Author

Lisa Buie

Lisa Buie

Lisa Buie is online reporter for redefinED. The daughter of a public school superintendent, she spent more than a dozen years as a reporter and bureau chief at the Tampa Bay Times before joining Shriners Hospitals for Children — Tampa, where she served for nearly five years as marketing and communications manager. She lives with her husband and their teenage son, who has benefited from education choice.

CustomizationEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceFeaturedNewsParental ChoiceSchool ChoiceVirtual Education

New Florida Virtual School board member brings special education experience to role

Lisa Buie
Lisa Buie

Editor’s note: Last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed a new slate of trustees to the board of the Florida Virtual School. Vice chairperson Linda Reiter is one of those appointees and the first in redefinED’s occasional series of profiles of leaders and advocates in the education choice movement.  

Linda Reiter has spent more than three decades teaching thousands of students. Though the names, faces and teaching methods change, her motivation has remained the same.

“Anything I do in education is in honor of my sister,” said Reiter, who at 67 continues to work with hearing-impaired students at Miami-Dade charter schools after retiring as one of the school district’s first itinerant teachers.

When Reiter was invited last year to become a member of the Florida Virtual School’s board of trustees, she considered it yet another way to pay tribute to her late sister, Shira, who was born deaf and who found the best educational fit because of school choice.

Reiter’s parents wanted Shira to be able to fully function in a hearing world. In their view, that meant learning to communicate orally. They sent her to a school that did not allow sign language. After the school’s methods proved too harsh, they tried a district school in their hometown of Philadelphia. That lasted six months. Finally, they sent her the Model Secondary School at Gallaudet University, the world’s only university in which all programs and services are specifically designed to accommodate deaf and hard of hearing students.

“She came home in three weeks a full signer, because everybody in that school was a signer,” recalled Reiter, who took a sign language class when she was 16 so she could communicate with her sister. In teaching and mentoring Shira, she found the passion that ultimately became her life’s work.

It is mainly because of her sister’s experience that Reiter supports customized education, including the virtual education provided by the Florida Virtual School, a statewide public school district offering more than 190 courses for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

“I’m hoping my expertise in special education is a good mix for this board,” Reiter said.

Not that FLVS has ever been lacking in its ability to serve hearing-impaired students.

“They’ve got a lot in place; they have worked with the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine for many years,” she said. “They make accommodations for every student. They have two interpreters on their staff, exceptional student education managers and teachers.”

Since July, 611 students with hearing impairments have taken classes through FLVS, she said.

However, accommodating other special needs can be challenging for online education providers. While FLVS accepts students on individualized education plans and 504 service plans, it tells families whose students are taking classes through its part-time flex program to access services it can’t provide through their school districts.

Reiter said she thinks FLVS, which expanded its capacity during the pandemic, will continue to be a popular option even after the threat of COVID has passed, just like other innovative forms of education such as learning pods and hybrids, which sprang up as grass-roots pandemic solutions.

“Everything changed from the way it was last year, and it’s not going to go back to the way it was” she said. “Parents have never seen this before en masse, and some of them like it very much. This is the future.”

One high school senior Reiter works with loves virtual learning and wants to finish his high school career that way, while another can’t wait to get back to brick-and-mortar school. Both should be allowed to do what works best for them, Reiter said, just like her sister was able to do so many years ago.

“That’s the problem with big district decisions. They don’t always work, and you’re stuck in a little box you can’t get out of,” Reiter said.

She thinks her sister would agree.

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Education and Public PolicyEducation LegislationFeaturedNewsPrivate SchoolsSchool Choice

Dual enrollment bill moves forward

Lisa Buie
Lisa Buie

A bill that would allow more students to get a head start on college won approval from a Senate panel Tuesday.

Members of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education voted 6-3 along party lines to approve SB 52, with Republicans supporting the bill.

SB 52 would set aside $12.5 million in state money to cover the costs for homeschooled and private school students who participate in dual enrollment programs by taking courses from a partnering college or university. The bill also would allocate $16 million to cover the costs of dual enrollment courses taken during the summer for all Florida students, including those who attend public schools.

