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IB

Education LegislationEducation PoliticsEducation ResearchTax Credit ScholarshipsVouchers

Florida offers answers to North Carolina’s questions about school choice

Doug Tuthill May 17, 2013
Doug Tuthill

Editor’s note: This op-ed was published on the Raleigh News & Observer website last night.

The debate over a private learning option for poor schoolchildren in North Carolina has a familiar ring to it because Florida faced similar fears a dozen years ago. But a targeted and accountable scholarship can strengthen our commitment to equal educational opportunity by giving more tools to the students who face the greatest odds.

Don’t trust me, a lifelong progressive Democrat and former teacher union president who now leads the nation’s largest scholarship program for low-income students. Look instead at the track record in a state with a scholarship that is similar to the plan being offered by a bipartisan coalition of N.C. House members. The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship can provide at least a few answers:

The scholarship serves the students who struggle the most. Scholarship opponents say that the most disadvantaged students are the most likely to remain in public schools. But the experience in Florida is just the opposite. As the state’s independent researcher noted in the latest report: “Program participants tend to come from lower-performing public schools prior to entering the program. Likewise, as in prior years, they tend to be among the lowest-performing students in their prior school.”

• These same students are making solid academic progress. According to the results of their nationally norm-referenced tests, these students who were losing ground prior to choosing the scholarship are now achieving the same gains in math and reading each year as students of all income levels nationally. “In other words,” said the latest report, “the typical student participating in the program gained a year’s worth of learning in a year’s worth of time.”

• Traditional public schools are not hurt financially. One N.C. community organizer recently wrote: “At their core, vouchers are about taking public money and giving it to private schools.” But in Florida, five different independent agencies over the past decade have reached the same conclusion: The scholarship saves tax money that can help public schools. That’s because the scholarship is substantially less than the cost of public education, and most of its recipients would have otherwise attended public school. The Florida Revenue Estimating Conference pegged the savings this year at $57.9 million.

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May 17, 2013 0 comment
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BipartisanshipBlog AdministrationCharter SchoolsCommon GroundGrassrootsParental ChoiceSchool ChoiceTeacher Empowerment

Florida town’s conversion to charter schools helped local economy, too

Special to redefinED April 24, 2013
Special to redefinED

Editor’s note: This guest post is from Jesse L. Jackson, superintendent of Lake Wales Charter Schools in Lake Wales, Fla.

Superintendent Jackson

Superintendent Jackson

By early 2000, the once great tradition of outstanding local schools for Lake Wales’ citizens had reached a point of decline. It was at that time when concerned citizens, with the support of the Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce education committee, decided to do something to reverse that trend. What emerged was not only an accountability driven charter school system, but, unexpectedly, the town’s biggest employer.

Since 2004, when five Lake Wales’ public schools were converted to public charter schools, and with the addition of Bok Academy charter school and the International Baccalaureate program to Lake Wales High School, a significant reversal has taken place in terms of quality and participation in our local schools. Many families that had previously decided to seek other opportunities to educate their children outside Lake Wales have found favor in our system, which now serves approximately 4,000 students. While the majority live in Lake Wales, many come from surrounding towns. Lake Wales Charter Schools pioneers such as Robin Gibson, Clint Horne, David Ullman and many others could feel quite satisfied when reflecting on the impact of their effort.

However, when the details are analyzed, it becomes quite clear the system offers more than just a great education for this community. The mere shift of the schools’ management from district headquarters in Bartow to Lake Wales has profoundly impacted Lake Wales’ economy.

Our principals are chief executive officers. They have the autonomy and responsibility to make decisions regarding the most effective way to run their schools, including financial matters. With each school’s annual budget ranging from roughly $2.5 million to $6 million, managing the operations of our charter schools is a huge responsibility. The autonomy provides our principals the freedom to make decisions regarding their engagement with businesses. Along with this freedom, they and other members of our leadership team have the responsibility and are compelled to adhere to the strictest finance and accounting principles to ensure our system’s finances are managed properly.

Our success as an effective school system has enabled us to evolve into a locally based multi-million dollar enterprise with an annual budget of more than $30 million.

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April 24, 2013 0 comment
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Blog AdministrationFundingMagnet SchoolsParent EmpowermentParental ChoiceSchool BoardsSchool ChoiceTeacher Quality

Florida roundup: Diploma options, magnet schools, students with disabilities & more

Ron Matus April 23, 2013
Ron Matus

Graduation requirements. Gov. Rick Scott signs into law the bill that creates additional diploma options that emphasize career education. Coverage from Tampa Bay Times, Orlando Sentinel, Associated Press, News Service of Florida, Northwest Florida Daily News, Tallahassee Democrat, Sarasota Herald Tribune, StateImpact Florida, WFSU.

florida roundup logoMagnet schools. Parents are pushing the Palm Beach County school district to expand a popular arts magnet. Palm Beach Post.

