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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October 26, 2011

Three School Ideas Ohio Should Import From Florida

In the trade balance between Ohio and Florida, the Sunshine State usually imports far more than it exports. (Those imports are usually in Clearwater wearing Ohio State jerseys on Saturdays) But School Choice Ohio believes the Buckeye State should import some education ideas from Florida. The group released a Friedman Foundation report today that argues […]

October 19, 2011

Florida Districts Make Top 10 Lists for Charter Enrollment

Three Florida districts landed on charter school Top 10 lists, according to a new report from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Orange County tops the nation for growth in charter school enrollment, up 42 percent during the 2010-2011 school year. Miami-Dade ranked seventh for the total number of students enrolled in charter schools, […]

October 13, 2011

Charters Not A Choice in Many Florida Counties

In Clay County, high school students can study aerospace, information or agricultural technology at one of twelve specialized academies. But students in this suburban Jacksonville district can’t attend a charter school. There are none. More than one-third of Florida’s 67 counties did not have a charter school during the 2010-2011 school year, according to a […]

Mapping Florida Counties Without Charter Schools

This map shows Florida school districts which did not have a charter school during the 2010-2011 schools year. More than one-third of Florida counties do not have a charter school, but those counties make up only 5 percent of statewide public school enrollment. Click on a district for more information about charter school enrollment.

October 7, 2011

So You Want To Send Your Kid To A Charter School…

So you think you want to make the switch and send your kid to a charter school, but you don’t know where to start. As a part of our ongoing series on charter schools, we’ve identified the best places you can turn to to help you decide which Florida charter school is best for your child. Find […]

October 5, 2011

Schools You Think Are Charters… But Aren’t

There are a lot of Florida schools that look and function like charters, but really aren’t. And when we embarked on this series, we couldn’t always tell the difference between one public school with a focus on science and another public school with a focus on science. But it turns out there can be quite a […]

October 4, 2011

Inside Florida Charter School Contracts

Yesterday we looked at some of the misconceptions about how Florida charter schools must operate. Today we’ll take a look at a couple of charter contracts to see the different requests school districts make of charter applicants. Seminole County asked Galileo School for Gifted Learning to abide by the class size limits for district schools, […]

October 3, 2011

Five Misconceptions About Charter Schools

If Michele Gill learned anything from helping open a Seminole County charter school this fall it’s this: Charter schools cannot do anything they want. Despite some public perceptions, Gill said opening Galileo School for Gifted Learning has meant navigating a complicated network of state and federal regulations. Then school leaders have to make sure the […]

September 29, 2011

Q & A: Charter Schools USA CEO Jonathon Hage

Charter Schools USA is one of Florida’s largest for-profit management companies, with 25,000 students in three states. The company was just awarded a contract to help turn around three Indiana schools taken over by the state. Charter Schools USA CEO Jonathon Hage is a one-time adviser to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and helped draft […]

September 28, 2011

From Minnesota to Miami: The History of Florida Charter Schools

Charter schools are an idea dreamed up by an obscure education professor in the 1970s which have grown into a primary alternative to traditional public schools. One in 17 Florida students attended a charter school last year, a number that has increased almost six-fold in a decade. But where did charter schools come from? Like […]