Within an hour of Fifth Third Bank’s announcement via a press release that it will continue to fund scholarships for Florida’s most disadvantaged students, state lawmakers took to social media to thank the bank for reconsidering its decision to fund the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program. Those lawmakers included Rep.[Read More…]
Tag: Marco Rubio
Parents, the president and private school choice
ORLANDO – Renee Oliver started sending her children to St. Andrew Catholic School in 2004. At the time, it drew Catholic families from surrounding communities in the western part of Orlando. But it remained financially out of reach for many who lived nearby. Over the years, that’s changed. The nation’s[Read More…]
Rubio: Make Florida a model for nationwide private school choice
Republican presidential contender Marco Rubio says he wants to create a national tax credit scholarship program, modeled on the one in Florida, to create a “new pathway to school choice.” In an interview with Campbell Brown of The 74, Rubio touts a proposal, which he also has pushed in the U.S. Senate. It would[Read More…]
Thousands kick off School Choice Week in Jacksonville
Nearly 2,000 students and parents packed Jacksonville’s Florida Theatre to start the largest-ever week-long celebration of school choice. National School Choice Week officially starts Jan. 25, but Friday’s rally was part of the first round of more than 11,000 planned events. The events aim for a celebratory tone, with music, dancing, celebrity[Read More…]
Rubio: Attack on school choice in FL should concern parents everywhere
From an op-ed on FoxNews.com today authored by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio: Last year in my home state of Florida, over 40% of children educated with taxpayer funds didn’t attend their zoned public school. They attended district run magnet schools, charter schools, virtual schools and dual enrollment programs with colleges. This[Read More…]
Florida roundup: Dual enrollment, career ed, private schools & more
Dual enrollment: Students enrolled in the College Academy at Broward College take classes on the college’s campus with Broward College professors, but they also get the support of a high school, all for free. Sun Sentinel. Career academies: Clay County plans to redesign high schools into wall-to-wall career academies. Florida Times-Union. Mulberry’s[Read More…]
Florida Gov. Rick Scott: Keep Common Core, retreat on PARCC
Common Core is okay. But the new, multi-state tests aligned to them may have to go. So suggests Florida Gov. Rick Scott in documents set for release today. In a draft executive order, Scott says “Floridians will not accept Federal government intrusion into the academic standards that are taught to our[Read More…]
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Florida schools roundup: School grades, Common Core, charter schools & more
School grades: Florida has a record-high 107 F-rated schools this year. Miami Herald. Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando all earned overall “C” grades. Tampa Bay Times. Broward Superintendent Robert Runcie says the district’s school grade drops mirror declines statewide, but students still performed better or as well as last year. Sun-Sentinel. For the first time in nine years,[Read More…]