The two-day Florida Charter School Conference officially opens Thursday with keynote speaker Deborah Kenny, founder and chief executive officer of the successful New York charter schools, Harlem Village Academies. But a pre-conference schedule the day before offers sessions on starting a charter school and networking for principals, along with a[Read More…]
Tag: charter schools and school grades
Florida roundup: School choice Dems, $20 million contract dispute and more
School choice Democrat has edge in senate race. State Rep. Darren Soto, D-Orlando, who supports vouchers and tax credit scholarships, appears poised to capture a state senate seat, reports the Sunshine State News. DOE ends contract. From the Associated Press: “Florida is terminating a $20 million contract to build a[Read More…]
Parents and charter schools have shaken up the old order
by Gloria Romero Even while Gov. Jerry Brown and the California Teachers Association barnstormed the state, urging voters to raise taxes with Proposition 30 to support public education and predicting doomsday if the measure fails, a fascinating report from the California Charter Schools Association was released on the growth of[Read More…]
Florida roundup: Broad Prize, Amendment 8, F-rated charter schools and more
More Broad Prize coverage. As we noted yesterday, the Miami-Dade school district won this year’s Broad Prize, which goes to the urban district with the most academic progress. More from the Orlando Sentinel, Christian Science Monitor, Associated Press, Education Week. The Palm Beach school district was a finalist, which is also[Read More…]
Rick Scott: Time for a school choice and competition summit
Florida Gov. Rick Scott wants a summit to “discuss ways to remove barriers to choice options in low performing areas,” according to a draft of his education plans for the next legislative session. Posted on the Gradebook blog this morning, the draft offers a few more details about the governor’s[Read More…]
Agony and accountability in school choice
Education reform, for some of us, is full of tough calls. And for some of us, there can be particular agony in the gray area where race, poverty and both types of accountability – parental choice and regulatory – intersect. Last week, the school board in Pinellas County, Fla., voted[Read More…]
Florida charter schools earn A’s and F’s at higher rates than traditional public schools
Florida charter schools were more likely than traditional public schools to earn A and F grades under this year’s tougher new standards and tests, state data shows. Some 48.7 percent of elementary, middle and “combination” charter schools earned A grades, compared to 42.7 percent of traditional public schools, according to[Read More…]