Podcast

Lorena Castillo, Florida teacher who supports school choice – podcastED

Ron Matus April 13, 2012

Today at redefinED we’re going to smash another stereotype: not all public school teachers oppose expanded school choice.

Lorena Castillo is chairwoman of CHISPA, the Coalition of Hispanic Instructors in Support of Parental Awareness. CHISPA falls under the umbrella of the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options, and its 180 members – almost all of them teachers in traditional public schools – support charter schools, private school vouchers and tax credit scholarships.

Castillo sees no conflict between that support and support for public schools. The bottom line for CHISPA, she said in the redefinED podcast below, is finding the right fit for Hispanic students who are struggling. That way, they can catch up, earn diplomas, become good citizens – and not become statistics. “We have great public schools, and dedicated public school teachers,” said Castillo, who teaches middle school science in Dade County, Fla. “But for some students with special needs, they need other options in order to graduate.”

Castillo can relate. She was a teacher and principal in her native Nicaragua but moved to the U.S. 25 years ago. Before becoming certified to teach here, she worked a full-time job, a part-time job and attended night school to learn English – all at the same time.

“We were out of our environment. Different language. Different culture. So we had to struggle a lot to adapt,” she said of herself and her family. “When I see any Hispanic student in my classroom struggling, the same way I did and my kids did, I completely understand and I can make a complete connection.”

As far as we know, there are no other organized groups of public school teachers who openly support expanded school choice options. Coincidentally, “chispa” is Spanish for “spark.”

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April 13, 2012 1 comment

Blog Administration Parent Empowerment Parental Choice Podcast School Choice

‘I’m just a dad looking to do the best for his son’ – school “voucher” parent Mike Enters, podcastED

Ron Matus April 6, 2012

Ron Matus

Folks who think the school choice movement is about tearing down or privatizing public schools should set aside a few minutes to listen to Mike Enters.

Enters, 52, is the father of 13-year-old Jack Enters, a sixth grader at tiny Lake Monroe Christian School in Sanford, Fla. Jack had severe health problems in his earliest years and has struggled a bit to fit in socially. Enters thought it best to place him in a small school with few distractions, lots of one-on-one attention and strong relationships between parents and staff. He has been financially able to do that thanks to a tax-credit scholarship.

“If it wasn’t for the scholarship program, I would have had to kind of send him out like a sheep into the wolves, you know, and see what would happen,” Enters told redefinED.

Dad is happy with how things turned out. Jack and his teachers continue to work on his social skills. Meanwhile, he’s academically solid across the board and light years ahead in subjects like geography and astronomy. The school has “been perfect for him,” Enters said. “It’s been tailor made and I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

Enters, a former missionary, said he doesn’t have anything against public schools. In fact, his father was a public school teacher and principal for 39 years. But “I’ve got one crack, you know, at doing well with Jack,” he said, “and I didn’t want to take a chance to see if that would work, whether he would be accepted in a public school or not.”

“I’m just a dad looking to do the best for his son,” he continued. “I see where public schools have their place, definitely. It’s just that the description I gave before for the way Jack is, the way he’s wired, he would be one of those kids left behind, that are kind of shunted to the side at best. At worst, he’d be teased, he’d be, you know, just his spirit broken. I couldn’t picture myself putting him through that.”

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April 6, 2012 4 comments

Blog Administration Education and Public Policy Parent Empowerment Parental Choice Podcast Private Schools School Choice

Louisiana’s push for vouchers is historic, rewarding – Eric Lewis, podcastED

Ron Matus March 30, 2012

Ron Matus

Louisiana is the center of the school choice universe right now. Last week, the state House passed a bill that creates a statewide voucher program for low-income students (expanding the one now limited to New Orleans). And this week, it passed a bill that creates a statewide tax-rebate scholarship (which is something like a tax credit scholarship).

The Louisiana campaign has been “historic” and “rewarding,” Eric Lewis, director of the state chapter of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, says in this podcast. The choice programs, which are expected to clear the Senate and be signed into law by Gov. Bobby Jindal, are “going to greatly change the landscape of education in Louisiana,” he says.

Clearly, though, the debate isn’t over. The bill that includes the voucher program leaves creation of accountability provisions to the Louisiana Department of Education and Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. BAEO supports some type of regulatory action, Lewis says, for private schools that don’t show academic gains for voucher students.

“We want parents to be able to exercise choice, and we want to empower them to do so,” he says. “But we also want to make certain that while we’re fighting to pull the poor kids out of failing public schools, we’re not putting them in a situation where they’re entering sub-par private schools.”

