Back in 2017, techno-optimist Jason Bedrick made the skeptical Robert Pondiscio a bet on the adoption rate for self-driving cars in the Phoenix area:

"Robert and I are putting our money where our mouths are. Although I expect that in five years, few people will be sending their kids to school in autonomous vehicles, I predict that at least 25 percent of children in the Phoenix area will get to school via a self-driving car by the 2022-23 school year. This may sound overly exuberant, but with self-driving cars already on the Phoenix streets and Waymo launching its taxi service, I expect high demand for the safety that self-driving cars offer."

Pondiscio won the bet (a trip to a bar for a beer in a self-driving car). The 2022-23 school year turned out to be an aggressive prediction, especially given the pandemic's debut in 2019. Today in 2025, self-driving cars are increasingly ubiquitous in the Phoenix area. Phoenix also has a minimal amount of variation in weather, which represents a technical challenge for self-driving cars (R2D2 does not like fog). The price of a self-driving car ride remains slightly higher than a traditional ride-sharing trip, but there are paths to get the cost down and the very cautious driving style of automated taxis might appeal to parents. Not having to get into a car with a stranger might also help.

Anecdotally I am hearing reports of the parents of school age children using self-driving cars for extra-curricular activity transport and rumblings of school carpooling via Waymo. A carpool of adjacent students attending the same school would have advantages for both families and schools.

Arizona student transportation is, in a word, a mess. Everyone pays a property tax, which goes for a district yellow bus system that largely spins around in the same district attendance boundaries that Arizona families began ignoring decades ago. Thus, year by year yellow-bus ridership declines, but the cost of the system continues to rise. Consequently, if you drive past schools in the Phoenix area in the morning or during pickup time in the afternoon what you will often see is an extensive line of personal vehicles. So, what if humans didn’t need to be sitting in those lines (editor’s note: it’s not exactly fun to sit in a car line in Phoenix heat) and what if through carpooling there could be far fewer cars in the line?

Carpooling is the lowest of low-hanging fruit to address this issue; every empty seat in every vehicle is an opportunity. Arizona’s move toward a larger number of smaller schools calls for a more flexible and nimble system of student transportation that delivers smaller groups of students to a wider variety of schools. The combination of decreased self-driving costs and the modernization of antiquated student transportation policies might just happen. Alas, it is not going to happen on our preferred timeline (yesterday).

 

Texas school choice opponents are strong. I recall going to look up the number of lobbyists on retainer by groups opposed to choice during the 2013 legislative session, and the number was well over 100. If you observe social media, you might be tempted to conclude that Texas choice opponents were run of the mill rent-a-reactionary types, but I can assure you that many of the people on this list were deadly professionals holding close relationships with lawmakers, knocking on doors and stuffing envelopes during campaign season and more. This was only one advantage held by proponents of the K-12 status quo, hardly the only advantage. Looking at that list, I concluded that setting Texas students free would require something very special.

I was wrong. It took a series of special things and special people. Last night the Texas House of Representatives passed an ESA bill.

Gov. Greg Abbott deserves the thanks and gratitude of the choice movement, as does Texas House Education Chairman Brad Buckley and a large number of never-say-die supporters. This is an enormous achievement: if longstanding trends hold, the day will come when Texas has more students than California. Last time I checked, there were approximately twice as many K-12 students in Texas as Florida. My guess for the map of states with rubusto choice when the smoke clears from the 2025 session season looks something like:

Mind you, this map would have been exclusively gray as late as 2022. There are states colored gray, which are obvious candidates to color up. Supporting those state efforts must remain a primary goal of the education freedom movement. The most vital goal, however, should shift to a focus on bill quality above quantity.

Mighty oaks begin as small acorns. Arizona’s ESA program, for example, began with 151 students in 2011 but today provides the opportunity to participate to all 1.4 million Arizona K-12 students while enrolling 87,000 and counting. The program is formula funded, available to every student, and provides multiple educational options and methods. Acorn to oak tree can and has, in fact, happened.

We need more oaks more than we need more acorns.

The mightiest oak has grown in Florida; approximately two thirds of all K-12 students participating in account-based choice programs reside there. The care and nurturing of this oak have been a multi-decade task for Hercules. With twice as many K-12 students as Florida, Texas could someday overtake Florida in program size. Texas may be the only state with the potential to do so. That potential, however, will require a great deal more work.