“What is new is that we are also providing the funding for students in private schools,” said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Ray Rodrigues, R-Fort Myers.

Rodrigues said the bill also creates a funding mechanism to prevent the colleges from having to absorb all dual enrollment costs for homeschooled students. The law currently provides for public school funding as part of the state’s education funding formula, but only during the regular academic year. Senate Bill 52 would expand that funding by covering costs for all students who enroll in summer dual enrollment classes.

Issues surrounding dual enrollment funding occurred in 2013 when a change in the law shifted the cost of dual enrollment programs from colleges to school districts. Because school districts are state funded, the state picked up the cost. But private schools, which were not allowed pass the cost on to their students, had no alternative but to limit their dual enrollment offerings. (The law already prohibited colleges passing along the costs to homeschooled students.)

As a result, the number of students in private schools taking dual enrollment courses has decreased by 60%, even as public school student enrollment doubled during the same period.

The situation dramatically affected school choice scholarship students. During the same enrollment period, the number of lower-income students attending private schools on Florida Tax Credit Scholarships more than quadrupled, putting more lower-income students at an even greater disadvantage.

Lawmakers have tried for the past few years to clarify the issue, but proposed legislation never made it to the governor’s desk despite bipartisan support.

Rodrigues said this latest attempt to correct the problem benefits the state overall because students who participate in dual enrollment go to college at a much higher than their classmates and are more likely to earn college degrees than their peers.

Adam Gaffey, head of school at Robert F. Munroe Day School in the rural North Florida community of Quincy, urged senators to support the bill, saying it would make college more accessible to the lower-income and minority students who attend his private school. He said a teacher contacted him recently to say that 25% of her dual enrollment students couldn’t afford textbooks for those classes.

“Dual enrollment is a gateway to college for so many students,” he said. “Without Senate Bill 52, we will continue to see lower participation in dual enrollment. It’s an investment in Florida that will have a huge return.”

Democrats on the panel criticized the bill, saying it was irresponsible to spend $28.5 million in what might be a challenging budget year. They also called it an attempt to divert money from district schools.

“I’m just worried about our public schools,” said Sen. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa.

Sen. Manny Diaz Jr., R-Hialeah, reminded critics that the state’s formula to pay for education funds students, not institutions, and that bill is an attempt to level the playing field for those who are economically disadvantaged.

Rodriguez pointed out that the bill also benefits public school students by including $16 million to cover the costs of summer courses.

“The bulk of this (bill) benefits the children that (opponents) say they want to protect,” he said.

The bill now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee. A companion bill, HB 281, sponsored by Rep. Wyman Duggan, R-Jacksonville, is in the House Secondary Education & Career Development Subcommittee.

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Charter SchoolsEducation and Public PolicyFeaturedNewsSchool BoardsSchool Choice

Charter school network prepares to return formerly struggling North Florida schools to local control

Lisa Buie
Lisa Buie

Somerset Academy, Florida’s largest charter school network, operates schools throughout the state, including Somerset Academy K-5, 6-8 and 9-12 in Jefferson County.

Nearly five years after taking over operations of Jefferson County’s struggling school system, Somerset Academy, Inc. is preparing to return control to the local school board.

“I’m super proud of how far we’ve come,” said Cory Oliver, who has served as principal of the combined K-12 campus since two district schools were turned over to the South Florida based charter school network. “It’s a completely different school.”

Oliver, whose office sports a Superman theme, has a lot to feel good about.

The percentage of students receiving passing scores on state standardized tests, which once were in single digits, are now between 35 and 45% in most subjects. Disciplinary referrals are down by 80% since the start of the 2020-21 school year. The district, which earned D’s in the two years prior to Somerset’s arrival, has improved a letter grade.

The high school graduation rate rose by almost 20 percentage points this year, though state officials caution that may not be accurate as many students were not required to retake graduation tests due to the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, enrollment, which was a little less than 700 in 2017 and represented only about half of all eligible students who lived in the district, has increased to about 779.

The improvements go beyond academics. Somerset installed a new kitchen and added a culinary arts program and built a recording studio. It renovated the gym and refurbished the weight room. Band members got new instruments and football players no longer had to share shoulder pads.

