Tennessee Education ReportAndy Spears of the Tennessee Education Report says sponsors of Tennessee’s new education savings account program for children with special needs don’t know much about the bill they just passed.
But it may be Spears who doesn't understand the bill, as he spends more time speculating on parental rights than explaining what it would do. He also also incorrectly claims that Florida started a "similar program" in 1999.
First, let's address Tennesee's new school choice bill. The apparent confusion likely stems from a tendency among critics of private school choice to label all such programs as "vouchers." Tennessee could soon become the fifth state to implement a flavor of school choice known as education savings accounts, which are different from traditional vouchers.
The new program would allow parents of students with Individualized Education Plans access to education savings accounts worth up to $6,600. The accounts will allow parents to pay for private school tuition, fees, textbooks, school supplies, curriculum, tutoring, exam fees, services contracted by a public school (including individual classes and extracurricular activities), college savings accounts, as well pay for therapies with the child’s physician and more. There is a similar program in Florida, but it started in 2014, not 1999.
Tennessee - The Volunteer State
It is a fair concern, but Spears should stop and wonder why so many parents in Florida are have chosen private schools or home education. He might also wonder why, if IDEA ensured every child's needs were met, a cottage legal industry of parent advocates has sprouted up to sue school districts on behalf of shortchanged students.
For some parents, having a choice protects their children's rights more effectively than any regulation. It might not be for everyone, but neither is the status quo.
Thelma HarperSen. Thelma Harper (D-Nashville) argued against the proposed Opportunity Scholarship program this week in the Senate Ways and Finance committee. Her testimony included this gem (at about the 1:01:05 mark):
Sen. Harper
"Hell, you didn't have no choice when I came along. You went to public schools and you just went to public schools and that's what we should be doing now. We should put whatever money that they need ... We shouldn't even talk about no choice. Hell, we didn't have no choice. Not at all. You shouldn't have no choice now. You should take care of public schools."
Sen. Harper may have missed the positive effects school choice, via charter schools, is already having for Tennessee’s students.
They wanted a different choice.
But imagine if legislators before Sen. Harper maintained such an admiration for the status quo in education as she does now:
“School buses? We didn't have school buses, we had Conestoga Wagons."
"Small Classrooms? We only had one room."
"Guidance counselors? That was a foot-long paddle with the teachers name on it."
"Reduced price lunches? Why, hamburgers only cost a nickel."
"Air conditioning in school? We called that opening a window."
Sen. Harper may not have had school choice when she was a young girl, but times have changed, in many cases for the better.
Not every school board in Florida wants to sit on its hands when it comes to helping students in struggling charter schools improve. Osceola County School District is stepping in at Acclaim Academy Military Charter School – which faces automatic closure for receiving two consecutive F's - to ensure the school remains open and students can finish the year without major disruptions.
That is good news for students, especially graduating high school seniors. The district has yet to decide if it will continue operating the charter or allow a different operator to take over. At the very least, the district is vetting the principal and teachers to ensure they are capable of continued employment as educators.
Hopefully the district can find a way to turn the school around. At the very least, it's encouraging to see the district's leadership looking out for the well-being of students in the charters it supervises because, as School Board Chairman Tim Weisheyer said (according to the Osceola News-Gazette), "... we know it’s the right thing to do for these kids."
Rex Sinquefield and the Children’s Education AllianceProgressives in Missouri criticized Rex Sinquefield for conspiracy theories about public schools, spending millions on campaigns supporting private school choice and for donations to ALEC, but they remain oddly silent about the way he, and the organizations he backs, are spending money right now.
Before we discuss these latest expenditures, a little history is in order.
Last year, over 1,000 students (about one of every four) in the mostly low-income, minority Normandy School District transferred out thanks to a law that allowed students in low-performing districts to enroll in higher-performing districts. As a result of all the transfers, Normandy faced bankruptcy and was taken over by the state. The Missouri Board of Education voided the district’s low-performing status and revoked the right to transfer. Fortunately, a judge recently overturned the Board’s new rule.
Normandy students
Now Normandy must allow students to transfer and every district, except for the mostly white and affluent Francis-Howell School District, agreed to comply. Francis-Howell said they would only accept transfer students upon direct court order.
In other words, officials in the mostly white affluent district told low-income minority parents they needed to hire a lawyer if they wanted their child enrolled. Fortunately, Rex Sinquefield’s Children’s Education Alliance is covering the legal expenses of any Normandy parent who wants to do that.