“What we will want to see is the department and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education set up some process where, if at some point in time, after some given period of time, schools are not able to show growth with the kids, then some measure needs to be put in place to recompense that,” Lewis continues. “There needs to be some type of threshold where you know it’s clear that it’s not working with a particular school, and so kids shouldn’t continue to matriculate within that school.”

Lewis also credits the 12 Democrats, including six black Democrats, who voted for vouchers despite what he calls “incredible heat.” One political blog said the 12 “Jindal Democrats” were motivated by politics, money, re-election, selfishness, fear and “general spinelessness.”

“It was intense,” Lewis says. “I applaud all 12 of them for standing up for kids, and standing up for what they felt was right.”

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March 30, 2012 0 comment

Bipartisanship Blog Administration Education and Public Policy Parent Empowerment Parental Choice Podcast School Choice

Darrell Allison, parental choice leader in North Carolina – podcastED

Ron Matus March 19, 2012

Ron Matus

North Carolina lawmakers took parental choice to new heights last year by removing a cap on charter schools and creating a tax credit scholarship program for students with disabilities. But all signs indicate they’re not done yet – and that a tax credit scholarship for low income students may be next on the agenda.

A dozen North Carolina lawmakers visited Florida on a fact-finding trip last week. They heard from former Gov. Jeb Bush and John Kirtley, chairman of Step Up for Students, which administers Florida’s tax credit program for low-income students. They met Florida lawmakers and corporate leaders who support it. And they visited the Miami Union Academy, a participating private school with nearly 300 students.

“Let’s be honest: When you talk about a state in our nation that has a lot of sunshine, a lot of innovation and a new frontier in ed reform, it’s the state of Florida,” said Darrell Allison, president of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina.

Allison, who also made the trip, along with some North Carolina business leaders, said strong, bipartisan support for last year’s choice legislation in NC is a hopeful sign that the adversarial tone that characterized so many past debates about choice is beginning to lose its edge. For North Carolina families, he said, that’ll be a good thing.

“Around the kitchen table, that discussion is different than at the policy table, right?” he said. “Mom and Dad are not really thinking about Republicans and Democrats and philosophy. They’re just trying to make sure that Johnny has the best school option that they could possibly have.”

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March 19, 2012 4 comments

Blog Administration Education and Public Policy Parental Choice Podcast School Choice

Rep. Richard Corcoran, sponsor of Florida tax credit scholarship bill – podcastED

Ron Matus March 16, 2012

Ron Matus

Behind the scenes, this year’s bill to expand Florida’s tax credit scholarship program (which passed the House and Senate and is awaiting Gov. Rick Scott’s signature) sparked a bit of a stir in the choice community. The reason: It opens the door for private schools that accept tax credit scholarships to voluntarily administer the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test – the state’s main standardized test.

Some private school supporters fear the requirement in HB 859 will pave the way for an FCAT mandate on private schools. But state Rep. Richard Corcoran, the bill’s sponsor, says in this podcast that he doesn’t see that happening. He also explains why he did include the provision – and it’s an interesting argument given that many critics of the program think the lack of an FCAT requirement gives private schools an unfair advantage over public schools.

“When you talk to some of these private schools, a lot of them are losing enrollment during these difficult economic times because parents have to cut somewhere with their salaries being so devastated,” Corcoran said. “And one of the things they’re doing is, they’re pulling their kids out of private school and putting them in public school, and they’re saying to these private schools, ‘Well, we really like the Christian aspect or the parochial aspect, but the academic stuff, we don’t know if it’s much different, so we’re going to do this (go public).’ “

“And I think one of the things these private schools would like is to be able to say, ‘No, if you look at our scores on the FCAT versus your (public school) scores on the FCAT, there’s a tremendous difference.’ And hopefully that will increase enrollment, not decrease it.”

Corcoran’s thoughts on testing requirements, which he goes into more detail about in the podcast, should be of interest to school choice observers everywhere. As vouchers and tax credit scholarships get considered in other states, there is plenty of debate about where the lines should be drawn so the interests of students, families, schools and taxpayers are balanced.

On a different note, Corcoran makes a prediction about the parent trigger bill that the Florida Senate shot down last week on a 20-20 vote: “I’d be shocked if parent trigger doesn’t pass next year … and I’d be shocked if it doesn’t pass with bipartisan support.”

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March 16, 2012 4 comments

Achievement Gap Blog Administration Catholic Schools Parental Choice Podcast Private Schools Religious Education School Choice Tax Credit Scholarships

Christian Dallavis, working to revitalize Catholic schools – podcastED

Ron Matus March 9, 2012

Ron Matus

Catholic schools used to be neighborhood schools. Many of them served immigrant familes. But since 2000 alone, more than 1,700 have closed in the United States, leaving voids in communities and diminishing school choice options for families who could use them now more than ever. In an effort to change that, the University of Notre Dame is leading a partnership that aims to improve the quality of Catholic schools, particularly for low-income, Hispanic families.