I look forward to it. Onward!

On Dec. 16, 2017, the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture held a committee hearing on “Pros and Cons of Restricting SNAP Purchases.” SNAP is a federally financed food assistance program that faces many of the same dilemmas policymakers face over education savings accounts. Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, director of The Hamilton Project, provided testimony that speaks volumes to current debates over ESAs. I have no idea whether she supports, opposes, or has even ever heard of education savings accounts, but several of the points she raises seem very relevant to ESA debates today. Likewise, it does not matter whether you love, hate or are indifferent to SNAP.

Let us start with Whitmore Shanzenbach’s description of the SNAP program:

You could cross out the word “SNAP” and put in “ESA,” cross out the word “food” and put in “education,” and finally replace “nutritional” with “educational,” and you can see the policy parallel. The topic of the panel, basically “Should we let SNAP beneficiaries buy only nutritious food with SNAP?” gets answered with not just a “no” but with an emphatic “NO!” Whitmore Schanzenbach points out profound difficulties in “only letting people buy good stuff” below. It' a long quote but TOTALLY worth your time to read:

With my incredibly advanced graphic skills honed over a long lifetime of practice, I have noted a few things in this quote, reproduced below, which should make the Spidey-senses of ESA supporters tingle:

Okay, so let us run this through the translato-meter. First, we do not agree on what constitutes “healthy food.” If you do not believe me, google the phrase “Is eating bananas good for you or bad for you?” Spoiler alert: There is no consensus. “Consumers have vast differences in their tastes and preferences” in education just as much as food. Oh well, we can just put together an expert panel and let them decide. Baby Boomers and Gen Xers will, at this point, remind us of all about when we took this approach, and our “experts” created something called the “Food Pyramid” that told everyone to stuff themselves with bread nonstop. Strangely enough, Americans got more and more obese…

Oooops!

Putting my political science hat on, Whitmore Schanzenbach has established practical difficulties that would make a sensible person scream and run away from nanny-statism. There is, however, so much more! If the government decides which food you can buy with SNAP, lobbyists are going to come out of the woodwork. The apple growers will try to have oranges banned, and vice versa. Doughnut makers will make elaborate claims about their health benefits and why other pastries should be verboten, etc., etc., etc. Welcome to the political mosh pit of evermore with no escape, ever.

Now, having said all of that, SNAP does have vigorous ongoing efforts to prevent fraud and will not allow you to buy whiskey at the grocery store with your SNAP card. This is not an argument against guardrails on an ESA program; every state has them. It is, however, an argument in favor of a light touch by authorities, one that recognizes diversity in preferences and with the wisdom to recognize that we do not know the optimal way to educate every child. If we are curious about this latter question, we should let people figure it out for themselves. We just might learn things.

Micromanaging people’s lives is a strange game. The only winning move is not to play.

 

If you look at enrollment trends in the Arizona districts with the largest total enrollment losses, look at the Arizona Open Enrollment report and the Quarterly ESA report, you get Figure 1. In Figure 1, both the gains from open enrollment (blue columns) and the losses to other districts and to charter schools (red columns) are presented. The purple columns represent the ESA enrollment of students who live in each of these districts.

Note that the ESA students reside in these districts; many of them were never enrolled in the district where they reside when they enrolled in the ESA program. Some students were already attending private schools, in which case they effectively transferred from the private scholarship tax credit program to the ESA program. Others were in those red columns, attending charter schools and other district schools through open enrollment. Others enrolled in kindergarten straight into the ESA program; others moved in from other states. Others, of course, transferred into ESA directly from their resident district. The purple columns, however, undoubtedly overstate the impact of the ESA program on district enrollments.

Even if they did not, I invite you to compare the red and the purple columns. The financial impact to a district school is identical whether they transfer to another district school, to a charter school, to the ESA program, or move out of the state.

NAPLES, Fla. – Owen Phypers’ commute from his new home to his new high school took about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, his parents were driving 90 minutes one way to their old jobs near their old home so their son could have the opportunity to attend a private high school with high academic standards and a top-flight baseball program. Their sacrifice did not go unnoticed.

“It made me realize I can't mess around,” Owen said. “I have to make this worth it.”

Not that Owen messed around at his district school in his hometown of Lake Placid. He was a top student, a member of the National Honor Society, and captain of the baseball team. Yet, he felt he wasn’t reaching his potential in the classroom and on the diamond.

