Patrick R. Gibbons, Author at NextSteps: Step Up For Students

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Patrick R. Gibbons

My background story

What I did before joining Step Up For Students

What do I do on my day off?

How to reach out?

06/05/25 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Florida’s education evolution now has more than 50% of students in school choice options

For the first time in Florida’s history, more than half of all K-12 students are enrolled in an educational option of choice. During the 2023–24 school year, 1,794,697 students, out...

02/05/24 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Florida sets new education choice records as 1.7 million students choose

A record-setting 1.7 million K-12 students in Florida attended a school of choice last year, an increase of more than 42,000 over the year prior. In all, 49% of Florida’s...

10/12/23 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Accurate estimates on the cost of scholarships take time and patience

The Florida Policy Institute (FPI) made numerous headlines last spring after the organization estimated Florida’s Family Empowerment Scholarship (FES) and new Personalized Education Program (PEP) “would cost the state about...

09/11/23 | Patrick R. Gibbons

A new chapter for site of Catholic sisters’ Jim Crow-era stand for right to education

After sitting derelict for more than half a century, St. Benedict the Moor School in St. Augustine, Fla. will be getting a new lease on life. The Sisters of St....

08/31/23 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Don’t blame school choice for your inability to pay teachers more

A recent Tampa Bay Times article insinuated that charter schools and private school scholarships were reducing Hillsborough County Public Schools’ ability to raise teacher pay. According to the district, it...

08/17/23 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Florida fully funds education choice scholarships and protects district budgets

Duval County Public Schools recently claimed Florida’s newly expanded scholarship program will leave a $17 million hole in their budget. “In a year like this year where they only partially...

06/20/23 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Survey: Nearly half of parents looking to switch their kids’ schools

Nearly half of all parents are seeking new schools for their children in the 2023-24 school year. The data comes from a new survey by National School Choice Week, which...

06/13/23 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Vouchers, education savings accounts help boost statewide test scores

A new study from a professor of economics in the Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky finds positive correlation between states’ K-12 student achievement and...

04/04/23 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Separating fact from fiction: Analyzing the real cost of education choice, Part 2

Editor’s note: This analysis from Patrick Gibbons, manager for Policy and Public Affairs at Step Up For Students, is the second in a two-part series. You can read Part 1...

03/21/23 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Separating fact from fiction: Analyzing the real cost of education choice, Part 1

Editor’s note: This analysis from Patrick Gibbons, manager for Policy and Public Affairs at Step Up For Students, is the first in a two-part series. Education choice opponents have made...

02/21/23 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Newly introduced Vermont legislation could derail education choice in Green Mountain State

Vermont’s 154-year-old school voucher program is in jeopardy because of a new bill introduced in the state Senate this month. Worse still, the legislation offers a unique means of circumventing...

01/24/23 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Florida’s changing landscape: 1.6 million students in Sunshine State choose education choice

Editor’s note: National School Choice Week 2023 kicked off Monday and continues through Saturday. The event celebrates K-12 options available to families while generating public awareness of the importance of ensuring...

12/27/22 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Best of 2022: Can an old case from Florida stop voucher expansion?

Editor’s note: In keeping with our year-end tradition, the team at reimaginED reviewed our work over the past 12 months to find stories and commentaries that represent our best content...

12/01/22 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Students who left traditional public schools for charters not returning after pandemic

A new report from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools reveals three key takeaways, updating its 2021 charter school enrollment report, “Voting With Their Feet.” Titled “Changing Course: Public...

11/16/22 | Patrick R. Gibbons

By the numbers: An analysis of religious school enrollment

Editor’s note: Step Up For Students’ manager of public affairs Patrick Gibbons dives into religious school enrollment in Florida by denomination and scholarship program in this post. More than 173,000...

11/10/22 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Tyton Partners report: Blueprints for a post-pandemic K-12 education system

The Covid-19 pandemic proved that K-12 education was ripe for disruption. A new report from Tyton Partners finds that a majority of parents “prefer to direct and curate their child’s...

11/10/22 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Florida NAEP Math scores: The good, the bad, the ugly

Florida’s Reading test results in the National Assessment for Education Progress (NAEP) weren’t all bad news, but things look much worse for Math scores. Where Florida’s fourth-grade Reading test scores...

11/02/22 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Florida NAEP Reading scores: The good, the bad, the ugly

Results from the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) aren’t pretty, but Florida does have some bright spots. The state’s students continue to excel at reading, especially when viewing...

10/19/22 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Florida scholarship programs set new records as enrollment soars

The 2022-23 school year got off to a strong start for education choice scholarships in the Sunshine State, with several programs seeing record-breaking enrollment. Overall, more than 240,000 scholarships were...

10/18/22 | Patrick R. Gibbons

Step Up For Students survey shows Florida’s private schools may soon be full

Florida’s private schools may reach full enrollment capacity in as little as three years according to data from a survey conducted by Step Up For Students, a state-approved nonprofit scholarship...