The JROTC program, impressive before Somerset took over, continues to be a shining star. Trophies hidden away in closets are now displayed in trophy cases. Classrooms got technology upgrades. Students got new uniforms.

“It’s like night and day. These kids have been in poverty and living without for so long,” Oliver said. “We want them to see what’s possible and feel like this is home and that they deserve to be here.”

Oliver’s philosophy was reflected in the school’s motto for 2019-20: “Whatever It Takes!” to Somerset officials, it took everything they had to improve what had been the lowest performing schools in the state.

“When we got here, the staff was exhausted and overwhelmed,” Oliver said. “The staff is still exhausted and overwhelmed, but they’re seeing results. They’re seeing what’s possible when they work as a team and know they are going to be supported.”

Residents of Jefferson County, a 637-square-mile area with a population of about 15,000, once were proud of their schools, which were a model for other districts, according to comments Jefferson County School Board member Shirley Washington made at a State Board of Education meeting in 2016.

“We used to be the flying Tigers,” Washington said, referring to the school’s Tiger mascot. “We had other schools come to our county and see what we were doing. We’re going to get it back there. There’s no doubt in my mind.”

But to state officials, the Jefferson County schools looked more like the crash-and-burn Tigers. Florida Department of Education officials came to visit and did not like what they saw.

More than half of the students at Jefferson Middle-High School had been held back two or more times. Just 7% of middle schoolers scored at grade level on 2016 state math assessment. To put that in perspective, 26% of students were performing at grade level in the state’s second-lowest performing district. Enrollment had dwindled for years as more families sent their students to private schools or district schools in neighboring counties. Finances also were a mess.  

After rejecting the three turnaround plans that district officials submitted, the Board of Education took an historic vote to make Jefferson County schools the state’s first district run by a charter school provider. The solution mirrored education reform in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina decimated the schools.

Somerset Academy, Inc. won the bid to assume control.

Somerset staff arrived to discover complete disarray: crumbling buildings, graffiti-covered walls, old equipment stacked against classroom walls and no enforcement of discipline.

“It was way worse than we ever imagined,” said Todd German, chairman and treasure of Somerset’s board of directors. “These did not look like places anyone would want to come to learn or come to work.”

School board members pledged to cooperate with Somerset but later said they were “coerced” into accepting the arrangement. The superintendent at the time told WLRN Public Radio that the Department of Education “played in places they shouldn’t have.”  Education Commissioner Pam Stewart countered, stating it was “very clear that the Department acted within their authority.”

The charter network fired about half the staff and recruited new teachers. Teacher salaries were raised to $43,800, compared to $36,160 teachers in neighboring Leon County earned. The network hired additional security officers at the schools, where fights had broken out almost daily. One brawl, which occurred just a few months after Somerset came on board, resulted in 15 arrests.

“It was like the wild West,” German recalled, while acknowledging the problems were caused by a small percentage of students. “Cory improved security and put in some zero tolerance policies.”

Oliver said staff from Somerset arrived to find a culture of apathy. Students were allowed to loiter in the halls or outside when they should have been in class.

After the takeover, he said, even the maintenance staff pitched in, alerting administrators when they saw anyone who didn’t belong on campus. Custodians engaged students who looked stressed to make sure they were okay.

“We were de-escalators, not enforcers,” said Oliver, who also hired mental health specialists and started a mentoring program for younger students.

Slowly, the culture began to change. Community members, including the Rev. Pedro McKelvin of Welaunee Missionary Baptist Church, began to support the new leadership. Before the takeover, he said, the district “was on the brink of collapse.”

Christian Steen, a senior, credited Oliver with boosting morale and observed that things had improved significantly.

“The students are more focused in class and now there’s not much skipping,” said Steen when he spoke before a House Education Committee three months after the takeover.

As they enter the last year of their contract, Somerset officials want to prepare to hand the district back to local officials. They already have begun working with a newly elected superintendent to meet that goal. Somerset has offered to let a new principal hired by the school district shadow Oliver before he leaves.

“I have a lot of feelings about leaving Jefferson,” said German, Somerset’s chairman. “I hope we can set (the schools) up to succeed.”