Neither did his parents, Brittany and Drew.

So, last year, the Phypers moved to Bonita Springs, and with the help of a Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options (FES-EO), administered by Step Up For Students, Owen enrolled at St. John Neumann Catholic School in Naples as a junior.

Was it worth it?

Well, as graduation nears, Owen is ranked fourth in the senior class. He is captain of his house (one of four that form Neumann’s student government) and captain of the baseball team. In June, he begins Plebe Summer at the United States Naval Academy, where he will major in engineering and continue his baseball career.

“This school has brought me to where I am now,” Owen said. “I honestly think so.”

Neumann’s baseball program was a big attraction for Owen. Its state-of-the-art facilities, respected coaching staff, and on-field success against some of the top programs in the state draw the attention of Division I-A coaches and Major League Baseball scouts. The Celtics fit what Owen was looking for as a means towards earning a Division I-A scholarship.

A right-handed pitcher, Owen noticed an improvement in every aspect of his game within a month of joining the program.

“I got better at everything,” he said.

His motivation to continue improving increased when a teammate committed to Division I-A power Florida State shortly after Owen enrolled.

“I saw that and said, ‘I want to be that guy,’” he said.

But, as his mom, Brittany said, “Owen loves baseball. But he’s not all baseball.”

Owen grew up on the family farm in Lake Placid, amid cattle pastures, citrus orchards, and caladiums. Lots of caladiums. Lake Placid bills itself as the caladium capital of the world.

But after 52 years, the farm was dissolving, and Drew needed a new line of work. He helped shut down the farm last year before landing a job as a project manager for a construction company in Collier County. Brittany, a teacher, finished the year at the district high school in Lake Placid before taking a teaching position at Neumann this school year.

Hence, the long commutes.

“Owen knew it was a sacrifice for us, both time-consuming and financially, but we were ready to make that sacrifice for him,” Brittany said.

The FES-EO scholarship, managed by Step Up For Students, helped ease some of the financial burden.

“Without a scholarship, we wouldn't have been able to afford to come here,” Brittany said. “It's just been life-changing for us. For everyone to be able to apply for it and have that opportunity is wonderful. It gives you an opportunity, and then it's up to you.”

It wasn’t long after Owen enrolled at Neumann when Brittany knew he would make the best of his opportunity.

“Coming here has just opened his eyes to the fact that there are students that are like him,” Brittany said. “They want to do well in class and have the same moral code and Christian values.

 Owen found the academics at his new school just as challenging as the athletics and that inspired him.

“There’s a lot more homework, and classes are a lot harder, and that pushed me,” Owen said. “It really caused me to grow.

“It’s an environment where all the kids want to be here. People want to become better. People grow in their faith, in every aspect of life.”

Neumann is designed to prepare high school students for college.

“It's not if you go to college, it's where you're going to college,” said Neumann Principal Sister Patricia Roche. “That's the attitude of everyone. This is not the end but the beginning.”

Owen knew he would attend college. The question was, where?

Two years ago, he wasn’t sure if he would garner the attention or develop the skills necessary to play NCAA Division I baseball. Whatever future he had in the game, he certainly didn’t think it would be at the Naval Academy. But the Navy coaches showed an interest in him, and once Owen gave it serious thought, it began to make sense.

He enjoys math, so a career in engineering was always attractive. He considers himself a leader, and the Naval Academy is filled with leaders.

“The main focus of Neumann is getting involved, helping others, which in turn, helps yourself,” Owen said. “I like to lead others, I feel confident leading others, and I saw at the Naval Academy the opportunity to grow as a leader and to support my country in any way.”

Also, Owen added, “I have a couple buddies who are playing baseball in college, and they play baseball, and that's kind of the only reason they’re there.”

He decided he wasn’t going to be just a baseball player. If he was going to major in engineering, he was going to do it at one of the top engineering colleges in the country.

“For my husband and I, this seems like the natural fit for him,” Brittany said. “He wanted to go somewhere where he was going to play and not sit on the bench, but he also felt like he had worked so hard his whole academic career to make really good grades and test scores, so he wanted to go somewhere that was going to be challenging as well. The value of that education has to be a payoff.”

The Celtic Ball, Neumann’s annual fundraiser, was held in January. Owen was one of the seniors picked to speak in front of the school’s alumni and donors.

