Creating Competition Through School Choice

Background

Few Florida students are stuck attending the school around the corner if they are unhappy with that school’s performance. From magnet, charter, single-sex academies and offering businesses tax credits to provide private school scholarships, Florida is a national leader in the move away from mandating attendance in the local school district.

The goal is to allow parents and students to choose the school that works best for them, and to encourage traditional public schools to improve their performance. School choice includes public options, such as specialty magnet programs and charter schools, run with public funds.

Choice also includes private options such as the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program for businesses and other donors who fund private school scholarships for low income students. Nearly 29,000 students received a private school scholarship during the 2009-2010 school year, according to the Florida Department of Education.

The Florida Supreme Court struck down a private school voucher program in 2006.
Florida school choice also includes the McKay Scholarships, which allows K-12 students with disabilities — including intellectual, vision, hearing or learning — to choose to attend another public or private school. More than 22,000 students received a McKay Scholarship during the 2010-2011 school year.

Earlier this year Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, signed legislation that makes it easier for students to transfer to public schools outside their district, allows good charter schools to expand more quickly, expands McKay Scholarship eligibility, increases business tax credits for scholarship donations and allows the Florida Virtual School to offer elementary school courses.

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April 2, 2012

Florida Is the 8th-Friendliest State For Charter Schools, Report Says

Florida ranks eighth in the nation for laws which promote innovation, equal funding and ease of expansion of charter schools, according to a ranking from the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Education Reform. That moves Florida up two places from last year’s report as the Sunshine State improved its score slightly. Among the short-comings in the […]

March 21, 2012

Parent Trigger Is The Wrong Kind Of Choice, Cato Argues

The Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based, think tank that has been an ardent supporter of school choice, has published a piece opposing the ‘parent trigger.’ The law allows the majority of parents at chronically low-performing schools to petition for one of four methods to overhaul their schools, including replacing administrators and staff, closing the school […]

March 6, 2012

Pinellas School Board Recommends Closing Charter School With Scientology Ties

Bonnie Harvin says her 11-year-old daughter is doing well at Life Force Arts and Technology Academy in Clearwater. “She’s a straight A student,” says Harvin. “Her FCAT scores are above grade level. So yes, I do think she has improves. A lot” But Pinellas County school board members say the evidence to close Life Force […]

February 21, 2012

Parent Trigger Now Playing In The Legislature, Coming Soon To Theaters

The parent trigger will be the next education issue to receive the Hollywood treatment later this year. The New York Times reports producers are planning a September release for “Won’t Back Down,” a fictional dramatization of a campaign to restructure a low-performing Pennsylvania school. The movie follows on the success of charter school documentary “Waiting […]

February 15, 2012

House Panel Denies More Money For Charter Schools

Florida lawmakers agree on one issue: Charter schools need more money for renovations, equipment and software. But House lawmakers have rejected a proposal that school districts say would take money from their traditional public schools and give it to charter schools. Committee chairman Rep. Marti Coley, R-Marianna, said lawmakers need to find a funding solution […]

February 2, 2012

Q & A: Gloria Romero, Author Of California’s ‘Parent Trigger’ Law

California was the first state to adopt a ‘parent trigger,’ which allows a majority of parents in a failing school to vote on a method to restructure the school. The bill is expected to be among the most contentious education issues of the 2012 legislative session. Activists have lined up against the bill, arguing it […]

January 27, 2012

How The GOP Field Disagrees With Florida’s Education Plan

Do the Republican candidates for president support the ‘Florida model’ for education? On issues of accountability and school choice the answer is yes. However, many in the field criticize the federal role in education and would reduce or eliminate the agency. That puts some of the candidates in conflict with former Gov. Jeb Bush, a […]

January 25, 2012

Explaining Florida’s ‘Parent Trigger’

The so-called “parent trigger” bill is expected to be the most controversial piece of education legislation in Tallahassee this year. House and Senate panels gave initial approval to the proposals, HB 1191 and SB 1718, yesterday. But what does a “parent trigger” do? And how does this bill work? And why do people support and […]

January 17, 2012

Florida Tops Nation In Charter School Laws, Study Says

The Sunshine State ranks 3rd in the country for having some of the best charter school laws, according to a study by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS). Each of the 42 states with charter school laws are scored on how well their laws support charter school growth, accountability and quality. Actual school performance isn’t a factor in the NAPCS […]

December 26, 2011

Feedback Loop: More On Students With Disabilities And The Law

Last week we ran a story talking to attorneys about what the law requires for students with disabilities. One expert we spoke with, Joy Zabala with the Center for Applied Special Technology, responded to clarify her position. Zabala said she’s most concerned that portions of federal disability law intended to provide access to students with […]