Rep. Vance Aloupis, R-Miami, narrowly beat his Democratic opponent in 2018 to represent Florida’s 115^th District, a seat held by former Education Committee Chair Michael Bileca. One of many freshman members serving this year on House education committees, Aloupis wants to become a legislative leader in early childhood development. (more…)

By Scott Kent and Donna Winchester

Some people just can’t take “no” for an answer.

Among them are administrators at hundreds of Florida private schools that are providing free and reduced tuition to thousands of students on the waiting list for the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship.

A case in point: Sunrise Academy in Orange City, a preK-12 school that enrolls 157 students. Founder and president Yahayra Marte, who describes Sunrise’s philosophy as “leave no one behind, like the military,” has waived tuition for 42 students. She’s reduced fees for another 15 students.

Marte estimates that Sunrise has taken a $312,000 financial hit, which has necessitated sacrifice – the school had to postpone a scheduled pay increase for its teachers. While the response to assisting wait-list students has been “unbelievable, extraordinary,” Marte is hoping she can make up the shortfall next year.

Enrollment in the FTC, the nation’s largest scholarship program for economically disadvantaged K-12 students, dropped this fall for the first time in 14 years. (Step Up For Students, a nonprofit that administers the scholarship, hosts this blog.) The Florida Department of Education reported that as of November, the scholarship was serving 99,453 students in 1,799 private schools. That’s 7,505 fewer than the same period last year, and 8,645 fewer than last year’s total.

The decline was caused by a slowdown in corporate contributions and has led to a gap between scholarship supply and family demand. Under the scholarship law, companies that contribute to approved nonprofit scholarship organizations receive a 100 percent credit against six different state taxes. From 2010 to 2017, tax-credited contributions grew annually by about 25 percent. Last year, that rate fell to 16 percent.

This school year, through December, contributions have increased by only 4 percent, matching the pace at which the values of the scholarships rose. As a result, nearly 13,000 students landed on a waiting list because there weren’t enough funded scholarships to go around. And that figure likely understates the unmet demand.

Step Up For Students had received 170,096 scholarship applications before shutting down the online application system June 29. Step Up president Doug Tuthill projects the nonprofit would have served about 70,000 more students if it had the funds.

Many private schools that accept FTC students, like Sunrise Academy, have stepped into the breach. Of 433 FTC-eligible schools who responded to a Step Up For Students survey, 234 said they have waived tuition for students on the waiting list, and 271 said they have provided reduced tuition; many are doing both.

The schools come in all sizes, from Masters Preparatory School in Hialeah with 245 students, 90 of whom are wait-list students who have received free or reduced tuition, to Pensacola Junior Academy with 33 students, six of whom have been accommodated financially.

Overall, the survey shows that 1,276 waiting list students have had their tuition waived; 1,507 have benefitted from reduced tuition. That’s more than 2,700 scholarship-eligible students who are attending a school of choice they otherwise would not be attending.

Many schools are making an enormous financial sacrifice, in some cases forgoing hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. Most view the commitment to students not in monetary terms, but as a mission.

“It’s my heart’s desire to see them do well,” said Donna Lee Buckner, founder and principal at Lakeland Institute for Learning. “That’s the bottom line and the motivation for it all.”

The school, which serves special needs students with cognitive impairments and those with limited proficiency in English, has an enrollment of 70. Buckner waived tuition for 40 wait-list students and offered reduced tuition for 25 others this year. She estimates the school is subsidizing between $150,000 and $200,000 in tuition.

“If we didn’t do this, it would be a hardship for most of these parents,” Buckner said. “I do ask them to donate a certain number of hours back to the school to help us offset the cost of some of our services.”

Help could be on the way. At a Martin Luther King Jr. Day speech Monday at Piney Grove Boys Academy in Lauderdale Lakes, Gov. Ron DeSantis pledged to work with lawmakers to find a solution to the problem.

“I would like to eliminate the wait list so that every parent has the ability to make these choices,” he said. “And that will be a priority for me in this next legislative session.”

DeSantis has allies in the Legislature.

When asked at a luncheon Wednesday at the James Madison Institute in Tallahassee about the education agenda for this year’s session, Senate Education Committee Chairman Manny Diaz, R-Miami, referenced the governor’s desire to ensure that “no child at that poverty level should be on a waitlist” adding, “Philosophically, we are aligned. The stars are aligned, and we may never see this again.”