“He represents the school well,” Sister Patricia said. “He's very articulate, and he's a role model among his peers. He's a leader, which is good. It's nice to have athletes who are on the right track.”

Owen spoke about his journey to Neumann and how it led to his journey to the Naval Academy.

And, with a nod toward the tradition that awaits him, he closed the speech with this:

“Go Navy!

Beat Army!”

 

When Florida lawmakers established the first statewide Charter School Review Commission in 2022.

The National Association of Charter School Authorizers also weighed in, saying that forcing school districts into sponsorship of schools they didn’t authorize would cause district officials to disengage, weakening charter oversight.

That was before Susie Miller Carello showed up. Before becoming executive director at the newly established Florida Charter Institute, she spent 12 years leading the Charter Schools Institute at SUNY, the largest higher-education authorizer in the country, and earned the moniker “America’s Authorizer.”

Under her leadership, New York choices, quadrupled enrollment, and significantly improved student achievement.  By the end of her term, she helped authorize 221 schools that enrolled 120,000 students.

A 2023 study by the Center for Research on Educational Outcomes (CREDO) showed that New York, known for highly acclaimed charter networks such as Success Academy and Uncommon Schools,  led the nation in outperforming their district school peers by the largest margins.

Carello’s job as chief of the Florida Charter Institute is to recommend to the seven-member statewide charter review commission whether to approve a proposed charter’s application or send the founders back to work on a plan that passes muster.

Since this institute began its work in 2023, would-be charter schools have submitted 22 applications. Just two made it to the commission for a vote. One of those was approved by the commission, the other rejected. Those who filed the other 20 withdrew their proposals after hearing Carello’s feedback.

“We’ve been very choosy,” Carello said. “We are committed to being very thorough and investigating the people who want to affect the lives of Florida children and gain access to millions in public funds to make sure they have not only a good design, but also that they have the capacity to put that good design in place.”

Statewide process more than a decade in the making

Efforts to establish a statewide review process that bypasses sometimes hostile local school boards stretch back nearly two decades. In 2008, a state appeals court struck down efforts to create a statewide charter school board like the ones in Massachusetts or Arizona.

In 2022, the Florida Legislature established the Florida Charter Schools Review Commission, with the institute as its administrative arm.  The commission reviews applications from charter operators and authorizes them to operate. Once authorized, the local school district becomes the sponsor and supervisor for the charter school and is responsible for monitoring the school’s progress and finances and providing certain services.

The state also has now allowed state colleges and universities to authorize and operate charter schools.

Multiple pathways reduce the chances that school board politics could block a new school. State charter commissions also have specialized staff who evaluate charter schools full time, while school district officials are often burdened with other responsibilities.

The main charge from detractors was that allowing multiple pathways for charter schools would roll out the welcome mat for questionable operations. Two years in, that hasn’t been the case.

A statewide process also allows one-stop shopping for charter networks that seek to open locations in multiple counties instead of forcing them to file separate applications in each school district.

Newberry community rallies to support proposed new charter school

Carello’s and the commissioners’ high standards were on display at their first official meeting last month.

Carello presented two applications. The first came from the Newberry Community School in Alachua County, where a group of parents and teachers narrowly to turn the district elementary school to a charter school.

The Alachua County School Board opposed the application and has since voted to appeal the state Charter Review Commission’s unanimous approval to the state Board of Education.

However, Newberry city officials expressed strong moral and financial support. Former state Rep. Chuck Clemons, who represented the local House district, and other local leaders laid out the school plan, including a $2 million loan from the city and $180,000 in private donations. Teachers and staff would also receive pay raises that matched the district’s as well as the same benefits offered to city employees, including health insurance and a retirement plan. School employees enrolled in the Florida Retirement System would be allowed to remain.

The level of community support impressed commissioners.

“It was awesome to see the partnership that they have with the city of Newberry,” said Commissioner Sara C. Bianca, one of seven commissioners appointed by the state Board of Education in 2023. “The mayor of Newberry and two city commissioners were there, and they were just excited.”

Other Florida cities, like Cape Coral and Pembroke Pines, operate municipal charter networks, but Bianca said the structure of the Newberry partnership “feels unique,” and she’s curious to see if other cities follow suit.

‘Inconsistent and incomplete’

The second application, which commissioners unanimously denied, came from Bradenton Classical Academy, proposed as a Hillsdale College Barney Charter School. While Carello listed the Hillsdale affiliation as a strength, it wasn’t enough to give Bradenton the green light.