IB. Largo High in Pinellas gets official certification for its IB program. Tampa Bay Times.

Students with disabilities. StateImpact Florida writes up the bill that would give parents more power over their child’s IEP. Some experts say the Hillsborough school district is unique in not allowing parents to make an audio recording of IEP meetings, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

Teacher pay. Palm Beach County teachers and district official remain skeptical about potential raises coming from the state, reports the Palm Beach Post. Gov. Scott says he’s going to the mat for his proposal for across-the-board raises, reports the Tampa Tribune.

Teacher evals. Hernando Teacher of the Year highlights flaws in the new system. Tampa Bay Times.

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April 23, 2013 0 comment
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Blog AdministrationCharter SchoolsEducation LegislationEducation ReportingFundingParent EmpowermentParent TriggerParental ChoiceSchool ChoiceVirtual Education

Florida roundup: charter schools, school choice lotteries, gifted education & more

Ron Matus April 8, 2013
Ron Matus

florida roundup logoCharter schools. Tampa Bay Times columnist John Romano uses the specter of for-profit charter schools to slam state lawmakers who support parent trigger: “They say tomato, I say morons.” Times columnist Bill Maxwell, meanwhile, highlights the success of Urban Prep Academies, a high-performing, all-male, all-black charter school in Chicago where, for four years in a row, every graduate was accepted into a four-year college.

The Palm Beach Post looks at lawmakers with charter school ties. The Lake Wales Charter School system is considering adding a second middle school, with the waiting list for the existing one at 360 and growing, reports the Winter Haven News Chief. The Athenian Academy charter in New Port Richey and the Pasco school district are clashing over whether the school has the right to expand, reports the Tampa Bay Times. A charter school in Miami Shores is getting better at private fundraising, reports the Miami Herald. The state’s charter school appeals commission recommends approval of a proposed Orange Park charter school twice rejected by the Clay County School Board, reports the Florida Times Union. Lawmakers should limit charter school to districts with failing schools, editorializes the St. Augustine Record.

School choice lotteries. A lot of parents in Palm Beach County are about to get bad news:  They did not get their children into the district school  choice they wanted. According to the Palm Beach Post, “At more than half of the choice programs, less than 1 in 3 students that applied got a seat. At four of the 185 choice programs, fewer than 1 in 10 students won a seat.”

Vouchers. The League of Women Voters asks if McKay vouchers and tax credit scholarships are constitutional in a Gainesville Sun op-ed.

Parent trigger. Former Board of Education member Julia Johnson responds to critics in this op-ed in the Tallahassee Democrat: “I don’t understand what a critic of parent empowerment meant when she recently wrote that it would use parents like “cheap napkins.’’ But I do know that low-income kids were used as a cheap paycheck and their schools were oftentimes used as a training ground for novice teachers and a depository for ineffective ones.” The Tampa Tribune writes up the debate. Pensascola News Journal columnist Shannon Nickinson doesn’t like it: “How about the state fulfilling its obligation to the public education system, rather than working to pass off that responsibility under the guise of “parental choice.”

Virtual schools. The Miami Herald writes up the bills that will expand digital education.

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April 8, 2013 1 comment
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Blog AdministrationCharter SchoolsCustomizationParental ChoiceSchool BoardsSchool Choice

Evolving conversations about school choice in Florida

Sherri Ackerman December 6, 2012
Sherri Ackerman

Frank

When people hear the term “school choice,” they usually don’t think about it in a traditional public school setting, said Joy Frank, general counsel for the Florida Association of District School Superintendents. But public school districts offer students a growing array of choice programs, too, from online classes to career academies to International Baccalaureate programs.

“We have embraced choice,” Frank told members of the Florida House Choice & Innovation Subcommittee during its first meeting this week.

Frank’s comments are another sign of evolving perceptions regarding parental school choice. She and others who are grounded in the traditional public school camp may not embrace publicly funded private options such as vouchers and tax credit scholarships. But it wasn’t long ago that even public options such as IB and magnet schools were considered controversial. Implicit in her remarks is an acknowledgement that giving parents more choice for their children is a worthy goal.

Frank went on to tout public school choice programs across the state, including Polk County’s Central Florida Aerospace Academy, which has a high school at the Lakeland Regional Airport. She also lauded the phenomenal growth of school choice in Miami-Dade County, which opened its first magnet school in 1973 and now offers some 340 choice programs serving 43,000 students. (Coincidentally or not, the Miami-Dade school district also has among the highest rates of students enrolled in charter schools and private schools via tax credit scholarships.)

Traditional school leaders in Florida are increasingly making similar statements.

