Help is on the way for struggling young readers in the Pelican State, thanks to some inspiration from the Sunshine State.

Lawmakers in Louisiana recently approved HB 85, which established a statewide reading scholarship program named for the late state Rep. Steve Carter, a former Louisiana House education chairman who died in January from COVID-19 complications. Carter was known for his support of statewide school choice scholarships.

The program, approved on a unanimous bipartisan vote, was modeled after a similar one in Florida, which was the first of its kind in the nation when lawmakers approved it in 2018. The program served 5,375 Florida students in its inaugural year and 6,285 students during 2019-20. Figures released last week show that 3,496 students were found eligible in 2020-21, although the actual number may be higher; standardized tests, which are used to determine eligibility, were not given in 2020 due to the pandemic.

“This literacy program was the final legislative initiative championed by Rep. Steve Carter before leaving the legislature in 2020,” said Kelli Bottger, American Federation for Children’s Regional Government Affairs Director. “Rep. Carter worked tirelessly throughout his career to ensure Louisiana’s children, regardless of their ZIP code or income level, had access to a quality education through school choice. His idea couldn’t come at a better time when far too many Louisiana children are dealing with significant learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Louisiana program offers parents of struggling readers access to an annual $1,000 reading scholarship account, a type of education savings account that can be used for tuition and fees related to part-time tutoring, summer and after-school literacy programs, instructional materials and more.

Scholarship accounts will be available to public school students in grades K-5 who have reading difficulties which, according to the legislature, is about 160,000 students, and students in kindergarten through third grade who either read below grade level or are deemed “at risk” for reading difficulties.

The program also is designed to help fourth and fifth graders “who scored below mastery in English language arts on the state assessment in the prior school year” or were “recommended by an English teacher.”

“Louisiana students have struggled with literacy for decades,” Rep. Scott McKnight (R-Baton Rouge) said in April when he introduced the bill to the House Education Committee. “It’s time for literacy to become a priority in our state.”

Modeled after the Florida program, the Louisiana program includes some key differences. It doubles the scholarship amount and covers three additional grades, though the state is still searching for a way to pay for the program’s projected $159 million cost.

Florida’s program offers $500 per student in grades 3 through 5 who scored a performance level of 1 or 2 on the English Language test, with priority given to students who are classified as English Language Learners. The program pays for tuition and fees related to part-time tutoring, summer and after-school literacy programs, instructional materials and curricula related to reading or literacy.

Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, administrates Florida’s Reading Scholarship Program.

Florida lawmakers expanded the state’s literacy improvement efforts when they approved HB 7011, which identifies and helps students who have deficiencies in reading by implementing voluntary pre-K through eighth grade screening and progress monitoring. HB 3, championed by House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, gives free books for academically struggling K-5 students, with the goal of helping them overcome literacy challenges.

Sprowls, in promoting the new reading initiatives, said that while Florida has made amazing strides in reading in recent years, “it would take 230 years for every child in the state to read at grade level” at current progress levels.

Recent results from the Florida Department of Education show the average drop in third grade reading scores was 4 percentage points statewide. Overall, 54% of third graders passed the spring exams compared to 58% in 2019 when the tests were given before testing was canceled due to the pandemic.

About half of the 67 districts in 2021 had larger drops then the 4-point figure, the state data show.

According to information for parents prepared by the Department, third grade is when students who are behind in reading have more difficulty. Florida law says third graders who do not score at least a Level 2 on the state reading test will not be promoted to fourth grade.

Florida has been a leading K-12 innovator for years, so it is no surprise it became the first state to offer education savings accounts (ESA) to children in public schools.

Launched in 2018 to 5,375 students, the Reading Scholarship provides students in third through fifth grades accounts worth up to $500 to pay for tutoring, afterschool and summer school reading programs, books and other services dedicated to improving literacy.

This year, the Florida Legislature appropriated $7.6 million to fund the scholarship program.

Students must be struggling learners, scoring a “1” or “2”, the two lowest scores, on the Florida Standards Assessment. Level 2 students are described as “below satisfactory” and likely needing substantial support for the next grade. Students scoring Level 1 are considered to have “inadequate” reading skill and highly likely to need substantial support. Students who are English language learners are given priority.