The evaluation form, signed by Carello, included concerns about its educational program design, which it said aligned poorly with state standards, and described staffing and budget plans as “inconsistent and incomplete.” The evaluation also cited the safety plan as “lacking in detail” and potentially jeopardizing student safety.

“Collectively, these gaps highlight the need for significant improvements before the school can be deemed operationally and academically viable,” the evaluation said.

Carello explained later that this was the second time Bradenton Classical had applied through the Florida Charter Institute after being denied by the Manatee County School District.

“They were victims of many different versions of the application,” Carello said. When leaders first applied, she said the institute offered advice and sent them back so they could improve the plan and resubmit for a better chance of approval.

She likened the best business plan to a spider web, where every strand is connected. When touched, the web might jiggle but still holds together.

The Bradenton Classical officials resubmitted a plan that didn’t “hang together.”

Though charter applicants must clear a high bar, the institute provides resources and support for a successful outcome. However, Carello never lowers that bar once a school wins approval.

“The charter initiative was to allow people to try out innovations. They got five years to try them out and if they made progress, that was great. And occasionally, there was a school that didn’t, and we closed them down.”

 

The current debate over ESAs in Texas has brought irresponsible claims about the Edgewood Horizon program back to life. A voucher program funded by philanthropists, Edgewood Horizon made all Edgewood Independent School District students (located within San Antonio) eligible to receive a voucher to allay private school expenses. The Horizon program ran from 1998 to 2007, peaking at approximately 16% of Edgewood’s enrollment. Research on choice programs consistently finds positive competitive effects when districts are exposed to competition; as the ability of district students to exit to other options increases, so too do district scores. Choice opponents have been claiming Edgewood as a cautionary tale, but the available evidence demonstrates that Edgewood ISDs academic performance and financial trends were consistent with the research findings on the impact of choice.

Texas choice opponents of 2025, like Jurassic Park scientists, have cloned previous claims about this old program, and set them loose in the current debate. A recent San Antonio media report revisited the claims of Horizon program opponents Diana Herrera and Aurelio Montemayor:

“‘There’s like 1,000 school districts … and out of every school district in the state of Texas, Edgewood was the one selected. And once again, we had zero low-performing schools,'” (Herrera) said. “'So why did they come to Edgewood? The word was because they wanted to destroy us.’”

Herrera remembers the district cutting resources, expanding class sizes by combining smaller classes and cutting positions as the program expanded.

Students from all 23 campuses used vouchers, according to Montemayor, an educational specialist for IDRA, which opposes voucher programs.

“’What was happening at Edgewood was very painful,’ Montemayor said. ‘You had larger classes and they couldn’t shut down a school or hire more teachers. It was very difficult.’”

Was the Edgewood Independent School District destroyed, or for that matter visibly damaged? The Texas Education Agency keeps extensive academic and financial records on school districts. In 1997-98 the Edgewood Independent School District spent $85,695,522. By 2008 this total expenditure had not declined but rather had increased to $95,093,331.  Spending per pupil went from $6,060 to $9,039 during the same period. Average teacher salaries increased from $32,753 to $48,742 during the same period. By the end of the Horizon program, Edgewood ISD total expenditures stood at an all-time high and per pupil funding exceeded the statewide average.

Consistent with decades of research results, Edgewood ISD’s academic results also improved during the Horizon period. In 1997 55.1% of Edgewood ISD students taking state accountability exams passed all exams, compared to a statewide average of 73.2 percent. By 2008 this had increased to 57% of Edgewood students compared to a statewide average of 72% statewide. Far from falling apart academically, Edgewood narrowed the achievement gap with the state. Far from “destroying” Edgewood ISD the available evidence shows that district academic performance improved, and the district spent more rather than less money.

Unfortunately, the Horizon program ended in 2007, and the recent academic results of the Edgewood ISD do not indicate that the incremental academic progress was sustained after the conclusion of the program. In 2023-24 Edgewood students had one half the rate of meeting or exceeding grade level compared to the statewide average. The cautionary tale from the Edgewood experience is what happens when students lack an exit option, not when they actually hold one.

WINTER PARK, Fla.  – The piano stood silent in the corner of the empty gymnasium until Riccardo Cerutti sat on the bench, lifted the key lid, and played the opening notes of Billy Joel’s signature song, “Piano Man.”

