Among the tactics for implementing those supports, Corcoran said, are the “record investments” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has made in teacher compensation, aligning education to curriculum tied to Florida’s new B.E.S.T. standards, and ensuring that parents have increasingly robust learning options from which to choose.

For more details, a question-and-answer document on the study can be accessed here. 

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AnalysisCoronavirus / COVID-19CustomizationEducation ResearchFeaturedSchool Choice

UF Lastinger Center for Learning: Communication is key during pandemic

redefinED staff
redefinED staff

A Florida-based national education innovation hub’s analysis of approaches taken by public and private education programs throughout the state during COVID-19 reveals that open communication has played a critical role in the success and well-being of students, families and educators.

Several key themes emerged from the University of Florida Lastinger Center for Learning’s survey of more than 4,000 parents, teachers and school leaders in a project made possible with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Among the findings:

Most educators expressed an understanding of the significance of communication throughout the pandemic. Sixty percent of respondents said they communicated with their students and families once a day or more throughout distance learning, using multiple channels including online videos, apps, phone calls, emails and text messages. Social media, including Facebook and Twitter, helped them cultivate more family involvement and increased teachers’ understanding of unique student needs.

Educators reported that regular check-ins with each other provided their schools as well as district-level staff with valuable, real-time information to inform higher-level decision-making. More frequent communication among educators also facilitated idea exchange, collaboration, and sharing of best practices to overcome challenges and better support students and families.

Additionally, educators reported that connecting with certain student populations during distance learning, including those with exceptionalities, younger students, and English Language Learners, prompted many schools and districts to innovate. (See here and here.) A private school participating in a state scholarship program administered by Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, hired Spanish translators to ensure it was effectively communicating with its large English Language Learner population.

And finally, the survey showed a streamlined, multi-level communication approach is effective and efficient for the entire school community to foster a successful teaching and learning environment. Use of a central hub that offers access to teachers, administrators and district staff as well as a student information system or centralized platform for all teachers proved beneficial strategies for educators as well as families, particularly those whose students had multiple teachers.

In addition to its study on communication practices, which can be seen in its entirety here, the Lastinger Center released two additional briefs related to education and COVID-19. Trauma-Informed Care: A Critical Component in Successfully Resuming School can be viewed here; and Best Practices in Preparing Educators and Families for Distance Learning can be viewed here.

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