A microschool in farm country
McALPIN, Fla. – Maybe it stands to reason that in a remote community surrounded by hay fields and pine plantation, students at a new, K-5 microschool would bring baby horses for show-and-tell, and the teacher would secure donations from Tractor Supply to start a garden. But don’t let stereotypes —...OUR LATEST
Facing a multimillion-dollar deficit, the board of the Roosevelt Elementary School District in Phoenix Arizona recently began a debate over a proposal to close as many as five schools, a... READ MORE
CLEARWATER, Fla. – The orphans in a tiny town in Tanzania left the biggest impression on Sarah Williams. They were so cute and kind and happy. And curious. The children... READ MORE
Florida’s scholarship program for K-12 students who don’t attend school full-time has turned on the “no vacancy” sign. The Personalized Education Program operates as an education savings account that allocates... READ MORE
Vice President Harris received more votes from every generation of Americans except Gen X, but as it happens the loss of Gen X proved decisive. Gen X, Americans born between... READ MORE
Jayleesha Cooper sat in her apartment at the University of Chicago and watched with hope as the election results rolled in. The college senior from Omaha had marked her mail-in... READ MORE
For the past 175 years, U.S. public education has been a government monopoly utilizing a one-size-fits-all approach to educating students. Educators know each student is unique, and many are poorly... READ MORE
Today is election day in America. In the immortal words of C3PO “Thank the Maker!” I do not know about the rest of you, but I am well past my... READ MORE
Florida’s public schools score among the best in the nation in nine-year-olds’ reading achievement. For low-income students, their results are the best in the nation, period. And they also deliver... READ MORE
Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has calculated a worker shortage index for each state, calculating the ratio of people looking for work... READ MORE
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LEARNING SPOTLIGHTS
Bringing water to remote villages in Tanzania a ‘life-changing’ event for Clearwater Central Catholic students
CLEARWATER, Fla. – The orphans in a tiny town in Tanzania left the biggest impression on Sarah Williams. They were so cute and kind and happy. And curious. The children were fascinated with Sarah’s long hair. It’s something rarely seen in that part of the world, where water is so... READ MORE
Jackson Pelletier’s enrollment at St. Paul’s Catholic School Riverside on an education choice scholarship began with a trip to the pediatrician. That’s when his parents, Natasha and Greg, noticed the... READ MORE
MIRAMAR, Fla. – William Ivins moved his family to South Florida ahead of his retirement from the United States Marine Corps and enrolled his children at Mother of Our Redeemer... READ MORE
IDEAS & INNOVATIONS
Rising parent demand stretches Florida’s Personalized Education Program to its limit for 2024-25
Florida’s scholarship program for K-12 students who don’t attend school full-time has turned on the “no vacancy” sign. The Personalized Education Program operates as an education savings account that allocates an average of $8,000 per student for approved education-related expenses. It has reached its statutory capacity of 60,000 students for... READ MORE
Blazing Stars, blazing trails
DADE CITY, Fla. – LaTania Scott and Kameeka Shirley were former public school teachers who wanted something different when they opened their own school in January 2023. Something … authentically Montessori … accessible to families from all walks of life … embedded with the autonomy that’s often missing from traditional... READ MORE
Some of the most valuable learning experiences happen outside the classroom. Public education is evolving to support more learning by doing. READ MORE
In the early days of education savings accounts, several of our intrepid Scooby-gang members wrote and spoke about user reviews as the future of “accountability.” In a multi-vendor system, we... READ MORE
Despite calls for reform and waves of attempted transformation, key features of American schools have been remarkably stable for more than a century. Students spend six or so hours... READ MORE
A surefire way to get heads nodding at an education policy conference is to call for dismantling the Carnegie unit. The question, and a legitimate fear, is whether efforts to... READ MORE
An episode of Paul MM Cooper’s outstanding documentary podcast series “The Fall of Civilizations” recounts the history of Carthage, which includes details of wars fought between the Carthaginians and Syracuse... READ MORE
U.S. public education has had three primary eras. The first era reflected the needs of a sparsely populated rural agrarian society. Most children were homeschooled and literacy focused primarily on... READ MORE
DADE CITY, Fla. – LaTania Scott and Kameeka Shirley were former public school teachers who wanted something different when they opened their own school in January 2023. Something … authentically... READ MORE
As we prepare to say goodbye to 2023, it is worth noting what an extraordinary year it was for parental choice advocates. As recently as 2022, no states had statewide... READ MORE
If 2023 could be summed up in a single word, it would be transformation. Florida lawmakers passed House Bill 1, which expanded education choice eligibility to all students in the... READ MORE
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