Editor’s note: This post was written by Bert Gall, senior attorney with the Institute for Justice and the institute’s lead attorney in the Indiana voucher case. Yesterday, in Meredith v. Pence, the Indiana Supreme Court held that Indiana’s Choice Scholarship Program (CSP) does not violate the state constitution. By unanimously[Read More…]
Tag: Florida and school vouchers
Florida roundup: Rick Scott, teacher pay, virtual schools and more
State of the State. Gov. Rick Scott gives props to teachers and pushes for a boost in ed funding. Coverage from Gradebook, Tampa Bay Times, Orlando Sentinel, SchoolZone, Palm Beach Post, Gainesville Sun, Tallahassee Democrat, The Florida Current, StateImpact Florida. A special spotlight for a Temple Terrace teacher, reports the Times/Herald Capital Bureau. More[Read More…]
Florida roundup: charter schools, magnet schools, Bill Cosby & more
Charter schools. Florida’s first classical preparatory school, slated for opening this fall in Pasco, asks for a one-year delay so it can find better digs, reports Gradebook. A judge again rules in favor of allowing a Sarasota principal to temporarily stay as head of an Imagine charter school that wants to split from[Read More…]
More signs of Florida’s academic progress
For the second time this week, a credible, independent analysis shows Florida students leading the pack in progress. Between 1992 and 2011, Florida students made bigger gains than students in four other “mega states” in fourth- and eighth-grade reading and fourth-grade math, according to a report released Thursday by an[Read More…]
Increasing school choice demand will increase pressure for change
I am grateful to Rebecca Sibilia and Sean Gill for their thoughtful response to my blog post encouraging Michelle Rhee to replace her failing schools model of school choice with an approach based on equal opportunity. Rebecca and Sean defended StudentsFirst’s support of the failing schools model on pragmatic grounds.[Read More…]
Florida roundup: Marco Rubio, tutoring oversight, charter school teachers & more
More Rubio vouchers. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio needs a Florida-style coalition – meaning some Democratic lawmakers who see the value in expanded school choice – to get his plan for federal tax credit scholarships off the ground, writes Adam Emerson at the Choice Words blog. Education Week logs it in.[Read More…]
McKay Scholarship bill withdrawn
Backers of a bill that would give Florida students with disabilities quicker access to state-funded vouchers for private schools say they need another year to work on the proposal. Senate Bill 172, filed by Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami, was withdrawn from consideration last week. The bill called[Read More…]
A little legal history to go with those concerns about vouchers & creationism
The Orlando Sentinel recently published a blog entry about a new website that opposes students using publicly-funded vouchers to attend private schools that teach creationism. The site asserts, “Teaching creationism with public money is unconstitutional. It violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which lays out a clear separation[Read More…]