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December 6, 2012 0 comment
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Blog AdministrationCharter SchoolsEducation ResearchParental ChoiceProgressives and ed reformSchool Choice

Florida roundup: Special needs students, charter schools, John Podesta & more

Ron Matus November 16, 2012
Ron Matus

Hillsborough school district must fix its problems with special education students in the wake of a student’s death, editorializes the Tampa Bay Times. It suggests an outside inquiry would be more appropriate and says of Superintendent MaryEllen Elia, “If there are larger problems with the special needs program, Elia needs to address those too. The review board she empaneled is full of insiders who hardly have an interest in exposing training or operational policies as deficient. Both clearly are.”

Podesta

Podesta to headline Jeb conference. John Podesta, former chief of staff under President Clinton, will be the keynote speaker Nov. 27 at the fifth annual national conference put on by Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education. He chairs the Center for American Progress, widely considered to be a progressive think tank.

Charter school performance. University of Central Florida professor Stanley Smith says his analysis shows charter performance as a whole isn’t so hot compared to district schools, reports StateImpact Florida.

Much anticipated charter in Palm Beach County. After parents clamored for it, construction is set to begin, reports the Palm Beach Post.

Charter dispute in Polk County. The school district and the charter schools in Lake Wales are tussling over student records and recruitment for IB, reports The Ledger.

Florida DOE makes changes to contracting procedures after problems surface in the Division of Blind Services. Tampa Bay Times.

November 16, 2012 0 comment
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Achievement GapCharter SchoolsEducation ReportingFundingPrivate SchoolsSchool BoardsSchool ChoiceTeacher Quality

Florida roundup: Charter school payout, charter school oversight audit & more

Ron Matus October 25, 2012
Ron Matus

Sen. Simmons

Big payout to charter school principal. The principal of a failed charter school gets a $519,453 check from the school’s board, reports the Orlando Sentinel, prompting outrage from Orange County school district officials and a call for an investigation from state Sen. David Simmons: “There’s no room for abuse by charter or traditional schools,” Simmons, a strong supporter of school choice, told the paper. “All it does is hurt children.”

Lax oversight of charter school funding. An audit finds the U.S. Department of Education did not properly monitor how states were spending hundreds of millions of federal dollars for charter schools, reports the Associated Press. The audit also looked at charter funding oversight in Florida, California and Arizona. In Florida, according to the story, “state officials had no records of which schools received federal grant money nor which schools received on-site monitoring and audits.”

Charters, IB and a level playing field. The charter school system in Lake Wales complains the Polk County school district isn’t playing fair in recruiting students to the district’s IB programs, reports The Ledger.

Tax credit scholarships helping private schools. Growth in Florida’s tax credit scholarship program is giving private schools a boost, reports the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Teacher who likes Mitt Romney. StateImpact Florida interview here.

Lesson from Miami-Dade. In winning the Broad Prize, the Miami-Dade school district showed “poverty does not have to be an obstacle to success,” editorializes the Miami Herald.

Pick up the pace. Florida needs to put even more focus on education and accelerate improvement, editorializes the Fort Myers News Press.

A closer look. Pinellas Superintendent Mike Grego says the district’s state-directed teacher evaluation system, which has caused widespread frustration, needs a review, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

October 25, 2012 0 comment
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Blog AdministrationCharter SchoolsCustomizationEducation PoliticsParental ChoiceSchool ChoiceTesting and Accountability

Florida’s next education commissioner needs to be explainer-in-chief

Ron Matus October 16, 2012
Ron Matus

Florida’s next education commissioner will inherit a job that makes juggling chainsaws look easy. He or she must get under the hood of a complicated accountability system, ride herd on a historic shake-up of public education, dodge slings and arrows while walking a political tight rope and leap tall buildings in a single bound.

And yet, the job remains so compelling. Florida is the nation’s most promising bridge to an education system that can more fully give teachers and parents real power to help kids live out their dreams. In the last 10 to 15 years, no state has focused more on the low-income and minority students who are now a majority in Florida public schools. Simultaneously, no state has opened the door more to alternative learning options – options that have both empowered parents and multiplied the potential for educators to innovate. The result has been both dramatic and nowhere near enough. The next commissioner must find ways to continue the momentum.

To that end, we hope he or she can nimbly rotate hats long enough to also assume the role of explainer-in-chief. We know this won’t be easy; education reformers in Florida operate in an environment that is particularly tense and, in the past couple of years, has become downright ugly. But we can’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, the temperature will drop a few degrees if fair-minded people can be persuaded that not every education idea and not every education reform is a zero-sum proposition. Sometimes, they really can work in harmony with the other parts.

This is especially true with school choice. The sincere goal here isn’t “privatization,” it’s personalization. It’s about expanding options so more kids can be matched with settings that maximize their potential, and yes that includes private and faith-based options.

There’s no reason, and so far in Florida no demonstration, that these options have to come at the expense of traditional schools. It’s entirely possible – and many of us think it’s absolutely necessary – to support traditional public schools at the same time we push for additional options that, for individual students, may work better.

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October 16, 2012 0 comment
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