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    • Spotlights
    • Voices for Education Choice
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    • Customization
    • Education Equity
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    • Education Research
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    • Microschools
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    • Virtual Education
    • Vouchers
  • Multimedia
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    • Podcasts
  • Guest Bloggers
    • Ashley Berner
    • Jonathan Butcher
    • Jack Coons
    • Dan Lips
    • Chris Stewart
    • Patrick J. Wolf
  • Education Facts
    • Research and Reports
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    • Hope Scholarship Program Facts
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    • FES Basic Facts
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Education and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceEducation LegislationEducation Savings AccountsFeaturedNewsParental ChoicePrivate School ScholarshipsSchool Choice

Georgia legislation would provide school choice in the form of education savings accounts

redefinED staff March 1, 2021
redefinED staff

A bill that would create education savings accounts that participating families could use for private school tuition, homeschooling or other educational expenses passed Georgia’s House Education committee Thursday.

House Bill 60 resembles legislation from previous sessions, most notably a school voucher bill introduced by Republican state Rep. Wes Cantrell. Cantrell and others have argued that such legislation would provide options to families whose children are not being served well at their district school.

“What this is about is helping the kids who are less fortunate,” Cantrell said last week. “They’re trapped in a cycle of poverty and an education strategy that’s not working for them for whatever reason, and it’s giving them a simple opportunity to have an option.”

Students from families making less than 200% of the federal poverty level – about $53,000 for a family of four – would be the first to receive eligibility, along with military families, students with disabilities and children in foster care. Next in line would be students in school districts that do not have an option for 100% in-person learning for at least a semester.

The bill proposes an eligibility cap of .25% of the state’s public school students for the first year, adding another quarter percent each year with a cap of 2.5%, or about 43,000 students based on current enrollment. A previous version of the bill allowed twice as many students.

Republican state Rep. Ed Setzler observed that school districts where students take advantage of an education savings account would see more money overall, and that while state money would go to the private school, the share of funding from local taxes would remain in the district.

“If students in your district use this program, this program actually lines the pockets of your district,” he said. “This program actually increases the per-pupil funding of the kids in your district who do not take this program.”

The bill needs approval by the full House to move forward.

March 1, 2021 0 comment
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Commentary and OpinionEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceEducation EquityFeaturedParental ChoicePodcastPublic School ChoiceSchool Choice

podcastED: Matt Ladner interviews Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s Chad Aldis

redefinED staff February 18, 2021
redefinED staff

In this podcast video, redefinED’s executive editor speaks with longtime education choice advocate Chad Aldis, vice president for Ohio policy and advocacy at Fordham, wo previously served as executive director of School Choice Ohio and was Ohio State director for StudentsFirst.

https://www.redefinedonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Ladner_Aldis-1.mp4

Ladner and Aldis discuss a recent Fordham study that mapped out open enrollment policies across Ohio after some media outlets questioned whether open enrollment education choice policies exacerbated school segregation. The study concluded they do not, it brought to light something more alarming.

Under state law, districts choose whether to accept nonresident students. Most suburban districts in Ohio have kept their doors shut. Despite being public agencies – often boasting of being “open to all” – these school systems deny children access just because they don’t have the right address.

“Let’s be real about this … no, you’re not to open to everybody. You’re open to everyone who can pay the price of admission … The price of admission is property taxes.”

EPISODE DETAILS:

·       Aldis’s critique of the current system, which results in high-wealth suburban school districts “walling out” poorer students from urban centers, who have been shown to benefit the most from education choice

·       How Ohio’s open enrollment system is different in rural counties

·       How rules restricting charter schools to urban areas further restricts choices for minority and low-income families

·       Comparisons with another education choice state, Arizona

·       What can be done to correct the inequities caused by Ohio’s open enrollment choice system

LINKS MENTIONED:

 https://fordhaminstitute.org/ohio/research/open-enrollment-and-student-diversity-ohios-schools

