Legislation enshrining the expansion of Florida's newest educational choice program is set for a vote by the full House of Representatives, after getting a bipartisan nod today from the chamber's education committee.
The bill would increase funding for Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts, make them available to more students, and broaden their potential uses. Last year, the state budget expanded the program, but those changes will expire this summer if they aren't codified in permanent law. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the accounts.
Two parents, including Lydia Burton, whose four-year-old son was diagnosed with autism last year, told the House Education Committee about the impact the program has had on their children.
"When he was first diagnosed, as a mom, you go through all of these things that you don't know if your child would ever do," she said. She worried for a time she wondered whether her child would read or communicate. Now she's considering the possibility he'll go to college. "He really had that potential, and this program has unlocked that for him," she said.
A bill solidifying Florida's newest educational choice program continued its string of bipartisan support this morning, winning unanimous backing from the Senate Appropriations panel.
The measure would boost funding for Florida's Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts, make them available to more students, and broaden their potential uses. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the accounts.
One parent, Stephanie Willson, told the committee she had tried public and private schools for her 9-year-old son, who has Down syndrome. Ultimately, she said, customizing an education for her child at home was the best option.
"With this program we're able to tailor an educational environment exactly to his needs, and I'm thankful for this freedom of choice," she said. Thanks to the curriculum and therapy the program helped her pay for, she said, "I've seen tremendous growth over the past year." (more…)
A Florida House panel this morning unanimously approved legislation expanding Florida's newest educational choice program.
The measure would codify changes approved last year that allowed 3- and 4-year-olds with special needs to access Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts. It also expands uses for the accounts. Because the changes were part of a spending plan approved earlier this year during a special budget session, they will expire in the summer if they aren't made permanent.
Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog and employs the author of this post, helps administer the scholarship program.
The House education appropriations panel approved the measure without debate, after two parents told the House education appropriations panel the scholarship accounts have helped their children. (more…)
Florida Senate President Andy Gardiner
Heading toward what could be his final year in the state Legislature, Florida's Senate leader said recent changes to the state's newest parental choice program for special needs students should be made permanent.
Private school choice growth keeps growing. Source: Florida Department of Education. *Numbers for 2015-16 based on September data. Other years based on data from the end of the school year.
The number of students in Florida's three K-12 private school choice programs continues to grow.
Last school year, the state became the first in the country to serve more than 100,000 students with special needs vouchers, tax credit scholarships, and its new education savings account program for special needs students.
The first numbers for the 2015-16 school year, released this week by the Florida Department of Education, show thousands more students are participating.
More than 77,000 low-income students are receiving tax credit scholarships, a roughly 10 percent increase from last school year. More than 28,000 special-needs students are using McKay scholarships to attend private schools. Nearly 3,900 students have Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts (PLSAs). (more…)
Testing. State testing is halted amid computer problems. Associated Press. Tampa Bay Times. Miami Herald. Tampa Tribune. Orlando Sentinel. Florida Times-Union. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Naples Daily News. Fort Myers News-Press. Ocala Star-Banner. Indian River Press-Journal. Tallahassee Democrat. Northwest Florida Daily News. It works for some districts after delays. Pensacola News-Journal. Bradenton Herald. It's set to resume today. Sun-Sentinel. Anti-testing groups crank up the heat. Gradebook. A Palm Beach Post columnist blasts the problems. Alachua groups plan to talk testing in a public forum. Gainesville Sun.
PLSAs. Florida's personal learning scholarship accounts are an innovative program for special needs students, William Mattox writes in Context Florida. The accounts will likely serve more students in their second year. EdFly. The program is administered by organizations like Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog and employs the author of this post.
Private schools. Scholarship programs are growing, but private schools aren't subject to the same testing requirements as public schools, an Orlando Sentinel columnist writes. (more…)
Florida Senate President Andy Gardiner
More Florida students will be able to access the state's new Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts under legislation now ready for floor votes in both chambers.
The bills, approved unanimously by House and Senate panels this week, would allow more students to qualify for the accounts, which help parents pay for tutoring, therapies, private school tuition and other education-related expenses for special needs children. The House proposes $31.9 million for 2015-16 and the Senate proposes $50 million. For the first year, the state appropriated $18.4 million.
This school year, two scholarship organizations have awarded more than 1,700 student accounts. One of those organizations, Step Up For Students, co-hosts this blog and employs the author of this post.
