Lisa Buie, Author at NextSteps: Step Up For Students

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lisa Buie

My background story

What I did before joining Step Up For Students

What do I do on my day off?

How to reach out?

07/01/25 | Lisa Buie

Charter schools are eager to seize opportunities created by education customization

ORLANDO, Fla. — The whiplash of uncertainty has buffeted the nation’s charter school movement during the past five years. First, COVID-19 disrupted learning for millions of students . That was,...

06/30/25 | Lisa Buie

Charter Schools USA and Step Up For Students join forces to expand options for Florida students

Two of the leading organizations in Florida’s united education choice movement are joining forces to expand access to learning opportunities at charter schools across the state. The collaboration between Charter...

05/19/25 | Lisa Buie

Utah education choice champions look to state Supreme Court to find the floor and save ESA program

In the 1949 Looney Tunes short “Mouse Wreckers,” two mind-manipulating rodents named Hubie and Bertie try to chase award-winning mouser Claude Cat out of his home by driving him crazy....

04/24/25 | Lisa Buie

Upsides and downsides of a SCOTUS victory for nation’s first religious charter school

The story: With less than a week to go before the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments about the constitutionality of religious charter schools, supporters and opponents are making wildly different...

04/22/25 | Lisa Buie

Ceilings and floors and Florida (Oh my!)

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with the outcome of the status hearing on April 23. When Utah officials defended a union-backed court challenge to its Utah Fits...

03/26/25 | Lisa Buie

Former New York charter school authorization boss brings her tough but fair reputation to Florida

When Florida lawmakers established the first statewide Charter School Review Commission in 2022. The National Association of Charter School Authorizers also weighed in, saying that forcing school districts into sponsorship...

03/20/25 | Lisa Buie

Navigators help guide families into new era of education

TAMPA, Fla. — Parents, many pushing babies in strollers with school-age children in tow, made their way through the covered pavilion as they surveyed the brightly decorated tables representing 28...

03/12/25 | Lisa Buie

Utah scholarship lawsuit threatens ‘a rich blessing’ for families

Maria Ruiz is at the hospital again. She’s with her husband, Carlos Dominguez, who is still receiving care to help him recover from health issues after suffering a stroke in...

01/31/25 | Lisa Buie

Florida charter schools grow – and challenge their own status quo

At the annual Florida School Choice Conference and School Choice Summit, attendees got their customary sendoff from Jim Horne, a former state senator, state education commissioner and pioneer of the...

01/29/25 | Lisa Buie

Microschool fellowship program helps former public school educator pursue his entrepreneurial dreams

Growing up, Adam Tweet loved learning. Until he didn’t. Kindergarten was amazing, but as he got older, Adam wanted the freedom to pursue things he enjoyed. He loved reading but...

12/20/24 | Lisa Buie

Father fighting to save South Carolina scholarship program calls decision ‘an opportunity to stand up for my children’s education’

When Constantine and Aliona Shulikov left the former Soviet Union as children to escape religious persecution three decades ago, public education there was one-size-fits-all. Students attended assigned cookie-cutter government schools...

12/05/24 | Lisa Buie

Palmetto state parents fight to regain power to send their kids to private schools

Two South Carolina parents are fighting to reclaim the power to direct their children’s education after a state Supreme Court ruling ripped it away only weeks into the new school...

12/05/24 | Lisa Buie

After years of enrollment declines, new migration to the Tampa Bay area creates rising demand for Jewish schools

TAMPA, Fla. — With 16 dormer windows that peek out from all sides of the roof and a wrap-around porch, the building looks more like a place to relax than...

11/26/24 | Lisa Buie

‘If you don’t innovate, you will stagnate’: Florida charter schools urged to evolve

Education is no longer about students sitting in rows of desks from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. And school choice, the term supporters used for years to describe the movement...

11/13/24 | Lisa Buie

Rising parent demand stretches Florida’s Personalized Education Program to its limit for 2024-25

Florida’s scholarship program for K-12 students who don’t attend school full-time has turned on the “no vacancy” sign. The Personalized Education Program operates as an education savings account that allocates...

11/12/24 | Lisa Buie

Despite setbacks at the ballot box, young education choice alum vows to continue the fight for parent-directed education

Jayleesha Cooper sat in her apartment at the University of Chicago and watched with hope as the election results rolled in. The college senior from Omaha had marked her mail-in...

10/17/24 | Lisa Buie

Billionaire awards a new version of the Yass Prize, this time to help an entire state

The big news: Yamilette Albertson Rodriguez could hardly contain her excitement. A Philadelphia billionaire whose name she had never heard before had donated $900,000 to cover tuition for her three...

10/09/24 | Lisa Buie

SCOTUS sidesteps families’ challenge to Michigan’s restrictive Blaine Amendment

The big story: After delivering a one-two punch to Blaine Amendments, the nation’s highest court decided not to take aim at Michigan’s version. Zoom in: This week, the U.S. Supreme...

09/30/24 | Lisa Buie

‘I was in shock’: South Carolina education choice ruling sends mom scrambling

For a decade, Yamilette Albertson Rodriguez served her country as a Marine sergeant. She spent seven months deployed in the Middle East where she fought to stem the tide of...

09/17/24 | Lisa Buie

Report: Educational struggles continue for vulnerable populations after COVID

The story: Students with disabilities and English language learners were poorly served before the pandemic and will need urgent, long-term help to recover from learning losses, according to a report from...