So far, the attorney for the alliance has enrolled 17 students in Francis-Howell and is requesting court orders for another 35. Francis-Howell, meanwhile, has spent $17,000 trying to keep the students out.
Alabama: Judge Gene Reese issues a stay on his own injunction against the Alabama Accountability Act school choice program (AL.com, Montgomery Advertiser, redefinED, American Federation for Children). The decision to lift the injunction takes uncertainty away from low-income families (AL.com). Jeff Reed, public relations director for the Friedman Foundation, says school choice thrives in the state even with the lawsuit (One News Now).
Arizona: Eileen Sigmund, president of the Arizona Charter Schools Association, and Glenn Hamer, the association's vice chairman, say charter schools provide some of the best education in the state and are still looking to improve (Arizona Republic).
Connecticut: Education leaders in Bridgeport drop the idea of suing the state over approving six charter schools in the area after the city attorney says the district has no basis for a lawsuit (Stamford Advocate).
Delaware: Lawmakers debate education savings accounts (JayPGreene.com, Choice Media, Education Week). The News Journal editorial board supports school choice if parents pick charter schools but not if parents want vouchers or education savings accounts to choose private schools.
Florida: The Florida PTA, state teachers union and Florida NAACP urge the governor to veto a school choice bill that includes expansion of tax credit scholarships (the scholarship program is administered by Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog). (Tampa Bay Times, Orlando Sentinel).
Idaho: Terry Ryan, president of the Idaho Charter School Association, says over 19,000 children attend charter schools in the state, making support for it a winning proposition for elected Republicans (Idaho Education News). (more…)
Arizona: Amy Silverman, a journalist at the Phoenix New Times, says charter schools lead to segregation for special needs students (note: the state has two private school scholarship programs for special needs students).
California: All candidates seeking to fill a vacant school board seat in Los Angeles agree on the value of public charter schools (LA School Report).
Florida: Sherman Dorn, a professor at Arizona State, ponders why there has been no constitutional challenges to the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program or the state's other voucher programs. The American Civil Liberties Union is filing a complaint to stop single gender schools (redefinED). State Impact looks at some of the research on single gender schools. U.S. Rep. Dan Webster, R-Orlando, explains why he supports charter schools (Sunshine State News). The Duval County School District may lose up 3 percent of its total enrollment to charter schools over the next decade (Florida Times-Union).
The Legislature sends the tax-credit scholarship expansion bill to Gov. Rick Scot (Heartlander). The teachers union asks the governor to veto it (Orlando Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times). A record-setting 100,000 students have started applications for tax-credit scholarships (redefinED). Chris Guerrieri, a public school teacher and education choice opponent living in Jacksonville, makes many negative claims about parental choice and Step Up for Students (which co-hosts this blog) (Gainesville Sun, Pensacola News-Journal).
Georgia: The Atlantic Public School District is negotiating a compact with local charter schools to encourage collaboration (WABE Public Radio). The number of charter schools that must hold admission lotteries grows as waiting lists increase (The Telegraph).
Louisiana: A bill to allow students in low-performing public schools to transfer to higher-performing schools advances (Associated Press). Traditional public and charter schools in New Orleans look to expand the use of technology in the classroom (Hechinger Report). U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, supports charter schools and believes every child should have the right to attend one if they wish (CNN). Two bills that would negatively impact charter schools fail to pass out of committee (The Advertiser). Kenyatta Collins, a high school student attending a charter school in New Orleans, says her school focuses too much on discipline and not enough on academics (Time). (more…)
Arizona: A bill to allow children of military service members killed in action to become eligible for Empowerment Scholarship Accounts passes into law (Watchdog). Gov. Jan Brewer vetoes a bill to allow owners of S-Corps to receive individual tax credits for donations to scholarship funding organizations, but signs two bills related to Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (Arizona Republic, Associated Press).
California: Two Democrats battle for leadership of California's K-12 system: one backed by the establishment and the other backed by education reformers (Reuters).
Colorado: The school choice oriented school board in Jefferson County looks to provide more equity for charter school funding (Denver Post). Fewer students get their first choice in Denver's public school choice program (Chalkbeat).
D.C.: The D.C.Public Charter School Board hears proposals for eight new charter schools (Washington Post).
Delaware: A charter school principal says charter schools were meant to help improve the quality of public education but not intended to simply duplicate public schools (The News Journal).