The university’s ACE Academies program began two years ago in Tucson, Arizona and is now rolling out at two schools in Tampa Bay (St. Joseph in Tampa and Sacred Heart in Pinellas Park). In this redefinED podcast, program director Christian Dallavis notes two important statistics: 1) two thirds of practicing Catholics in the U.S. who are under the age of 35 are Hispanic, and 2) only about 50 percent of Hispanic students graduate from high school in four years.

“We see the future of the church is on pace to be kind of radically undereducated,” Dallavis said. But “we also have a solution in that we know Catholic schools often put kids on a path to college in ways that they don’t have other opportunities to do so.”

It’s no coincidence the program came to Arizona and Florida. Both states have large Hispanic populations. Both offer tax credit scholarships to low income students.

“They provide a mechanism that allows Catholic schools and other faith-based schools to sustain their legacy of providing extraordinary educational opportunities to low-income families, immgrant communities, minority children, the people on the margins,” Dallavis said. “We see the tax credit as really providing the opportunity to allow the schools to thrive going into the future.”

But make no mistake. This effort isn’t about quantity. The Notre Dame folks know in this day and age, school quality, whether public or private, is essential – and they’re looking to beef up everything from curriculum to leadership to professional development. Their goal for the kids: College and Heaven. Enjoy the podcast.

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March 9, 2012 0 comment

Achievement Gap Common Ground Parent Empowerment Parental Choice Podcast School Choice Tax Credit Scholarships

Glen Gilzean, pro-voucher school board member in Florida – podcastED

Ron Matus March 2, 2012

Ron Matus

As maybe the only pro-voucher school board member in Florida, and one of the few in the country, it could get awfully intense for 29-year-old Glen Gilzean. But when asked by redefinED if he liked the extra-big spotlight, Gilzean laughed.

Being a voucher guy on a local school board, he says in this redefinED podcast, is like being the first person in a flash mob.

“It’s like a flash mob. It takes one person. Everybody look at him like, ‘Oh this guy is crazy.’ What is he doing? Then you know three more people come in and it’s like, ‘Oh, he’s not really that crazy.’ Let’s just continue the thing going. And then all of a sudden, the whole group, everyone’s like doing the dance. And to be frank with you, I see Florida, on the legislative stand point, they’re making that bold step. I see our commissioner of education making that bold step. I see our governor making that bold step. Now it takes people on the local level to start, you know, making some of those bold steps to ensure that children are getting what they need.”

Glen Gilzean

We also ask Gilzean about the evolution of his thinking concerning vouchers and tax-credit scholarships, and what he thinks about vouchers for all parents, regardless of income. Note: The podcast comes in at 26 minutes, and there are five seconds of silence at the beginning. Truth be told, your humble podcaster needs a crash course in basic 21st century technology. Hopefully, future podcasts will be shorter, sweeter – and edited for the sake of time and clarity.

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March 2, 2012 0 comment

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Howard Fuller — podcastED

Adam Emerson April 18, 2011

Adam Emerson

The school choice movement could be heading toward a critical juncture for one of its biggest champions. Last week, Howard Fuller made clear his distaste for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s attempt to remove the income restrictions to the Milwaukee voucher program, and he says in this redefinED podcast that he’ll offer no support to efforts in other states that fail to means-test their own voucher or tax-credit plans.

“I will continue to fight for vouchers, tax credit scholarships, opportunity scholarship programs, charter schools, home schools, virtual schools — anything that empowers low-income and working-class people to be able to have some of the capacity to choose what those of us with money have,” said Fuller, the former superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools and founder of the Black Alliance for Educational Options. “I will never fight for giving people who already have means more resources. Because, in the end, that will disadvantage and squeeze out the possibility of poor parents having some of these options.”

This is not to say that Fuller won’t consider raising the income threshold to serve more of Milwaukee’s working poor. In the interview, he talks about aligning the requirements for entry into the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program with those of Wisconsin’s BadgerCare program, which provides health care to state residents who earn less than 300 percent of poverty. “That would capture over 80 percent of the households in the city,” he said. “So if your real objective is to expand the level of support, you could do that and still retain a focus on low-income and moderate-income families.”

But if Wisconsin and other states want to make their vouchers universally accessible to families of any income level, “it may very well be that it’s time for people like me to get off the stage,” he said. “Maybe it has to be a different movement going forward, but if that’s the way the movement has to be going forward, it’s not something that I can be a part of.”

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April 18, 2011 6 comments