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Tag:

Florida and public education

Jacksonville School for Autism
School Choice

K-12 choice expands opportunity for Florida families and teachers

Matthew Ladner April 1, 2019
Matthew Ladner

Matthew Ladner

The K-12 public education system is rigged in favor of the wealthy as much as the higher education system, but in Florida, things have changed for the better.

Wealthy families once enjoyed exclusive access to fancy neighborhoods zoned for high performing schools. Other families found themselves excluded from these schools. Wealthy families could also afford to pay private school tuition in addition to their school taxes. “Checkbook choice” used to be the privilege of the well to do, but today, choice programs have expanded opportunity.

Choice programs have changed things by expanding opportunities. Today, they give low and middle-income Florida families the opportunity to select the best school for the individual needs of their child regardless of where they live. An increasing number of Florida teachers have been founding new schools and using choice programs to intentionally include families from modest incomes as well as students with disabilities.

Florida needs more schools and more teachers. State projections foresee hundreds of thousands of new students on the way for Florida’s already often over-crowded public school system. The Florida Constitution guarantees funding for public education, and taxpayers have not only increased per-pupil funding, they also have footed the bill for expensive construction projects that are needed but which draw district resources out of the classroom.

Florida school districts have dramatically improved performance since the 1990s on national tests and always will be the indispensable base of Florida’s K-12 education system. District schools, however, will need all the help they can get in the years ahead.

Choice programs help taxpayers by expanding opportunities for families and teachers while relieving overcrowding and allowing districts to focus more funding on the classroom. A recent study by Florida Tax Watch found that Florida’s scholarship program for low and middle-income families produces better academic results with a 40 percent overall lower cost to taxpayers. Given the thousands of families on waitlists for the programs and the acute funding needs in other areas, expanding this program would be broadly beneficial to the public.

Florida families have exercised the opportunity to choose between a growing variety of public and private school options since 1999. The district system grew stronger, but no single system can be all things to all children everywhere. Each student is unique and deserves the opportunity to find a school which is the best fit for his or her aspirations and needs.

Research conducted by a state authorized academic evaluator has found academic benefits for both public and private school students from choice. Even families who choose their zoned district school benefit from having the option to find another school if they ever feel they need it.

Teachers benefit from these programs as well. Frustrated with bureaucratic systems, a growing number of teachers who once left the profession today have decided to become their own boss by founding a private school. This gives these teachers the opportunity to pursue their own vision of a high-quality education free from much of the red tape surrounding the current system. Many of these pioneering educators have utilized Florida choice programs so that they can create purposely diverse schools that include low-income students and students with disabilities. With hundreds of thousands of new students on the way and a shortage of both space and teachers willing to work in a district setting, this trend is a huge win for teachers, families and taxpayers.

Teachers and families need and deserve opportunities that will help them fulfill their promise.

April 1, 2019 0 comment
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Charter SchoolsCustomizationFundingHomeschoolingMagnet SchoolsParent EmpowermentParental ChoicePolicy WonksPrivate SchoolsSchool ChoiceTesting and AccountabilityVirtual Education

Emerging market in public education is a good thing

Doug Tuthill January 11, 2013
Doug Tuthill

apple marketWords such as voucher, privatization, profit and corporation are often used as weapons by individuals and groups who oppose parental empowerment and school choice. Using words as weapons is especially common during periods of significant social change – we all do it – but the practice undermines civic discourse and makes finding common ground more difficult.

“Market” is another term school choice opponents use to connote evil, but our way of life is largely based on markets, and public education is increasingly embracing market processes as customized teaching and learning become more common. Our challenge moving forward is regulating public education markets in ways that maximizes their effectiveness and efficiency.

People access products and services in one of two ways. Either their government assigns them, or they choose for themselves. In the United States, we have historically allowed citizens to choose, and this system of provider and consumer choice is a “market.”