Florida: The senate revives a plan to expand the tax-credit scholarship program, but the senate's version is less ambitious than the House version (Education Week, Tampa Bay Times, Florida Current, The Ledger, WFSU, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Highlands Today, GTN News, St. Augustine Record, redefinED). William Mattox, an education researcher at the James Madison Institute, argues that private schools already face greater accountability because parents, and donors, can leave at any time (Daytona Beach News-Journal). A local public school PTA president favors school choice and says the legislature should expand options, not deny them (Tampa Tribune). The Palm Beach Post editorial board opposes expanding tax-credit scholarship eligibility from 230 percent of poverty to 260 percent because that now represents the middle class. The Orlando Sentinel editorial board opposes expanding the tax-credit scholarships without more accountability, which the editorial board defines as taking the exact same test as public school students. The Tampa Bay Times editorial board believes it is hypocritical to require the FCAT of public schools and students but not of private school students on scholarship. A private school principal says she supports school choice in all its forms because schools that work for one child may not work well for another (Context Florida). A tax-credit scholarship mom says she is thankful for a program that helps build a future for her children and others (Daytona Beach News-Journal). (more…)
Alabama: The Alabama Education Association, which opposes a new tax-credit scholarship program, says former Gov. Bob Riley has personally banked up to $1 million from it (he has made $0) (AL.com). The AEA is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to back Republican and Democrat candidates to run against lawmakers that support school choice. (AL.com).
Arizona: A bill to expand the education savings accounts program advances in the Senate (Arizona Capitol Times, Associated Press) but is defeated after nine Republicans vote no (Arizona Republic, Arizona Daily Star, Associated Press). Laurie Roberts, a columnist for the Arizona Republic, describes the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts expansion as a bill designed to weaken public schools. The accounts allow families access to special needs funds in order to customize the learning options for their children (Wall Street Journal, Jay P. Greene Blog). The editorial board for the Daily Courier says school choice should remain limited to public schools, including public charters. The accounts allow parents to save money for use in future education, including higher education, and David Saifer, a columnist for Tucson Weekly, seems to think saving money is a terrible idea. So do public education officials (Arizona Capitol Times). A Democrat campaign manager says the accounts will destroy public education (Maricopa.com).
Delaware: State officials approve four new charter schools (The News Journal).
Florida: Steve Knellinger, an administrator at St. Petersburg Christian School, says tax-credit scholarships create more options and help improve student achievement (Tampa Bay Times). A mother of two tax-credit scholarship students is mad the PTA is fighting thel scholarships (Florida Times-Union). James Herzog, director of education for the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, says there is good evidence to prove school choice expansion is needed (Palm Beach Post). Gov. Rick Scott is noncommittal on whether private schools accepting scholarship students should take the same state assessment as public schools (State Impact). The Florida Citizens for Science want private schools that accept tax-credit scholarships and vouchers to teach evolution by state standards (Tallahassee Democrat). A former Republican lawmaker says public schools should be fully funded before allowing voucher programs to expand (The Ledger). Frank Cerabino, a columnist with the Palm Beach Post, says school choice has been around for a long time for those who can afford it. The Florida Times-Union editorial board says education achievement is getting better and solving poverty is a better solution to improving schools than attempting school choice. Eileen Roy, a school board member in Alachua County, thinks vouchers will destroy public schools (Gainesville Sun). Former state Senator Al Lawson says tax-credit scholarships serve some of the most disadvantaged students in the state and the program deserves to be expanded (Florida Today).
Democratic lawmakers blame charter schools for a decrease in state appropriated capital funding for public schools (Creative Loafing). Charter school critics claim charters get the lion's share of capital funds but the critics disregard local revenue sources (redefinED). Six single-gender charter schools will open over the next few years in the Jacksonville area (Florida Times-Union). (more…)
Alabama: Rep. Craig Ford, D-Gadsden, says the Alabama Accountability Act, which allows students in failing districts to transfer to private schools, is a failed experiment (Anniston Star). A lower court dismisses a suit filed by students to stop the state's school choice program (Associated Press).
Alaska: A private school tax credit bill passes through the House (Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch).
Arizona: School districts are worried about education savings accounts expanding (Ahwatukee Foothill News). Applications for state voucher programs doubled over last year (Associated Press).