After they receive their children’s reading scores, parents apply through Step Up For Students, one of two approved non-profit scholarship administrators in Florida (and host of this blog). Once the Florida Department of Education ensures students are enrolled in public schools in eligible grades, parents are awarded a $500 scholarship to help improve the literacy of their child. 

For now, parents are reimbursed for purchases within two to three weeks. But that system could change.

Florida’s other ESA program, the Gardiner Scholarship for students with special needs, functions in a similar method. However, Step Up developed a proprietary software program called “MyScholarShop,” allowing parents to directly purchase products and services through their ESA. To date, the parents of nearly 5,000 children have used MyScholarShop to make over 65,000 purchases totaling $19.2 million. MyScholarShop allows Gardiner parents to directly purchase thousands of pre-approved items. In addition to MyScholarShop, parents can use their education savings accounts to directly pay for services from over 9,000 approved vendors, tutors, and medical professionals, without having to wait for reimbursement.

This year 4,039 students have been found eligible on the Reading Scholarship, with 1,690 already funded and more applications on the way.

The Central Florida Urban League in Orlando is a leading proponent of the program, helping hundreds of students apply in the first two years. The chapter even developed and promoted a reading program after partnering with several Orange County public schools.

In the program’s first year, the League partnered with nine public schools to provide tutoring to more than 700 disadvantaged students. With the help of the reading scholarship and a $100,000 donation, hundreds of struggling fourth- and fifth-grade students received free tutoring services.

“It has been a godsend for parents who struggle and can’t afford tutoring for their children,” said Glen Gilzean, the League CEO. Gilzean says other Urban League chapters in Duval, Miami-Dade and Pinellas counties plan on developing their own partnerships with local public schools. Gilzean is the former vice president of family and community affairs at Step Up For Students, the non profit that administers the reading scholarship and hosts this blog.

Charter schools are getting involved, too.

Dayspring Academy may enroll about half of the current Pasco County reading scholarship students, says John Legg, a former state senator who was a primary sponsor of the Gardiner Scholarship and is the CFO of the charter school. Legg is currently a board member of Step Up For Students.

Dayspring offers an hour-long math and tutoring program that meets twice per week during the school year for students in second through fifth grade who score 1, 2 or 3 on the FSA. Dayspring has about 60 students participating in the afterschool program, with nearly 40 enrolled through the Reading Scholarship.

Before the Reading Scholarship was available, the charter school could afford to offer afterschool tutoring for only 30 minutes.

“We could not do this without the Reading Scholarship because the cost would be too great,” Legg said. The math portion of the program is supplemented through a separate grant, according to Legg.

As the program grows, more public schools are expected to participate. Staffers at several school districts, including Liberty, Columbia and Hillsborough counties, have expressed interest in the program.

 “It’s a starting point,” says Gilzean, “but it really does make a difference.”

States wishing to emulate Florida don’t have to copy the program word for word. Since reimbursement programs are harder on low-income families, and the fact that many families use the scholarship to pay for tutoring, a program could function like a traditional voucher to be used at schools or tutoring centers. Eligibility doesn’t have to be limited to public school students or confined to just reading.

Such a program might be available for all students, including private school, charter school, homeschool and public school students, and be used to help pay for afterschool and summer school programs, tutoring for reading and math, to help students with disabilities receive speech, behavioral, or occupational therapy, or provide mentoring and job training for at-risk students and students with special needs.

Giving parents command of K-12 funding in this way may very well be the future of education.

Florida’s two separate ESA programs come the closest to that future, but no state has blended such a diverse array of options together into one program for all students. The race is on to see which state will be first.

DOE budget request: The Florida Department of Education's budget request to the Legislature calls for a spending boost of $200 per student. Among the specific spending requests are $100 million more for school safety, $67.5 million for training and arming school staffers and an additional $10 million for student mental health. If the request is approved, it would represent an increase of $673 million, or 3 percent, and boost the budget to more than $21.7 billion. Last year the education budget approved by the Legislature was $321 million less than the DOE requested. Politico Florida.