“That’s me,” Riccardo said, “Piano Man.”

He moved on to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the 1975 rock ‘n’ roll anthem by the band Queen, and Riccardo’s favorite song.

The impromptu concert ended abruptly when the students of Highlands Latin School, a PreK-8 private school that shares the building with Chesterton Academy of Orlando, Riccardo’s high school, filed into the gym for afternoon dismissal. The piano couldn’t compete with the chorus of excited voices waiting for their ride to arrive in the pickup line.

Besides, Riccardo had to get ready for basketball practice.

Piano and basketball are just two of Riccardo’s many interests. There’s also poetry, songwriting, origami, karate (he’s a black belt), reading (science fiction, philosophy, and the classics), and learning.

Especially learning.

Riccardo, a junior, has been a top student since arriving in the middle of his freshman year at Chesterton Academy, a small private high school north of Orlando that is rooted in Catholic values. He’s earned a 4.0 GPA each semester while acing regional and national tests. Riccardo was recognized as a “National Scholar” because of his score on the CLT10, an online college preparatory exam, which made him one of the top 50 students in the nation

“He is the kind of student you dream of teaching,” said Michael DeSalvo, who teaches theology and philosophy. “You can't hyperbolize enough here.”

Riccardo, 16, and his sister Sara, a freshman, attend Chesterton Academy with the help of the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options managed by Step Up For Students.

Born in the Netherlands to parents who are from Italy, Riccardo moved to central Florida with his family when he was 7. He attended his district school for two years before his parents, Stefano and Serena, decided on homeschooling. But when it was time for high school, they wanted their son to experience a more traditional learning environment.

“We believe that homeschooling is great for all grades, except in high school,” Stefano said. “You really need to have a group of other students with whom you are actually studying together, because at that stage, the education really demands intensive discussion on the materials that they're studying.

“Literature is not just reading. It’s discussing what you just read.”

Riccardo’s parents also wanted him to attend a school that would help grow his faith.

“We read about the aim of Chesterton Academy. We share their goals,” Serena said. “And we know one of the founders of this particular school. We felt it was the best option for our kids.”

The scholarship helps pay for the tuition at Chesterton Academy.

“Well, obviously, it's a very good thing and not only for us, but for anyone who wants to actively be engaged in the education of their kids … So, it's good for everybody to have this possibility,” Stefano said.

He said he wasn’t unhappy with the district school his children first attended; it just didn’t meet his standard for education.

“And that’s why we started homeschooling,” he said.

Although Riccardo initially hesitated to leave the homeschool setting, which is why he didn’t enroll until mid-freshman year, he is glad he made the move.

“I've made the best friends that I've ever had in my life here,” he said. “I really feel like I found the right people here, and I feel like I've – maybe this will sound selfish – but I've really gotten the chance to be appreciated.”

At Chesterton, Riccardo found a group of classmates who shared his values and interests. He is the co-captain of the basketball team. He formed a rock band with five other students. He plays the piano, co-writes the songs, and provides backup vocals.

“It's fun to play, compose, improvise, interpret, just listen to,” he said. “You know, play with friends, compose with friends.”

Riccardo has been taking piano lessons for six years. He recently received the highest-scorer award for piano performance level 7 in the Florida/Georgia area. Influenced by Queen, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and classical music, he’s composed more than 50 pieces, some instrumental, some with vocals. His song, “The Loser,” about a teenager who constantly makes excuses for his shortcomings, brought down the house last year at Chesterton Academy’s annual talent show.

“Board games, card games

every type of game

It’s just the same

You pour your heart and soul in it

You get all fired up

Then the timer’s up

And your anger flares

‘Cause it’s so unfair

And you act like it’s the end of the world.”

“I wrote 'The Loser' based on my personal experience of being a sore loser,” Riccardo said. “I was frustrated with myself, ruining fun games with friends by getting so upset. The song was my way of expressing that. Even though it's in second person, it's really about me.”

Listen to a demo of "The Loser" as well as other demos written and performed by Riccardo.

Chesterton is divided into four houses, each named after a saint. Riccardo is the prefect of House Augustine. He composed the music to the house’s alma mater and co-wrote the lyrics with another student.

DeSalvo is the house mentor, and Riccardo said the alma mater captured DeSalvo’s vision for the house.