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BipartisanshipCoronavirus / COVID-19Education and Public PolicyFeaturedNewsParent VoicesSchool Choice

Parental choice retention bill clears Senate Education Committee with bi-partisan support

Lisa Buie
Lisa Buie

A bill that would allow parents to hold their children back a grade to make up for COVID-slide learning losses sailed through the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday.

S.B. 200, filed by state Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boynton Beach, would let parents of children in kindergarten through eighth grade make the decision to have the child repeat a grade only during the 2021-22 school year. Current law allows district school principals to make retention decisions. The law prompted one parent to pay out of pocket for her son to a private kindergarten so that she and her husband could decide whether he was ready for first grade.

The bill follows through on an announcement that Gov. Ron DeSantis made last spring that parents would be allowed to hold their children back a grade in the fall if they had concerns about learning losses from online instruction.

DeSantis did not formalize his intentions with an executive order, and later guidance from Florida Department of Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran recognized that while parents have a right to provide input, the final decision regarding student retention rests with school officials.

Berman filed her bill in response to parents’ concerns over the learning losses that occurred in March after the pandemic shuttered school campuses. Though all Florida district schools were required to open in August for full-time, in-person instruction, some families enrolled their children in online options that the districts could offer under an executive order from the DOE.

“We know that the COVID slide is real and troubling,” Berman told education committee members during the meeting. She cited data from Palm Beach County that showed the percentage of middle school F’s increased from 1.6 to 7.7% this past year.

Under the bill, parents with children enrolled in elementary and middle schools would have until June 30 to request from their district superintendent that their child repeat a grade next year. Superintendents would be required to approve all timely petitions and would have discretion over requests that are filed late.

Berman said she agreed to narrow the scope of the bill to exclude high schoolers ahead of Wednesday’s meeting after speaking with Corcoran, who expressed concerns about its effect on older students and athletes.

“One of the reasons why we amended the bill overall down to K-8 was so that we would not run into a lot of the issues that happened in high school with eligibility and things like parents wanting their child to attend prom,” Berman said in response to questions from Sen. Travis Hutson, R-St. Augustine, who asked if the bill could include provisions for retained students who were deemed ineligible to participate in activities as a result of their parents’ decision in 2021 to hold them back a year. Berman said she was open to considering it.

The bill cleared the committee by a 9-0 vote. Sen. Doug Broxson, R-Gulf Breeze, did not vote on the proposal.

The bill has two more committee hearings in the Senate. A companion bill is expected to be filed soon in the House by state Rep. Kelly Skidmore, D-Boca Raton.

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Education and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceEducation EquityEducation LegislationFamily Empowerment ScholarshipFeaturedFlorida Tax Credit ScholarshipGardiner ScholarshipMcKay ScholarshipNewsParent EmpowermentParental ChoicePrivate SchoolsSchool Choice

Florida Senate education choice bill clears first committee hurdle

Lisa Buie
Lisa Buie

Marquavis Wilson, 16, who was bullied so badly at his district school that he wanted to end his life, spoke in favor of Senate Bill 48, which would assist families desiring education choice options for their children.

A bill that would simplify Florida’s education choice programs by merging five scholarships into two and add a flexible spending option cleared the Florida Senate Education Committee today.

By a vote of 6 to 4 along party lines, members approved SB48, which would transfer students receiving the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program (FTC) to the Family Empowerment Scholarship (FES), which was signed into law in 2019, and sunset the 20-year-old FTC.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Manny Diaz Jr., R-Hialeah Gardens, explained that the bill’s purpose is to consolidate programs and simplify the process for families, as well as give parents greater control over their children’s education.

“A lot of what is in this bill is in current law,” Diaz said.

Donors would still be allowed to contribute to the program through a newly created state trust fund. However, donations would go to serve K-12 education generally in the state, rather than pay for scholarships. Both the FTC and the FES are income based and serve students whose families meet financial eligibility rules.

The bill does not materially change the eligibility criteria for any of the scholarship programs, and actually reduces the currently allowable statutory growth in some of the programs.

The bill also would merge the McKay Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities and the Gardiner Scholarship Program, creating a new program for students with unique abilities called the McKay-Gardiner Scholarship Program.

