Tres Whitlock types on the DynaVox tablet that serves as his voice. Whitlock, 17, has cerebral palsy and can’t speak on his own. Whitlock is trying to enroll in a Hillsborough County charter school, but has yet to enroll because of concerns about the therapy and services he needs.
Tres Whitlock is stuck in a public school where he feels ignored. He wants out.
The 17-year-old would-be video game designer researched his options online and found his perfect match – Pivot Charter School.
“It’s computer-based and I think I will do better,” he says.
But when Whitlock tried to enroll in the school he found a series of barriers in his way.
The reason? He has cerebral palsy, and the Whitlocks say school officials told them they don’t have anyone to take Whitlock to the bathroom.
For the past three months, StateImpact Florida has been working on an investigation of charter schools. Wednesday morning, the truth comes out — both here and on NPR’s Morning Edition.
The question: How many of Florida’s charter schools serve children with severe disabilities? Here’s a hint: surprisingly few.
Patrick Farrell / Miami Herald Staff
Jeremy Rosende participates in his first-grade art class at the Renaissance Charter School in Coral Springs.
This is being done in conjunction with a six-month investigation involving the Miami Herald called “Cashing in on Kids.” Check out their findings on self-dealing by charter school officials and even politicians cashing in on the system.
Other stories have included anecdotes suggesting charter schools are cherry picking their kids, and excluding kids with disabilities.
StateImpact Florida got the data (it wasn’t easy, more on that later) and it shows some interesting patterns.
NPR is also airing a version of our story during Morning Edition Wednesday morning. Right now, the story is scheduled to start at 6:21 and 8:21 a.m. EST.
Florida’s education commissioner is defending his decision to toughen the standards for tenth grade reading. Commissioner Gerard Robinson acknowledges more students are likely to fail that portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). He is seeking a passing score that’s two points higher than a panel of school and business experts recommended.
Robinson told The Palm Beach Post editorial board this week that tougher scores are necessary to make sure high school graduates are ready for the next step. Tenth graders must pass the FCAT reading exam in order to graduate.
Florida’s graduation rate has been on the rise for the last six years. In fact, the rate has reached its highest level ever. That’s the news from the Florida Department of Education, which just released a report for the 2010-2011 school year.
The results show minority students in particular continue to graduate at higher levels. Hispanic students have increased graduation rates 13 percent and African-American students are up 11.5 percent since 2006-07. Overall, Florida’s graduation rate rose more than one point to 80.1 percent last school year. That’s an increase of nearly 10 percentage points since 2006-07.
The current graduation rate is 68.4 percent for African-Americans, 77.3 percent for Hispanics, and 86.8 for white students. Continue Reading →
Jeremy Rosende participates in his first-grade art class at the Renaissance Charter School in Coral Springs.
Florida charter schools are a $400 million business operating with little oversight whose business interests occasionally conflict with their educational mission, according to the first story in a Miami Herald three-part investigation published Sunday.
The first TUDA was offered in 2002 and is given every other year. It assesses the performance of public school students and compares scores for 21 urban districts across the nation. It continues to grow, and every district that was invited to participate this year agreed to do so.
2011 is the first year the Hillsborough County school district participated, and the results show Hillsborough students get some bragging rights. It turns out they largely outperformed their peers in the other 20 urban districts that took part, and performed above the national and state average.
Gov. Rick Scott proposed adding $1 billion to K-12 budgets Wednesday.
Here’s a sampling of coverage of the budget proposal Gov. Rick Scott unveiled Wednesday. Scott wants to add $1 billion to K-12 education, but it could come at the expense of Medicaid and other state programs.
Scott vowed to veto any budget that did not increase K-12 funding.
Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson said his decision to raise reading test requirements means fewer students will pass, but that state teachers and students will rise to the occasion
Of particular concern are the new reading requirements for 10th graders on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Students must meet a minimum score in order to be considered proficient and graduate from high school.
School district superintendents have said the current scores are too high. A panel of school, college and business experts recommended a score of 243.
Robinson announced Wednesday he recommends 10th graders score at least 245.
Gov. Rick Scott has unveiled his proposed budget for the next fiscal year. It’s $4.6 billion less than the current state budget, but education gets a big boost. Scott is seeking a $1 billion increase in education spending with a focus on grades K-12. “Despite tough economic times,” said Scott, “this investment will provide the third highest level of state funding ever into Florida’s 67 school districts at 9.5 billion.”
It’s an about-face for Scott, who proposed a 10 percent cut in education last year. Lawmakers ultimately gave him an 8 percent decrease. As Scott’s popularity ratings took a nosedive, he started looking at how education could play into his plan to create 700,000 jobs in the state over seven years. Continue Reading →
Gov. Rick Scott listens at a Miami business roundtable meeting in August.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott wants to add $1 billion for Florida education, according to the News Service of Florida, despite an expected $2 billion budget shortfall.
Scott will release his budget today, but News Service of Florida said he gave school leaders a preview Tuesday:
In a conference call with state school superintendents Tuesday, Scott, who will be proposing his second budget since getting elected in 2010, said he plans to call for lawmakers to increase per-pupil spending from $6,262 to $6,372, even after factoring in expected growth of about 30,000 more students over the current school year.
A spokesman for the governor said late Tuesday that officials in the governor’s office believe it would be one of the largest increases in K-12 spending in recent history if lawmakers were to go along…
His spokesman, Lane Wright, declined to say Tuesday where the governor will propose to cut spending to be able to afford the proposed boost in education spending a cut that will need to be even larger because of revenue projections that are off by nearly $2 billion over what legislators earmarked this year.
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