Florida SAT scores lag: Florida's class of 2018 posted an average score of 1014 on the SAT exams, trailing the national average of 1068, according to the College Board. The results mirror those on the other big college admission test, the ACT. Last week, the College Board announced that Florida students scored an average of 19.9, below the national average is 20.8. About 97 percent of Florida high school graduates took the SAT, and 66 percent took the ACT. Orlando Sentinel. (more…)

Tax hikes for schools: Property tax rates for most Palm Beach County government agencies have remained steady in the past few years, but the tax rate for schools has dropped 20 percent since 2011. In just the past three years, the tax rate has dropped from $7.51 per $1,000 of taxable value to $6.57, which translates to $181 million less in taxes collected for the school district. The decline, which has been dictated by the Legislature, is a prime reason why the district is asking voters in November to approve a special property tax increase that could raise $150 million a year for four years. Palm Beach Post. If Alachua County voters approve a half-cent increase in the sales tax, the school district could receive an extra $22 million a year to upgrade facilities and close the racial achievement gap, which is one of the largest in Florida. Gainesville Sun. Nearly 1,800 items appear on a list of school upgrade projects that will get taken care of if Hillsborough County voters approve a half-cent increase in the sales tax Nov. 6. The tax is forecast to raise $1.31 billion over 10 years, and a school spokesman says nearly half is being set aside to repair air-conditioning systems. Tampa Bay Times.

Active-shooter drills: The state now requires schools to provide training to students on how they should respond to an intruder. But how do you properly explain an active-shooter situation to a kindergarten student? Pinellas County teachers are about to undergo training on ways to present age-appropriate safety information to students. Material will be broken into two groups: for pre-kindergarten through 5th-grade students, and for 6th-12th. It was compiled by the National Association of School Psychologists, the National Association of School Resource Officers and Safe and Sound Schools, and parents whose children died in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut. Tampa Bay Times. (more…)

Medical marijuana: Many Florida school districts are defying the state law that allows students to use prescribed medical marijuana at schools. State law requires all school districts to have a written policy governing medical marijuana. But that same law exempts schools from accommodating on-campus use of medical marijuana. So some districts are choosing to follow federal laws that still classify marijuana use of any kind illegal. “The voters approved keeping it away from schools and prisons," says Mitchell Teitelbaum, attorney for the Manatee County School District. "But the Legislature amended it to allow students to use it. What we need is the state Legislature to provide clarity on what is allowed.” USA Today.

School security and more: As more schools open today and this week, districts continue to pull together their security plans, try to fill open teaching positions and refine their objectives for the year. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. Palm Beach Post. Orlando Sentinel. Daily Commercial. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Key West Citizen. Citrus County Chronicle. Palm Beach Post. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Ocala Star-Banner. WFLA. WTSP. Leon County teachers talk about inspiration and offer advice to new teachers. Tallahassee Democrat.

Mental health services: School districts are getting millions of dollars from the state to offer students more mental health services. And while there are questions about student privacy, since they are required to disclose previous mental health issues, experts expect the benefits of the new initiative to be substantial and long-lasting. “It’s fantastic,” says Candice Crawford, president and CEO of the Mental Health Association of Central Florida. “A lot of these children, and especially at-risk kids, tend to end up in the juvenile justice system without ever having been evaluated for mental health issues or given any services. And then people just write them off as bad. The long-term impact of this is going to be remarkable.” Orlando Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. (more…)

Cruz's statement released: Nikolas Cruz, accused of shooting 17 people to death at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, told police he had been hearing voices that told him to buy a gun and to "burn, kill, destroy." Left alone during the interview, Cruz was recorded talking to himself, saying: “Kill me. Just f---ing kill me. ... I want to die. At the end, you’re nothing but worthless s---, dude. You deserve to die because you’re f---ing worthless and you f---ing (unintelligible) everyone. I want to die.” Cruz's attorneys tried to keep the statement from being made public, but a judge ruled against them and the transcript was released Monday, The video will be released today. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. Associated Press. TCPalm. The Broward County School Board is asking a judge to hold a newspaper in contempt for publishing a report on Cruz's school experience that included material the judge ordered redacted. The method the district used to redact parts of the report allowed reporters to see those parts by copying the report and pasting it into another document. Sun-Sentinel.