That program would allow families in all state scholarship programs to have flexible spending accounts, also known as education savings accounts, or ESAs. Currently, only students enrolled in the Gardiner program have such flexibility.

The accounts allow families to spend their money on pre-approved services and equipment in addition to private school tuition. Approved expenditures include electronic devices, curriculum, part-time tutoring programs, educational supplies, equipment, and therapies that insurance programs do not cover. The bill would expand eligible services for McKay-Gardiner students to include music, art, and theater programs, as well as summer education programs.

The scholarship programs are also available to homeschool students and those enrolled in eligible private schools.

In addition, victims of bullying at district schools who transfer to private schools as part of the Hope Scholarship Program would also be served by the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program and receive the same spending flexibility.

(See more details of the bill here.)

One student and five parents whose children have benefited from school choice scholarships spoke in support of the bill.

Lamisha Stephens, of Hallandale Beach, credited a scholarship with saving the life of her 16-year-old son, Marquavis Wilson, who was bullied so badly because of his sexual identity that in fifth grade he wanted to end his life. The transfer to a private school enabled him to escape the torment and thrive.

“That changed everything, she said. “Now, Marquavis is safe. And he can be himself. And he’s learning again like he’s supposed to.”

Marquavis also expressed his gratitude for the scholarship.

“At my old school, I was fighting all the time,” he said. “At my new school, everything was different,” he said. “I know they care about me. And I know I can be myself.”

Simone Arnold said her first-grade son, Ayden, who is on the autism spectrum and has trouble with his speech and comprehension, has made tremendous progress at his private school thanks to a Gardiner Scholarship.

“I want to thank Sen. Diaz for this bill that would benefit families by simplifying the scholarship programs, and by making them more flexible to meet each child’s individual needs,” Arnold said.

Also speaking in favor of the bill was Jon Arguello, a member of the Osceola County School Board, who said district schools do an outstanding job, but choice is necessary so that every student’s individualized needs can be met.

“As a policymaker I know this bill counts,” Arguello said. “As a father of five and a member of my community, I know this bill helps.”

He called education choice scholarships “a godsend” to parents and students with a need that cannot be met in a traditional environment.

“Public schools are not set up to address every single particular need of every student,” he said. “Every parent should be able to make the decision for their child whether we are serving them properly.”

After the meeting, Diaz thanked his colleagues who supported his efforts to help families.

“We look forward to our continued work streamlining Florida’s robust school choice options. Our aim is to make it easier for parents to navigate the process and assure that all students have the opportunity to access an educational option that works for them.”

The bill’s next stop is in the Senate Education Appropriations Subcommittee.

 

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Charter SchoolsCoronavirus / COVID-19CustomizationEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceFeaturedNewsParental ChoicePublic School ChoiceSchool Choice

Charter schools on the rise in Florida and across the nation

Lisa Buie
Lisa Buie

Somerset Academy, Florida’s largest charter school network, has been serving Florida families for 20 years. Since 2017, the network has been working to turn around three struggling district schools in Jefferson County, Florida.

Editor’s note: Today’s post is the final installment in redefinED’s salute to National School Choice Week. In case you missed our other posts, you can read them here, here, here, here and here.

In the charter school universe, the possibilities are endless.

Want to learn a new language? There’s a charter for that. Want to hone your STEM skills? There’s a charter for that. How about a concentration on art, music or theater? There’s a charter for that, too.

These days there even are charter schools to prepare students for careers in fields such as firefighting and law enforcement.

“The parent in Florida is a savvy education consumer,” said Lynn Norman-Teck, executive director for the Florida Charter School Alliance, which represents charter schools statewide, from independent schools to those run by national networks. “The choice movement is strong in this state not because of a particular governor or the Legislature, though we appreciate their support and help, but it’s really driven by the parent.”

Department of Education figures show charter school popularity is continuing to soar. During the 2019-20 school year, 329,216 K-12 students attended 673 Florida charter schools. That represents more than a 6% jump from 2018-19, when 309,730 students attended 658 charter schools. The increase is particularly impressive since the earlier figures include pre-kindergarten students and the more recent ones do not.