Diaz’s counterpart in the House, Education Committee Chairman Jennifer Sullivan, R-Mount Dora, also a guest at the luncheon, said that lawmakers would accommodate students not currently being served “at a minimum.”

Which should be good news for schools going above and beyond to assist waitlist families but whose efforts can be sustained for only so long.

The Ranking House Education Democrat and PreK-12 Appropriations Chairman both said this week the state should re-examine the formula for how security funds are distributed to schools.

Their comments come on the heels of reported concerns from administrators at smaller charter schools who are struggling to pay for security officers to protect their schools.

Rep. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, the Ranking Democrat, said the state needs to respond to the shortfall at some schools by taking a new look at the distribution formula.

“It would be my hope that the leadership in Tallahassee recognizes that this is an issue that we can’t sweep under the rug,” Jones said. “We need to tackle this issue head on. My suggestion would probably be to look at a state that is doing this right, to see how they calculate school safety into their budgets.”

Rep. Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah, the Education Appropriations chairman, agrees. He said the state should reevaluate the formula, especially for small independent schools.

The concerns stem from a new state law passed in the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The law requires all public schools to hire a School Resource Officer (SRO), a sheriff deputy or a trained employee to carry a gun on campus. The law, passed as SB 7026, gave public schools an additional $97.5 million for resource officers.

But administrators of several smaller charter schools have said they are being forced to choose between security and teachers because it has been difficult to afford an SRO. And a more affordable option – a training program for employees who could carry a gun – has been implemented in just 22 of the 67 districts to date, according to the Florida Department of Education.

Gov. Rick Scott called on Tuesday for lawmakers to redirect $58 million of unused funding from the guardian program to school districts for additional security. But, according to the Associated Press, key lawmakers, including incoming Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, are not on board with Scott’s proposal.

Galvano wants to continue to address school security in 2019. He recently wrote in a series of tweets that “we cannot be complacent, or think the work is done. We must continually review existing policies and encourage new ideas to keep our students safe.”

Other lawmakers are also weighing in.

Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, who introduced legislation to enhance security at Jewish day schools in 2017, thinks sheriff’s departments should play a bigger role.

“In those school districts where the sheriff has chosen not to offer a guardian program, the charter schools need to take that up with their local politicians,” he said. “Law enforcement has an obligation to protect children no matter where they are.”

Rep. Jennifer Sullivan, R-Mount Dora, who served as vice chair of the Education Committee, said she is evaluating schools’ discretionary funding and how the funds are being used.

Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, said school districts need more options to comply with the law. He said the private sector could offer school districts tangible help. The current law does not include private security firms as an option for schools.

“The private sector can provide any level of care that you want,” Baxley said. “We need some way to provide for great diversity, size and shape of schools. They are not alike. I think the private sector has a lot of answers, not only on staffing but how to better secure its campuses with electronics and cameras.”

 

Myths about school choice are like zombies. You can land a blow here and there, and sometimes knock one down for a spell. But they always come back, ugly as ever.

The most persistent and pernicious myth about school choice is that it drains/diverts/siphons funding from traditional public schools.

In Florida, where education spending is indeed low relative to other states, this myth is particularly easy to prop up – and most likely to frighten. Critics repeat it. Politicians amplify it. Watchdogs, with rare exception, shrug at it. Not surprisingly, the rhetoric is especially lively as the midterm election approaches (see here, here, here, here, here, here … )

Because most folks don’t know the math, the myth lives. But the truth is, crippling or killing charter schools and private school scholarships wouldn’t part the financial clouds for traditional public schools. It would unleash a tsunami.

Here’s why.

In Florida, taxpayers spent $10,308 per pupil in district schools in 2015-16, according to Florida Tax Watch. Its 2017 report offers the best, most current data for spending comparisons across education sectors.

By contrast, taxpayers spent $7,307 per pupil for charter schools, or 71 percent of district spending. Meanwhile, the value of a Florida Tax Credit Scholarship for lower-income students, funded by corporate contributions in return for tax credits, was $5,643, or 55 percent of district spending. (The scholarship is administered by nonprofits like Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog.)

Bringing charter and scholarship students up to the district per-pupil average would have cost taxpayers another $1.2 billion that year alone.

The value of the scholarship, and operational funding for charter schools, is, by law, pegged to a percentage of per-pupil funding for districts. If education spending in Florida isn’t adequate, it’s even less so for school choice students.

I bet only a tiny percentage of Floridians know that. And why would they?