California: More students in southern California are switching to virtual schools (Daily Press). Two charter schools in LA are given permission to enter into negotiations with the school district to take over vacant school buildings (LA Times).
Connecticut: A group called Connecticut Voices for Children reports that school choice programs segregate special needs and English Language Learners (New Haven Register, Connecticut Mirror). However, that same report shows charter schools are far more likely to serve minority students.
D.C.: The district releases the full data on parental school choice lottery preferences (Washington Post). Mayor Vincent Gray outlines a new school boundary proposal that includes lottery-based open enrollment (Washington Post).
Delaware: Stacie Beck and Eleanor Craig, associate professors of economics at the University of Delaware, make the case for tax-credit scholarships (The News Journal).
Florida: A bill to expand Florida's tax credit scholarship program and create education savings accounts for special-needs students advances out of the House on a mostly party-line vote (Capital Soup, Orlando Sentinel, WFSU, Sun Sentinel, Florida Current, redefinED). (The scholarship program is administered by Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog.) Earlier in the week, a House committee voted to strip the tax credit proposal of additional funding but the bill will still increase the income eligibility (Orlando Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Tampa Bay Times, Associated Press, News-Journal, redefinED). (more…)
Alabama: A bill to eliminate the $7,500 cap limit on individual tax-credit scholarship donations advances in the state legislature (Decatur Daily).
Alaska: Tony Knowles, the former governor of Alaska, says vouchers have never improved student achievement or graduation rates, so the state should spend more money on public schools (Alaska Dispatch).
Arizona: The Arizona Education Association opposes the education savings account expansion, calling them "vouchers in disguise" and claiming vouchers do not improve student achievement (Arizona Republic). Matthew Ladner, the "inventor" of education savings accounts, says school choice allows students to match their needs with the strengths of the appropriate school (Arizona Republic). State and national groups write legislation at home and abroad, including the state's education savings account bill (Arizona Republic).
Arkansas: The Blytheville School District votes to opt out of the Public School Choice Act again (Courier News).
Colorado: Parents in Jefferson County pack a school board meeting to show their support for increasing charter school funding (9 News).
Connecticut: The state Department of Education approves four new charter schools for Bridgeport and Stamford (Connecticut Post, Fox CT).
D.C.: District officials release the lottery results; 85 percent of students were accepted to a school in their top three choices (Washington Post).
Delaware: The Delaware Charter School Network says charter schools offer students choices (The News Journal).
Georgia: A group of parents sue the state over the tax-credit scholarship program (Atlanta Journal-Constitution). (more…)
Arizona: Former state Sen. Tom Patterson says school choice is opposed by unions because the unions feel school choice threatens jobs for adults (East Valley Tribune). An advancing bill will allow special needs kids to have access to Empowerment Scholarship Accounts without having to get approval from school districts first (Associated Press).
Florida: The tax credit scholarship expansion bill that was killed in the senate gets new life (Miami Herald). A bill that would allow education savings accounts and an expansion of the tax-credit scholarship program advances out of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on a party line vote (redefinEd, Orlando Sentinel, Miami Herald, WFSU, Associated Press, The Florida Current). There has been a genuine surge in applications for tax credit scholarships, so much so that processors stopped keeping a waiting list for fear of creating false hope. (redefinED). Valerie Strauss says there was never a wait list for the tax-credit scholarship program (Washington Post).
Lawmakers look to make opening charter schools easier (WPTV) and give charter schools access to unused school district buildings (redefinED). A bill to allow school choice students to participate in extracurricular activities at a local public school advances unanimously through three committees (redefinED). One out of every 10 students in Palm Beach now attend a charter school (Palm Beach Post).
Illinois: The Chicago Tribune editorial board says the state should expand charter school authorizers and not eliminate the new Charter School Commission.
Kansas: Republicans remove a tax-credit scholarship proposal from the education funding bill (Witchita Eagle).
Kentucky: The state senate passes a bill which would allow low-performing public schools to be converted to charter schools (Education Week).
Louisiana: The Lafayette Charter Foundation says charter schools are public schools (The Advertiser). Charles Lussier of The Advocate, says the state's charter schools have been strong performers but new schools in Baton Rouge must must be better.
Massachusetts: Hundreds of parents protest the expansion of charter schools (Boston Globe). Charter school supporters want to lift the state cap on charters (Salem News). A bill to expand the number of charter schools in the state fails to meet a deadline (Education Week, Milford Daily News). (more…)