“Set the example. Do things first. Be innovative. Think of new things to do and be the reason why everybody's doing it,” Riccardo said.

That is in sync with Stefano’s goal for his children: Exceed expectations.

“Don't settle for the minimum that’s required,” Stefano said. “Aim for the best you are capable of.”

That’s not hard for Riccardo. His appetite for learning is insatiable.

“I would say it's not just love of learning and knowledge, although that certainly plays into it. It’s just wanting to know more about the world,” Riccardo said. “I would say it's just a desire to do things well.

“Even if there's a class that I don't particularly like that I’m personally not too attracted to, I still try to do well because that's the right thing to do. It's just a matter of principle.”

Riccardo, who is dual enrolled at Seminole State College of Florida, plans to attend the University of Central Florida and major in math, with a goal of earning a PhD in physics or engineering. He hasn’t decided on a career path but thinks it might be something in research.

Chesterton Academy employs the Socratic method of instruction, where desks are arranged to form a square around the class. Teachers lead discussions from inside the square instead of from the front of the room, using open-ended questions to encourage critical thinking. It is the exact learning environment that Riccardo’s parents sought for his high school education. And, DeSalvo said, it is a setting that allows Riccardo to reveal his thought process as he arrives at his answer.

“For him, he not only understands what he's learning, but he also understands how he’s learning,” DeSalvo said. “He just has a very deep kind of penetrating mind. There’s nothing you can teach him that he's not going to understand eventually.

“This is what makes teaching fun. You almost learn more when you're teaching, and it's students like Riccardo that make that obvious. You're learning just as much as they are.”

 

 

TAMPA, Fla. — Parents, many pushing babies in strollers with school-age children in tow, made their way through the covered pavilion as they surveyed the brightly decorated tables representing 28 local schools.

Their goal: To gather as much information as possible as they try to figure out the best educational fit for their children, either for the 2025-26 school year or beyond.

“We’re all over the place with which school,” said Gevrey Lajoie of South Tampa. Her son, Elijah, is only 3, but she said it’s not too early to begin looking at options. A mom friend told her about the School Choice Safari at ZooTampa at Lowry Park. It would give her a chance to check out many schools all in one place and learn about state scholarship programs.

Lajoie isn’t alone. For this generation of Florida families, gone are the days of simply attending whatever school they’re assigned based on where they live. Families actively shop for schools; schools actively court them, and districts perpetually create new programs.

And while the benefits are clear, some families end up feeling adrift in a sea of choices.

New organizations are springing up to help families find their way. "A variety of options are out there, and the number is growing, but families don’t know how to navigate them. There was no place for them to go to get help,” said Kelly Garcia, a former teacher who serves on Florida’s State Board of Education.

In 2023, the Tampa Bay area resident and her brother-in-law, Garrett Garcia, co-founded GuidEd, a nonprofit organization that provides free, impartial guidance to help families learn about available options so they can find the best fit for their children.

The organization hosts a bilingual call center where families can get information about all options in Hillsborough County, from district and magnet schools to charter schools, private schools, religious schools, online schools and even homeschooling. GuidEd also helps families sift through the various state K-12 scholarship options. The group also hosts live events, such as the School Choice Safari, to connect families and schools.

Organizations are cropping up all over the country, especially in areas with lots of choices. Their specific missions and business models vary, but they are united by a common theme: They help families navigate an evolving education system where they have the power to choose the best education for their children

Jenny Clark, a homeschool mom and education choice advocate, saw the need for a personal touch in 2019 when she launched Love Your School in Arizona.

“One of the most important aspects of our work is knowing how to listen, evaluate, and support parents who want to talk to another human about their child's education situation,” said Clark, who had seen parents struggle with the application process surrounding the state’s new education savings accounts program. The program has since expanded to West Virginia and Alabama.

Clark’s nonprofit provides personalized support through its Parent Concierge Service, which offers parents the opportunity for phone consultations with navigators. Love Your School also provides free online autism and dyslexia guides and details about the legal rights of students with disabilities, and it hosts an online community where parents can get support.

“Our services are unique because we pride ourselves in being experts in special education evaluations and processes, which are required for higher ESA funding, public school rights and open enrollment, experts in the ESA program law and approved expenses, and personalized school search and homeschool support,” Clark said.