Rep. Erik Fresen
Florida's new educational choice program for special needs students would see significant funding increases under spending plans unveiled this week in both chambers of the state Legislature.
A proposed budget unveiled Monday by Erik Fresen, R-Miami, the House's education budget chairman, contains an additional $13.5 million for Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts, which would bring their total funding to $31.9 million.
A plan released Tuesday by Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, the Senate's education budget chairman, would boost funding to an even $50 million, or more than two and a half times the $18.4 million set aside for the program in its first year.
The accounts are administered by two non-profit scholarship organizations, one of which, Step Up For Students, co-hosts this blog and employs the author of this post. (more…)
Last week, Katie Swingle spoke to the Florida Legislature about expanding access to Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts for special needs students.
She described her struggles, and recent success, looking for ways to meet the educational needs of her seven-year-old son, who has autism. Her remarks are noteworthy because - unlike so much testimony in Tallahassee - they came from the heart, and also because they highlight the different education options that parents of students with special needs often must try to navigate.
Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog and employs the author of this post, is one of two organizations currently administering the scholarship accounts. These are her words, lightly edited for length and clarity.
Katie Swingle
We moved to Florida when (my son) was four, and we did an IEP in Lee County, where we were living. I was very excited about it. I'm a big public-school proponent.
I knew about McKay (Scholarships, which help special needs students attend private schools). So I went ahead and we did pre-K, just in case we needed the McKay scholarship funds, but that wasn't my plan.
I really would rather have kept him in public school.
We started with Kindergarten, and within a week I knew we were in trouble. It wasn't the school's fault. I never will blame the school. Lee County was amazing, and they did everything they could to help me. My child is unique. It just was going to be impossible.
So I had to pull him out of kindergarten, which therefore made me ineligible for McKay (which requires prior public school attendance). I home-schooled him for kindergarten, and in the meantime my husband got a new job in Tallahassee, so we moved up here.
I didn't know what I was going to do, and I found Woodland Hall Academy. In the meantime, he had just been diagnosed with severe dyslexia. I was excited to find Woodland Hall because they also have a specialty in dyslexia.
Twenty-eight thousand dollars a year in tuition and tutoring and therapy. Speech therapy, occupational therapy, ABA therapy, which some of you may know is applied behavior analysis, which has been found to be the most helpful in serving children with autism. It's expensive.
John Kurnik
Wonks and politicos weren’t the only attendees at the Jeb Bush education summit in Tallahassee this week. Parents who support educational choice were also there, including John Kurnik of Tampa, Fla., who has a 12-year-old son with autism.
A college professor, Kurnik introduced Florida Senate President Andy Gardiner, and for good reason. Gardiner led the legislative charge last year for creation of Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts, a new ed choice program for students with significant special needs. Kurnik and his wife Mary secured a PLSA for their son, and have become vocal and visible supporters.
We thought Kurnik’s prepared remarks were worth posting in full. They’ve been edited slightly for length and clarity.
Good afternoon! My name is John Kurnik, and I am honored and humbled to be speaking to you today about high-quality education for the children in our state.
First, on behalf of my son John who has autism, my wife and family, the Florida PLSA recipients and the thousands of family members, friends, neighbors, and all those who will be touched in a positive and hope-filled way … thank you ... from the bottom of our hearts.
Thank you for knowing that the educational paradigm for special needs education requires early and effective intervention if we are to help these young people maximize their special gifts in a timely manner. And until now, many families including my own, have had to triage psychologist- and physician- recommended therapies and treatments according to those available services and the family budget. Or more times than not, completely go without.
Many thanks for helping these young people and their families with the hope of overcoming hurdles to success, and giving them the possibility of a productive, full, and happy life with the blessing of the PLSA. They will benefit from the PLSA. And when they benefit, all of us – our neighborhoods, our communities and our state – will benefit too.
I congratulate you for recognizing that special needs includes hope for the parents, siblings, friends, and relatives of a special-needs child who needs 24-7 care and attention by a wonder woman or superman parent or caregiver.
Thank you for trusting us as those caregivers for our special kids to make the best decisions possible on their behalf as good stewards of these funds which allow great things to happen. Believe that the vast majority of us play by the rules, and we agonize over the best use of this precious gift. (more…)