Just-the-facts information about education spending is rarely, if ever, transmitted to residents – either by governments or the media. Bogus information, meanwhile, spreads like a virus. Specific myths like this one – repeated without question – are peddled by people who know better.

Last week, state Rep. Janet Cruz, running for the senate seat now held by Sen. Dana Young, accused Young of supporting budget cuts to education in 2011 (during the Great Recession) that Cruz said led to the current air conditioning woes in some district schools. “They cut $1.3 billion to public schools, yet didn’t cut the funding to charter corporate schools,” Cruz says in this video, which spurred this story.

For goodness’ sake. (more…)

The Palm Beach County School Board voted unanimously Wednesday night for a proposed tax referendum expected to generate approximately $200 million a year for traditional public schools – and none for charter schools.

The decision followed a hearing attended by roughly 20 charter school parents, teachers and leaders who argued that charter schools should be entitled to their fair share of the tax money. (more…)

A House committee this morning released a new version of a bill that would expand Tax Credit Scholarships for low-income children in Florida and, given some of the outsized claims about its impact, it’s worth reviewing the bill’s actual targets for growth.

The truth is, there is less there than meets the eye.

The scholarship program has a cap that limits the tax credits and, by extension, the number of disadvantaged students who can be served. And the degree to which the bill actually increases that cap has become something of a rhetorical sport for opponents and, in some cases, even the media.

This year, 59,765 students are using the school choice scholarship in 1,425 private schools. Various accounts have described the bill as doubling that enrollment, with one today suggesting the bill would add 50,000 new students. In committee, one state representative dismissed it as “too much, too fast.” A Gainesville Sun column even branded it as “the largest expansion of private religious school vouchers in state history,” adding, “they’re sticking taxpayers with the $2 billion dollar tab.”

Not even close.

Given that I am the policy director of the nonprofit, Step Up For Students, that supports this expansion (and co-hosts this blog), readers are entitled to take anything I say with some measure of skepticism. But here is the simple truth: The bill increases the current cap by $30 million, which represents a growth of 8.3 percent in the first year and 3.5 percent in the fifth year. It would allow for an additional 5,745 students in the fall, a number that would actually shrink over the five years because the $30 million is constant. (more…)

Charter Schools USA is one of the nation’s largest for-profit charter school management companies, with 58 schools in seven states. But the Florida-based organization also has a charitable arm that’s helping a hardscrabble private school in Haiti.

The Giving Tree Foundation has pledged to raise $250,000 to build a new tuition-free school in Francois, a remote mountain village about an hour and a half outside of the capital of Port-au-Prince. In addition, Charter Schools USA founder and chief executive officer Jonathan Hage has offered to match the funds.

The new school is slated to open in the fall.

A half-a-million dollars will go a long way in a village where few residents have access to running water and electricity, said Richard Page, vice president of development for CSUSA. Page traveled to Haiti in December with his wife and their two daughters to see the school and help deliver 700 Christmas presents to the local children. For many, it was the first Christmas gift they had ever received.

For now, the Genecoit School of Excellence is in a one-room, dilapidated building. It employs about a dozen teachers and serves 119 students in K-6. There are no laptops or Smart Boards, or even enough books.

“The conditions are so far from what we as Americans could ever imagine,’’ said Page, whose recent trip was documented on CSUSA’s Facebook page. “Yet, the children are bubbly, excited and happy. They put on a fashion show for us. They were on fire for life.’’

(more…)

Editor's note: This op-ed by Step Up For Students President Doug Tuthill was written in response to a March 10 column by Palm Beach Post columnist Frank Cerabino. The Post published it online last night.

Sixty-thousand of Florida’s poorest schoolchildren chose a private school this year with the help of a scholarship, and this 12-year-old program strengthens public education by expanding opportunity.

The program, called the Tax Credit Scholarship, is one learning option for low-income students who face the toughest obstacles, and is part of an expanding universe of educational choices that last year served 1.5 million — or 42 of every 100 — Florida students in PreK-12. Those who suggest scholarships for low-income children harm public education are wrong. These scholarships and the opportunities they provide strengthen public education.

The state’s covenant is to children, not institutions, and these low-income students are being given options their families could not otherwise afford. That their chosen schools are not run by school districts makes them no different than charter schools or McKay Scholarship schools or university lab schools or online courses or dual college enrollment. That the state supports these scholarships is no different than the state paying for these same students to attend a district school. These scholarships are publicly funded, publicly regulated, public education.