Kelly Garcia, GuidEd’s regional director, has hosted several in-person events that feature free snacks, face painting, magicians, and prize giveaways in addition to booths staffed by schools and other education providers. During the recent event, parents could visit a booth to learn more about the state’s K-12 education choice scholarship programs.

Garcia, whose organization prioritizes neutral advice about all choices, including public schools, advises parents to start by assessing their child’s needs and then identifying learning options that would best serve them. GuidEd’s philosophy is to trust parents to determine the best environment for their kids.

At the School Choice Safari, families got to check out private schools, magnet schools and charter schools.

“There’s a school out there for everyone,” she said.

During the zoo event, Garcia personally escorted parents with specific questions to the tables where they could get answers.

One of them, Hugo Navarro, recently moved to Tampa from Southern California to start a new job for a national investment firm. His wife, who had remained with their three kids in California, had already started researching schools online, but Navarro wanted to get an in-person look at providers and learn more about state education choice scholarships before their 7-year-old son starts school in August.

On his wish list: academic rigor, a focus on the basics, and a diverse student body.

“Academic ratings, that’s our number one thing,” he said.

A Catholic school that offers academic excellence was also a contender, though a secular school wouldn’t be a dealbreaker if it had a reputation for strong academics.

Garcia and Clark both said that as new generations of parents grow more comfortable selecting education options, they see the navigators’ role becoming more relevant, not less.

“Parents can use online tools like google to search for schools, but the depth of what parents actually want, and our highly trained knowledge of a variety of educational issues means that as choice programs grow, the need for our parent concierge services will continue to grow as well,” Clark said. “There are exciting times ahead for families, and those who support them.”

As the number of schools and a la carte learning options grows, Garcia said, families will need information to better customize learning for their children.

“This is a daunting task, even for the most seasoned parents,” she said. “At GuidEd, we see a growing need for unbiased education advisers to ensure a healthy and sophisticated market.”

Garcia compared the search for educational services to buying a home.

“A family is not likely to make a high-stakes decision, like buying a home, by relying on a simple Zillow search,” she said. “Instead, they use the Zillow search to help them understand their options and then rely on a Realtor to help guide them through the home- buying process, relying on their trusted, yet unbiased expertise. We see ourselves as the "Realtor" in the school choice or education freedom landscape.”

I received some interesting responses to last week’s post where I showed some math on how few votes it could have swung control of the Arizona State Senate in the 2024 elections and noted that one of the Arizona political parties having proposed eliminating five popular choice programs may have helped Republicans expand their previous narrow majority. One response focused on a relative who voted for Kamala Harris for president but only voted for state legislative Republicans because her grandchildren participate in the Empowerment Scholarship Program. I had not even considered grandparents and relatives (other than parents) of students participating in choice programs, but they are indeed out there and are registered to vote.

Another response noted that the potential coalition against private choice was much larger than that in favor of private choice in Arizona, given that far more students attend school districts than participate in choice programs. The latter part of this is of course true, but I noted that both absolute and per pupil spending in Arizona school districts stands at or close to all-time highs, making it a fairly latent constituency. Notwithstanding a whole lot of windy rhetoric, no one is proposing to eliminate district schools in Arizona (or anywhere else).

Supporters of private choice programs, on the other hand, have watched as Gov. Katie Hobbs proposed eliminating the programs that they rely upon, making them more of an active constituency. I had a couple of readers inquire as to why I did not include charter school students and families. To my knowledge no one has proposed eliminating Arizona charter schools, so I view them as a mostly latent constituency, at least until someone is reckless enough to threaten their existence.

I put together the chart below based on a few different sources of information. Some numbers are from 2025; the tax credit numbers are from the state’s 2023 report. The tax credit donor numbers only count donations, rather than the number of members of the families who made the donation. There is certainly some double counting going on with the original and switcher credits, as many people claim both. The parent figure is an estimate that assumes 1.5 parents per ESA student in 2025 and does not consider the possibility of other relatives. The below list is by no means exhaustive, or even close to it.  Also included are the number of swing votes each losing candidate would have needed to win in the swing Arizona Senate races.

Here goes:

By November 2026, these numbers are going to look even less forgiving than they do now. There are a whole lot of registered Democrats in those larger numbers. It might not be a great idea to give them an incentive to split their tickets to vote in their kids’ interests in legislative races.

By the way, did I mention that the margin of victory in Arizona’s 2022 governor’s race was 17,117 votes and, in the attorney general race, the margin was 280 votes?