What accounts for charter school popularity?

Some would say it’s because charter schools combine the best of private and district schools. Charters, like district schools, operate with tax dollars and therefore do not charge tuition. But like private schools, they are privately operated, allowing for more innovation and flexibility because they’re free from many regulations governing district schools.

That advantage became evident in March when the coronavirus pandemic shook the world. While some district schools struggled to pivot to distance learning, many charter schools were able to seamlessly transition.

“They are smaller than a district and can make quick decisions,” Norman-Teck said. “They got (electronic) devices in kids’ hands and made sure families had connectivity at home.”

Florida’s foray into charter schools began in 1996, when Urban League of Greater Miami president T. Willard Fair teamed up with then-gubernatorial hopeful Jeb Bush to open the state’s first charter school in Liberty City, an area of South Florida known for its high poverty rate and concentration of minority residents. Though the school closed in 2008 after losing a legal dispute with its landlord over a roof damaged during Hurricane Katrina, the movement it sparked took off, with charter schools opening all over Florida and in many other areas across the United States.

The rapid growth of charter schools is one facet of charter school controversy. Though the schools are non-profit, some turn to for-profit companies to provide certain services such as human resources. Some of the strongest opposition to charter schools has come from district school boards, which argue that charter schools strip district schools of operating funds.

That’s a myth, said Norman-Teck, who explains that Florida law funds schools through a formula based on the number of students enrolled. Students who attend charters don’t put financial burdens on their zoned schools. (You can view a list of character school myths here.)

And in at least one high-profile case, a charter school company was the saving grace for a trio of failing schools North Florida. In 2017, the Florida Board of Education took the unprecedented action of handing control of the district to a charter school network. Somerset Academy, Inc. is set to return Jefferson County’s three district schools to district control next year when its contract ends. 

Last year, new doors opened for charter schools when the Florida Legislature won a three-year court battle over a 2017 education law that makes it easier to open charter schools, which had in some cases encountered resistance from their local school districts.

The law also established a “schools of hope” program that allows high-performing charter schools to open within a 5-mile radius of a long-time, low-performing district school as an alternative for families as well as to spur the district school to improvement.

So, what does the future hold for charter schools?

Norman-Teck thinks it looks a lot like the future of public education overall, with more unbundling of services as parents seek even greater customization for their children.

“It’s about the child,” she said. “Schools have to understand the children they serve and be flexible.”

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Coronavirus / COVID-19CustomizationEducation ChoiceEducation EquityFeaturedMicroschoolsNewsParent EmpowermentParental ChoiceSchool Choice

Despite challenges, COVID has allowed families to explore new frontiers

Lisa Buie
Lisa Buie

Lian Chikako Chang, right, of South Florida, pictured with her husband, Drew Harry, and their son, Jay, created a pandemic pods Facebook page at the start of the shutdown to connect families looking for education options.

Moviegoers learned in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” that Capt. James T. Kirk was the only cadet in Starfleet history to beat the training exercise Kobayashi Maru, created as a no-win scenario to test leadership and decision-making. 

Born with a rebellious streak that gained him the reputation as Starfleet’s resident troublemaker, Kirk reprogrammed the simulation so he could win. In effect, he changed the rules.

That sounds a lot like what some parents did last summer when the coronavirus pandemic handed them what seemed like a no-win scenario: Keep their kids online and risk having them fall behind academically or send them to brick-and-mortar campuses struggling to meet federal safety guidelines, putting them at risk for contracting a potentially deadly virus. In some parts of the country, campuses remained shuttered, leaving even fewer choices.

Instead, those parents changed the rules. Social media groups sprang up to support pandemic pods, a form of homeschooling in which small groups of students meet together under adult supervision to learn, explore and socialize.

Many families began rotating pod duty or paying teachers to provide in-person instruction in homes or in rented spaces. That led to criticism that the pods, also referred to as co-ops or micro-schools, with critics charging that pods favored families of privilege and shut out those without the means to engage.