February 18, 2021 1 comment
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Advocate VoicesCommentary and OpinionEducation and Public PolicyEducation LegislationFeaturedFlorida Tax Credit ScholarshipParent EmpowermentParental ChoicePrivate SchoolsSchool ChoiceStudent Voices

Marquavis Wilson: ‘I don’t have to fight anymore.’

redefinED staff February 4, 2021
redefinED staff

Lamisha Stephens and her son, Marquavis Wilson. PHOTO: Lance Rothstein

Among those who traveled to the state Capitol Wednesday to speak in favor of legislation that will simplify Florida’s education choice programs by merging five scholarships into two and add a flexible spending option was a 16-year-old student from South Florida who knows first-hand the value of education choice.

Marquavis Wilson found a safe haven at West Park Preparatory School after being bullied mercilessly at his former school because of his sexual identity. Marquavis says the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship that made his attendance possible changed his life.

His mother, Lamisha Stephens, says the scholarship saved his life. Without it, Stephens affirms, her son probably would be a dropout. Or maybe he’d be in jail. Perhaps, Stephens says, he would have taken his life.

Please take a moment to watch the video below. And to learn more about SB48, click here.

https://www.redefinedonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Marquavis_SenateEd2.3.21.mp4
February 4, 2021 0 comment
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Commentary and OpinionEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceEducation LegislationFeaturedOpinionPrivate School ScholarshipsSchool Choice

Florida senator questions school board member’s defense of SB48

redefinED staff February 3, 2021
redefinED staff

Editor’s note: Following Osceola County School Board member Jon Arguello’s heartfelt testimony Wednesday morning in favor of SB48, Sen. Perry E. Thurston Jr., D-Fort Lauderdale, questioned him on points he made. Here is the exchange between Thurston and Arguello.

Thurston: As the school board member for Osceola County, are you saying that your county and your school board can’t provide the needed school materials and educational criteria for the students in your district?

Arguello: Senator, thank you for your question. What I’m saying is that every parent should be allowed to make a decision for their child as to whether or not we are servicing them appropriately. As you heard earlier from other parents, there are some occasions where a traditional setting does not offer the most benefits for the student. I am a supporter of public schools. My children graduated from public schools. I also have experience in private schools. The fact is the parent is the No. 1 educator in every instance. It’s their No. 1 responsibility to be the educator for their child and they should also be the No 1 decider of the best education environment for their child.

Thurston: Mr. school board member, I’ll get to the parents in due time. My question to you is, as the school board member for Osceola County, can you, is your school board not in a position to provide the protection and the education for the students in Osceola County to learn and strive?

Arguello: Senator, the best way I can answer that question is to say, for the school to say it can satisfy every need of every student is the same as having you say that you can satisfy the needs of every voter in your district. Public schools are not set up to address every student’s particular need. They are set up to educate the community on a whole, the best way they can. Sometimes the best way they can is by allowing that parent a different option which will in some of these cases challenge someone’s child more, or in some cases will provide them with services they cannot get in a regular traditional class setting.

The answer, Senator, no, we can do a great job in Osceola County, we are doing a great job in Osceola County, but we cannot provide the best situation for every single student across the board. No one can. But the parent can do that for their own child by having the opportunity to take that child and take their money and take their investment that they put in and then go to a school of their choice.

February 3, 2021 6 comments
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Commentary and OpinionEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceEducation EquityEducation LegislationFeaturedSchool Choice

Word for word: Impassioned public school board member speaks in favor of SB48

redefinED staff February 3, 2021
redefinED staff

Editor’s note: A bill to simplify Florida’s education choice scholarship programs cleared its first committee hurdle earlier today in a 6-4 vote along party lines. Among those speaking in favor of the bill was Osceola County School Board member Jon Arguello. Here are his remarks.

Good morning, Chair Gruters, members of the committee. I appreciate the opportunity to be able to address you this morning in support of this bill. I am Jon Arguello, Osceola County School Board member representing District 3.