In a goods and services market, providers decide which goods and services they want to sell, and consumers choose those they want to buy. Markets, when implemented properly, are preferable to assignment systems because they better utilize people’s knowledge, skills and motivation. Citizens are allowed to use their own experiences and judgments when making selling and purchasing decisions, and this citizen empowerment maximizes the universe of ideas from which improvement and innovation derive.

When governments assign products and services to their citizens, they rely on a small group of people to decide what to offer. This top-down approach is less open, transparent and effective than the decision-making that occurs in markets, and it discourages creativity. This is why most improvements in goods and services emerge from market systems rather than government assignment systems.

Markets allow providers to learn from consumers. When governments dictate to consumers what goods and services they may have, their citizens’ true wants and needs are not fully considered. The voice of the customer is silent. But when consumers are empowered to choose for themselves, providers learn from these choices and adjust accordingly. In markets, this necessity to meet customers’ needs drives innovation and continuous improvement.

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January 11, 2013 0 comment
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Blog AdministrationCharter SchoolsCommon GroundCustomizationParent EmpowermentParental ChoicePrivate SchoolsSchool ChoiceVirtual Education

In Florida, 1.2 million students participate in school choice

Jon East September 18, 2012
Jon East

Though we know little about the parents who long have chosen their school through where they decide to live (or to pretend to live), Florida keeps count of those who no longer want their neighborhood school. And here’s some data to chew on: In a state known for its breadth of learning options, that number last school year reached 1.2 million.

In other words, using a conservative approach with new 2011-12 enrollment records, 43 of every 100 students in Florida public education opted for something other than their zoned school.

This number is produced largely from state Department of Education surveys required of the 67 school districts and reflects, not surprisingly, surging growth for choice options. Though total public school enrollment grew by only 1 percent last year, reaching 2.7 million, charters grew by almost 16 percent, online by 21 percent, private scholarships for poor children by 17 percent. (See an enrollment compilation of 2011-12 options here.)

Granted, Florida is not like most other states in this regard. A combination of educational, budgetary and political factors, including the gubernatorial tenure of Jeb Bush, has put the Sunshine State on an accelerated path of parental empowerment. That said, it is a diverse, highly populous state with national political significance, and this kind of transformation is central to the new definition of public education.

The national education debate is still absorbed by adults who grew up with a pupil assignment plan built almost entirely on geography. Many of them went to the same schools as their parents and even their grandparents, and it’s natural they would define public education that way. That may help explain why parent activists or groups such as the PTA continue to oblige the teacher unions that pressure them to resist laws giving parents more options. The union message – that traditional public schools are endangered – plays to the parents’ natural fears.

That’s why these numbers are worthy of pause.

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September 18, 2012 0 comment
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Education PoliticsFundingUnionism

Florida’s teachers union president and his grumpy tweet for Arne

Ron Matus September 6, 2012
Ron Matus

DNC2012 logo2Andy Ford, president of the Florida teachers union, has done his darnedest to kick out many of the Republicans who continue to run both the executive and legislative branches in this state, and they don’t usually take a shine to his approach. Just the other day, Ford bought a two-page ad in Florida Trend, a leading business magazine, to proclaim: “IT’S MIDNIGHT IN FLORIDA. Do You Know Where Your Public Education Dollars Are Going?” He added: “The foundation of public education in the Sunshine State is devious, unreliable and crumbling before our very eyes.”

Given all that, you’d think Ford would be in a better mood at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.  And you’d think he’d especially appreciate the speech from U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who spent much of his time criticizing Mitt Romney for gutting education spending “to cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires.” Even American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten found some reason for cheer, tweeting, “Duncan: “teachers matter” and “no teachers should have to teach to the test”-very different from Romney/Ryan/Rhee agenda.”

Was Ford moved, too? Not so much. As the secretary wrapped up, he tweeted six words: “Glad Duncan is off the stage!”

September 6, 2012 0 comment
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