One veteran principal of a Northern Virginia elementary school called the sudden push for pod learning “shocking” and likened it to the development of charter schools, only at a faster pace. Some bureaucrats attempted to shut things down by trying to regulate the pods, while some school districts barred their teachers from participating even though those teachers were participating on their own time.

But some cities, like Orlando, responded by setting up their own pod arrangements at community centers for lower-income students to access their district’s online classes and while receiving in-person support from adult staff and volunteers. Also on the plus side: teachers, some of whom were frustrated with traditional learning models or wanted the chance to be more creative in their instructional delivery, saw opportunities.

Some educators even saw a chance to earn more than they were earning in traditional schools in the process.

Despite the challenges, pods and other innovative learning arrangements have thrived as the pandemic drags on. The question is, are they the final frontier? Many experts predict innovation will continue into the future as more families come to expect choice.

In at least one state, legislators are responding to the demand for flexibility and innovation. Florida lawmakers during this year’s legislative session will consider a bill that would give parents greater control by expanding educational savings accounts.

If the bill passes, Florida parents will have the opportunity to boldly go where no one has gone before.

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Commentary and OpinionEducator VoicesFeaturedPrivate SchoolsSchool Choice

For this educator, relationships are the reward

Lisa Buie
Lisa Buie

About a third of the 435 K-12 student at The Rock School use state choice scholarships, including 108 who use the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship for lower-income students and 15 who use Gardiner Scholarships for students with special needs.

Editor’s Note: At the end of 2019, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared 2020 “The Year of the Teacher,” championing a $47,500 starting salary and a new bonus program for K-12 educators. In June, DeSantis signed into law a bill allocating $500 million for teacher pay, boosting Florida from 26th to fifth for minimum teacher pay.

That boost applied only to district schools, causing some private school administrators to wonder if they would lose teachers. Alicen Crane, a teacher at The Rock School, a faith-based school in Gainesville, is among those who chose to stay. Here, she explains why the intangibles of her job are more rewarding than a bigger paycheck.  

Alicen Crane

My experience at The Rock School is unique.

I attended The Rock as a student in elementary school and then for a while in high school. I spent some time in public school and was also homeschooled, so I have a little experience in various settings. But there was something about The Rock School that always drew me back.

As a student, I felt cared for spiritually, personally, and academically. So, when it came time to apply for my first job after graduating from high school, there was no question; it was The Rock Preschool I wanted to apply to. Now I was on the other side of education – I was a teacher.

I worked at The Rock School while getting my bachelor’s degree in elementary education and was able to substitute. I loved the small class sizes and being able to connect with the students, including some whose parents or siblings had been my classmates. I was able to learn from the teachers and get experience in a classroom. The Rock still had that community feeling I felt as a student.

After graduation, I knew I wanted to spend my first year as an educator at a school where teachers had the opportunity to focus on individual students’ needs and where the administration supported unique learning environments. So, I applied to The Rock School as an elementary teacher and was accepted.

That first year teaching, I learned so much. With a smaller school, I was able to grow professionally and personally. The administrators and my fellow teachers guided me through one-on-one training and professional development. I was able to learn so much from veteran teachers, including those who taught and inspired me. I was also able to grow by sharing with others the skills I was learning.

Five years after I first started working at The Rock Preschool, I was teaching my first elementary class. When I received my roster, I realized some of the students were the same ones I’d taught as pre-schoolers. I was thrilled! I had built relationships with these students and their parents. The relationships with families have continued year after year, at school events, in the car line, or in after-school care.

I know I could make more money at a public school, but I won’t be leaving The Rock School. It’s more than just an 8 a.m.-to-3 p.m. school. It’s a place where students, parents and teachers can be seen and heard. My administrative team is phenomenal, working with us to customize instruction to each student’s needs. The small class sizes give me the opportunity to use creative strategies to help my students succeed.

But the most rewarding thing about The Rock School is the opportunity I have to give back to my community. As I’ve pursued a master’s degree in educational leadership, I’ve had the chance to teach these students that their voice matters – that they all can make an impact in a world that needs them.

At The Rock School, I’m able to partner with parents and fellow educators. I’m able to teach the whole child, spiritually and academically, as each one continues to teach me. I wouldn’t trade that for anything, even a bigger paycheck.

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