I represent a heavily left-learning, minority-majority county. I can with confidence say that the community I represent is in support of this bill. The issues this bill addresses are directly related to the shortcomings and challenges school districts and families are facing. I know this as it was a large part of our discussions at our board meeting last night.

As a policymaker, I know this bill counts. As a father of five and a member of my community, I know this bill helps. The advancement of this bill is not just a consolidation but an enhancement that helps our children not only attend these schools but succeed with the resources necessary to achieve academic excellence. In other words, words it’s a refinement that extends the scholarships’ intent, reduces the social-technology gap, and increases the opportunity for true equity.

The bottom line is that these scholarships, and school choice in general, are a godsend to parents with needs that are not, or cannot, be met by the traditional environment.

To delay the passage of this bill is to delay an immeasurable number of educational opportunities for children. I ask that you continue to fight and bring this bill home where it will convert to brighter futures for thousands of deserving but disadvantaged students, not only in the county of Osceola, but in the entire state.

Thank you, Chair Gruters and members of the committee.

February 3, 2021 0 comment
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AnalysisEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceEducation LegislationEducation Savings AccountsFamily Empowerment ScholarshipFeaturedFlorida Tax Credit ScholarshipGardiner ScholarshipHope ScholarshipMcKay ScholarshipParental ChoicePrivate School ScholarshipsSchool Choice

What Senate Bill 48 does

redefinED staff February 2, 2021
redefinED staff

Manny Diaz Jr., R, Hialeah, wants to simplify and clarify the state’s school scholarship program.

Florida Senate bill 48, filed by Senator Manny Diaz, Jr., will be heard in the Senate Education Committee tomorrow. The bill is over 155 pages and at times difficult to understand. Below is a list of the bill’s key features. Some of these features may get modified as the bill moves through committees. A similar bill has not yet been filed in the House. 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.

What SB 48 does:

·       Merges five different K-12 scholarship programs created over the past 22 years into two programs. The Florida Tax Credit (FTC) and Hope scholarship programs merge into the Family Empowerment Scholarship (FES) and will serve economically-disadvantaged and bullied students. The combined McKay-Gardiner Scholarship program will serve students with unique abilities/special needs. 

·       Eliminates the FTC and Hope growth potential and caps the McKay growth for the first time. [Currently in statute, any student with an Individual Education Plan (IEP) is eligible to receive a McKay Scholarship to pay for tuition to a private school. There are currently over 300,000 such children in the state.] Establishes the maximum number of McKay-Gardiner program awards at 50,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) students with an annual scholarship growth rate of 1 percent of the total exceptional student education student FTE, not including gifted. The FES enrollment will include all returning FTC, FES, and Hope students, and may grow at no more than 1 percent of total public-school enrollment, or about 28K students annually.

·       Eliminates the McKay and FES prior public school attendance eligibility requirement, makes economically-disadvantaged homeschool students eligible for FES, and makes children who meet a Gardiner diagnosis category and turn three after September 1 eligible for a McKay-Gardiner scholarship.

·       Returns about $910M in tax credit funding to state General Revenue, $828.9M of which is annual reoccurring revenue. The cost of funding the returning FTC and Hope students in the FES is about $562.5M.

·       Converts the merged scholarship programs into Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), which gives families more flexibility in how they spend their scholarship funds. Families may purchase education services from providers such as district schools, private schools, charter schools, virtual schools, and tutors, and education products such as books and software from approved education vendors.

·       Makes FES and McKay-Gardiner students eligible for transportation scholarships not to exceed $750 to attend a public school other than their assigned zoned school.

·       Allows McKay-Gardiner students to spend ESA funds on music, art, and theatre programs, and mainstreamed summer and after-school programs.

·       Increases the FES scholarship award from 95% to 97.5% of the operational funding a public-school student receives (called the Florida Education Finance Program or FEFP). Scholarship students receive no portion of the non-operational funding, which accounts for about 25% of total state and local spending per public-school student. Also, the scholarships are paid solely through state taxes with no local taxes used.

·       Reduces the administrative funding for scholarship-funding organizations to an amount not to exceed 2.5% of the total amount of scholarships funded.

