Ron Matus

Ron Matus is director for policy and public affairs at Step Up for Students and a former editor of redefinED. He joined Step Up in February 2012 after 20 years in journalism, including eight years as an education reporter with the Tampa Bay Times (formerly the St. Petersburg Times). Ron can be reached at rmatus@stepupforstudents.org or (727) 451-9830<a title="Call: (813) 402-0207" href="https://stepupforststg.wpenginepowered.com/wp-admin/profile.php?wp_http_referer=%2Fwp-admin%2Fusers.php%3Fpaged%3D2#"></a>. Follow him on Twitter @RonMatus1 and on facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/redefinedonline">https://www.facebook.com/redefinedonline</a>.

10/23/23 | Ron Matus

A sweet example of education unbundling

MOORE HAVEN, Fla. – Education choice enthusiasts talk a lot about ESAs and part-time enrollment and “unbundling.” They are some of the keys to the future of public education. Millions...

10/16/23 | Ron Matus

A school in the woods where the sky’s the limit

SEBRING, Fla. – See that sweet building built around that cluster of moss- and fern-draped oaks? In Florida, we call that a school cafeteria. On the day I visited The...

10/02/23 | Ron Matus

The school these parents wanted didn’t exist, so with school choice, they created it

Florida is a hotbed for classical education. It’s home to at least 15 classical charter schools and dozens of classical private schools, including many that are classical Christian schools. Those...

03/13/23 | Ron Matus

Video: With rural school choice, a pearl of a school

Editor’s note: This is the third video in our series on school choice in rural areas. You can check out the first two here and here. And you can see...

01/05/23 | Ron Matus

South Florida’s education renaissance is about more than schools

MIRAMAR, Fla. – Broward County isn’t one of the locales featured in “The Geography of Genius: Lessons from the World’s Most Creative Places.” But if author Eric Weiner is game...

12/23/22 | Ron Matus

Best of 2022: School choice in Florida’s most rural county

Editor’s note: In keeping with our year-end tradition, the team at reimaginED reviewed our work over the past 12 months to find stories and commentaries that represent our best content...

12/08/22 | Ron Matus

Video: School choice at work in rural America

Editor’s note: This video spotlights another rural private school that caters to school choice students and is changing lives and communities for the better. To learn more about how...

12/06/22 | Ron Matus

School choice in Florida’s oyster country

Editor’s note: This distinctive high school in the Florida Panhandle is another compelling example of how education choice manifests in rural areas, contrary to myths perpetuated by choice opponents in...

11/29/22 | Ron Matus

Special report: Separating fact from fiction about rural school choice

Editor’s note: The Step Up For Students team of Ron Matus, director, policy and public affairs, and Dava Hankerson, director, enterprise data and research, provides an overview in this post...

11/14/22 | Ron Matus

GOOOOOOOAL!!! South Florida soccer school blazing another path for school choice

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – Danny Villegas knew that if South Florida wanted to develop the kind of elite soccer talent found in Europe, it would have to offer more than...

11/02/22 | Ron Matus

School at the beach? Why not?

DANIA BEACH, Fla. – While millions of American students sat in rows of desks under fluorescent lights, 40 kids in Take Root Forest School began their day in a state...

10/04/22 | Ron Matus

This gifted student could use flexibility in education choice

WILLISTON, Fla. – When Misty Dodd’s daughter Taelyr was in third grade, her teachers told Dodd that “Tae” needed to be in a school with more rigor. Tae, now 13,...

09/26/22 | Ron Matus

This rural homeschool co-op found out: If you build it, they will come

WAUCHULA, Fla. – Sandra Shoffner dreamed of starting a homeschool co-op, but she never imagined the reception it would get when it finally happened. Dozens of parents attended the first...

09/21/22 | Ron Matus

Special report: Why teachers are switching from public to private schools

Editor’s note: The Step Up For Students team of Ron Matus, Amy Stringer and Ronda Dry, as part of an ongoing effort to document the positive effects of education choice...

09/19/22 | Ron Matus

This family needs education choice for all its children, not just some

CHIPLEY, Fla. – The Hay family represents two compelling education choice stories at once: Education choice works in rural areas, and It’d work even better if everyone had the means...

08/23/22 | Ron Matus

Special report on teacher entrepreneurs: Leaving a classroom, starting a school

Editor’s note: This report was compiled by Ronda Dry, Lauren Barlis, Paula Nelson and Ron Matus at Step Up For Students, and Mike McShane and James Shuls with EdChoice. Five...

05/03/22 | Ron Matus

Micro-school pioneer: If I can do it, so can you

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Before all the buzz about learning pods and micro-schools, some folks were already creating learning pods and micro-schools. Jaime Manfra went down this path 10 years ago....

04/19/22 | Ron Matus

Yes, school choice works in rural areas

Editor’s note: This story is one in a series about the benefits and success of education choice in Florida’s rural areas. For school choice opponents across America who say school...

03/21/22 | Ron Matus

Making Christian classical education accessible to all

OVIEDO, Fla. – Kevin Clark is a fellow at The Society for Classical Learning. He’s co-author of an influential book about Christian classical education. For 15 years, he taught at...

03/03/22 | Ron Matus

There was no school, so this teacher created one

LaBELLE, Fla. – Nearly a century before micro-schools became a thing, a woman named Selma Daniels created one for Black students not far from the Everglades. In 1930, Daniels and...