Reading scholarships: Florida families can apply for the state's new reading scholarship starting Aug. 13. Students are eligible if they scored a Level 1 or 2 on the language arts Florida Standards Assessment test in grades 3 or 4 in the 2017-18 school year. The scholarships are available on a first-come, first-served basis for up to $500 to help pay for tutoring and materials. Special priority will be given to English language learners. The scholarship is administered by Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog. Gradebook.

VPK readiness test: The practice round for the state's Voluntary PreKindergarten (VPK) programs is over, and those programs will have to have 60 percent of their students pass the kindergarten ready test this year to avoid being put on probation. During the trial period, just 42 percent of VPK providers managed to reach the 60 percent benchmark. Many managers of those programs say the problem lies not with the programs or the students, but with the tests. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (more…)

Shootings review halted: Broward County school officials are suspending a retired FBI agent's investigation into the actions of school employees during the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14. The reason given is to avoid duplication with the investigation by the state-appointed safety commission. “We recognize that the staff is continuing to recover from this tragedy,” the district’s statement said. “To avoid asking them to participate in duplicate interviews and to streamline the process, the district has decided to suspend its internal review, and give priority to the (state commission's) investigation.” Sun-Sentinel. WPLG.

Private school enrollment: Private school preK-12 enrollment is up in Florida for the seventh straight year, according to a report from the Florida Department of Education. The 370,116 students at 2,650 schools was an increase of 0.5 percent, which is the slowest rate of growth since the 2010-2011 school year. Florida Tax Credit Scholarships and McKay Scholarships for special-needs students account for 42.5 percent of private-school enrollment. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the state's tax credit, Gardiner, Hope and reading scholarships. redefinED.

Water contamination: Cancer-causing chemicals have been found in groundwater in three wells tested in Satellite Beach. The low-level contamination is thought to stem from the use of fire-extinguishing foams from nearby Patrick Air Force Base. Wells near Satellite High School, Sea Park Elementary School and city hall were tested after concerns were raised about cancer clusters in alumni and staff from Satellite High. A community meeting will be held Sunday to discuss the results. Florida Today. Several members of the Hillsborough County School Board are unhappy that they weren't notified earlier about the district's testing of water in 50 schools over the past year. Lead was found at 21 of those schools. Deputy superintendent Chris Farkas apologized, saying, "We always want to get better, and one thing I don't think we did very well was notify staff." Gradebook. (more…)

New rules for scholarships: The Florida Board of Education approves rules for two new scholarship programs created by the Legislature. The Hope Scholarship gives students who are victims of bullying, intimidation, sexual offenses or violence the opportunity to ask for a transfer to another public school or to receive a scholarship to a private school. Students may apply in October. The scholarships for struggling readers in 3rd through 5th grades who don't pass the state test will be open for applications next month. Both are administered by Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog and also helps administer the state's tax credit and Gardiner scholarship programs. redefinED. News Service of Florida. Orlando Sentinel. Gradebook. Politico Florida.

Charter rejections reversed: The Florida Board of Education also overturns the Palm Beach County School Board's rejection of two charter schools' applications. Board members followed the recommendation of the Charter School Appeal Commission, which said the school board did not have good cause to reject the applications from the South Palm Beach Charter K-8 school and Renaissance Charter High School. Sun-Sentinel. redefinED. The board also approved, with conditions, turnaround plans for struggling schools in several Florida districts. Tampa Bay Times. Florida Times-Union.

Tax hikes for raises: The Miami-Dade County School Board will ask voters in November for an increase in property taxes to give teachers and other employees a pay raise, and to hire additional security personnel for schools. If approved, the tax would raise about $232 million a year for four years. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is proposing that 90 percent of the money raised be used for salary hikes, which could mean pay raises of up to 20 percent for some teachers. Miami Herald. WLRN. The Palm Beach County School Board unanimously decides to ask voters in November to approve higher property taxes. If approved, the measure would generate an additional $200 million a year for four years, which the district would use for higher teacher salaries, school security and mental health counseling, and to maintain its arts, music, physical education, career and technical education programs. The measure does not set aside a set percentage for charter schools. Palm Beach Post. Sun-Sentinel. Members of the Bay County Citizen’s Oversight Committee tour schools as they consider security upgrades and future half-cent sales tax projects. Panama City News Herald.

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