·       Ensures FES scholarship priority for renewal students, students under 185% of the federal poverty level, students in foster or out-of-home care, and bullied students.

·       Maintains the annual audit requirement of eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organizations and aligns the frequency of the additional audit by the state Auditor General to that of school districts, which is at least once every 3 years.

February 2, 2021 2 comments
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Commentary and OpinionEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceEducation Savings AccountsEducation SpendingFeaturedParent EmpowermentPodcastSchool Choice

podcastED: Matt Ladner interviews Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick

redefinED staff January 28, 2021
redefinED staff

On this episode, redefinED’s executive editor speaks with longtime education choice advocate Bolick, who is co-founder of the Institute for Justice. Now serving as an associate justice on the Arizona Supreme Court, Bolick recently co-authored Unshackled: Freeing America’s K-12 Education System.

https://www.redefinedonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Bolick_EDIT.mp3

Ladner and Bolick discuss the book and imagine what a K-12 education system would look like if it were being built from scratch today. Most traditional schools, Bolick says, are nowhere close to where they need to be if America is to continue its economic prosperity and remain competitive with other developed countries. Education savings accounts, Bolick believes, are the most powerful tool for bringing about improvement in public education.

“We have the ability to deliver a highly personalized, high quality education opportunity to every child in the country today at a fraction of the cost we spend on education. We are so far from that.”

EPISODE DETAILS:

·       Bolick’s critique of the current education system and his commonsense principles for creating a 21st century K-12 education system

·       Why Bolick believes education savings accounts are the future of public education

·       How the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the achievement gap between students from different socioeconomic backgrounds

·       Test score comparisons to countries spending less on education that belie the fallacy that increased funding can cure America’s educational woes

·       How the best teachers can innovate and thrive in a new public education paradigm

LINKS MENTIONED:

RedefinED: Parents, teachers, indicate support for ESAs, national poll finds

January 28, 2021 0 comment
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Commentary and OpinionEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceEducation EquityEducation LegislationEducation Savings AccountsFeaturedParent EmpowermentParental ChoicePodcastPrivate School ScholarshipsSchool ChoiceTeacher Empowerment

podcastED: SUFS president Doug Tuthill on SB 48, which would further empower Florida families seeking education choice

redefinED staff January 22, 2021
redefinED staff

On this episode, redefinED managing editor Donna Winchester asks Tuthill about a landmark education choice bill filed Thursday in the Florida Senate. Sponsored by Sen. Manny Diaz Jr. (R-Hialeah), SB 48 would merge Florida’s five choice scholarship programs into two and add flexible spending options in the form of education savings accounts to better meet the individual needs of scholarship families.

https://www.redefinedonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DonnaDoug_EDIT.mp3

 The bill would transfer students currently receiving the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship to the Family Empowerment Scholarship, which was signed into law in 2019, and merge the McKay Scholarship Program for students with disabilities and the Gardiner Scholarship Program for students with unique abilities, creating a new program called the McKay-Gardiner Scholarship Program.

Tuthill discusses the bill’s potential to better align public education to the modern world of school choice, aiding not only students and families but educators and education providers as well.

“I think you’re going to see a lot of very dynamic educators who would normally be pushed out of the profession because they’re so frustrated (now) staying … and creating lots of innovation. For the next 15 to 20 years, I think you will see an amazing amount of innovation driven by educators who finally have the freedom to be more creative, and families having the resources to access those kinds of choices. I think it’s going to be a renaissance for teachers and families.”

EPISODE DETAILS:

·       An explanation of SB 48 and how it would enhance Florida’s choice landscape

·       The genesis of Step Up For Students’ motto of “helping public education fulfill the promise of equal opportunity”

·       How education choice empowers educators and promotes entrepreneurship

·       Tuthill’s response to those who doubt a parent’s ability to make good educational decisions for their children

·       What social science has to say about learning and internal motivation and how that message can guide education choice advocates and thought leaders

January 22, 2021 0 comment
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