Why, then, would a Palm Beach Post columnist suggest that scholarships for low-income children come “at the expense of public education”?

Independent groups and state agencies have repeatedly concluded that these scholarships, worth $4,880 this year, actually save the state money. The most recent projection came from the Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference, which placed the savings last year at $57.9 million. While it is regrettably true that district, charter and virtual schools have suffered financial cutbacks in recent years, they were not caused by these scholarships. In fact, this scholarship program was impacted by those same cuts.

The bill the Legislature is considering this year helps reduce the waiting list for this scholarship, so it is important to know who it serves. On average, the scholarship students live only 9 percent above poverty, more than two-thirds are black or Hispanic, and more than half come from single-parent homes. State research also shows they were also the lowest performers in the public schools they left behind.

These students are required to take a nationally norm-referenced test yearly, and the encouraging news is that they have been achieving the same gains in reading and math as students of all income levels nationally.

The new world of customized public education is not a zero-sum game. (more…)

Public-school choice. A plan to create public-school choice throughout Duval County divides the school board, the Florida Times-Union reports. Some board members warn of "unintended consequences." WJXT. More from First Coast News and WJCT.

Tax credit scholarships. The St. Augustine Record editorial board comes out against legislation that would expand the program.

School choice. A Sun-Sentinel op-ed tees off on the a range of choice options, arguing they run counter to the state constitutional provision requiring a "uniform" education system,.while a separate guest column argues choice programs open opportunities to minority students, and opposition is being fueled by unions.

Magnet schools. A student in the jazz band at an Osceola County arts magnet program advanced to a national competition. Orlando Sentinel.

Common Core. Gov. Rick Scott stands by the standards as opponents see a lack of action in the Legislature. Miami Herald. 

Textbooks. Bill to put adoption decisions totally in district hands appears to be getting support in both chambers of the Legislature. Gradebook. Palm Beach County officials oppose it. Extra Credit.

Funding. The state's revenue picture got even better this week, and the Florida House wants to increase spending on public schools. Tampa Bay Times. Florida Current.

School boards. The Hernando school board approves a re-organization plan. Tampa Bay Times.

Teacher pay. A mediator's decision could pave the way for raises in Orange County. Orlando Sentinel.

Poverty. Blessings in a Backpack helps fight hunger among students in Seminole County. Sentinel.

Not surprisingly, leaders from some of Florida’s largest school districts lined up last week against a proposed state House bill that would make it easier for charter schools to open. What was unexpected, though, was one superintendent breaking from the herd.

Broward County’s Robert Runcie not only supported the measure, he made a plea for everyone to work together.

“We need to move to an era where there is true collaboration going on between school districts and charter schools,’’ Runcie told the Florida House Choice & Innovation Subcommittee. “It’s the only way that we’re ever really going to fulfill the promise of providing every student and providing every school with the type of quality education that they need.’’

Runcie’s comments are noteworthy for all kinds of reasons. The 260,000-student Broward County school district is the second biggest in Florida and the sixth biggest in the nation. Florida, a leading charter state, is experiencing great tension – even animosity – between school districts and charters. And this particular legislative meeting was yet another example, with one lawmaker, Rep. Kionne McGhee, D-Miami, describing the charter school bill as the “wrecking ball of traditional public education.’’

For Runcie, the comments are also part of an emerging pattern.

Last summer, the Harvard graduate and former Chicago Public Schools administrator helped lead a statewide task force of district and charter school administrators. Their objective: to help the Florida Department of Education develop language that both sides can agree upon for the state’s new standard charter school contracts.

While that’s still a work in progress, Runcie most recently stepped up to show equal support for charter school teachers in Broward by agreeing not to withhold an administrative fee from their pay raises.

The money is part of a statewide $480 million allotment for teacher pay hailed by Gov. Rick Scott and approved last session. By law, districts can charge charter schools a 5 percent fee for processing funds that come from the Florida Education Finance Program. In Broward, that fee on the dollars earmarked for charter school teacher raises added up to about $11,000, said Robert Haag, president of the Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools, which made the request.

Runcie not only complied, Haag said, but approved back pay for charter school teachers from July 1, when the raises went into effect.

“That was incredible,’’ Haag told redefinED, adding that he believes Runcie’s gesture will serve as a catalyst for other district leaders. “Listen, we don’t care if they keep 5 percent from our schools. But withholding 5 percent from our teachers? We can’t do that!’’

(more…)