F.A.C.E. to FACE   F.A.C.E. BULLETIN     November 12, 2008 Dear Friends, On November 10 2008, more than 600 parents, students, educators, business leaders, corporate donors and legislators joined Governor Charlie Crist for the “More Choices, Better Futures” Step Up For Students Donor Appreciation Rally in Jacksonville. The event was dedicated to the corporate donors whose generosity have made it possible for over 22,000 economically disadvantaged Florida children to obtain a quality education and in turn a hope for a better future. The event was held in Duval County, where more than 2,300 children are attending a school of their parents’ choice on Step Up For Students Scholarships. Potter’s House Christian Academy hosted the event and currently serves more than 320 Scholarship recipients. The event featured Nathaniel “Nat” Glover Jr., a longtime police officer and former sheriff of Jacksonville who is recognized for his tremendous efforts to reduce crime, especially among youth. Sheriff Glover highlighted the positive impact Step Up For Students is having on children, families, communities and the state, and expressed how education is an effective tool in reducing the crime rate among Florida’s youth. Rally attendees also had an opportunity to hear the incredible testimony of Denisha Merriwether, an 11th grader at Esprit de Corps Center for Learning in Jacksonville and a Step Up For Students scholarship recipient. Before receiving the scholarship, Denisha struggled with her grades and conduct – often engaging in physical altercations with her peers. Since first receiving the scholarship five years ago Denisha’s grades have soared, inspiring her to attend college in pursuit of a career as a geneticist. Additionally, attendees enjoyed a student solo by Kiaya Cash, a 12th grader at Cornerstone Christian School in Jacksonville, who sang “Make a Difference” which she dedicated to the Step Up For Students donors and supporters. Kiaya participates in Cornerstones’ music programs and has been a scholarship recipient since 2007. The program also featured special announcements from Walgreen’s, PSS World Medical and Fidelity Financial Services, all of which presented checks to Governor Crist for Step Up For Students Scholarships. Walgreen’s, a donor to the scholarship program since 2006, presented a check for $26 million – representing the funds the company has donated to the scholarship program throughout the years, including a new $9 million. Additionally, PSS World Medical and Fidelity Financial Services announced that their companies have signed on to be the newest corporate donors to the Step Up For Students program. PSS World Medical pledged $1 Million and Fidelity Financial Services pledged $2.3 Million to the program. Representatives from event sponsors Winn-Dixie, Florida Lottery, Lowe’s, Mercantile Bank, SDE, Bealls Inc, and Dunkin Donuts were pleased by the opportunity to interact with the students who receive the scholarships that the corporations are funding. Please visit the following link to view a brief video of event highlights: http://www.jacksonville.com/multimedia/video/?bcpid=1329229943&bclid=1308023108&bctid=1912371019 Since 2002, the corporate community has contributed over $400 Million in corporate tax credit dollars for scholarships. As a result over 22,000 economically disadvantaged children in Florida are on the scholarship program this year. On behalf of those thousands of students and their families, thank you for giving our children the gift of education. You are making a difference in the lives of thousands of Florida’s children! Thank you for Stepping Up For Students, Michael A. Benjamin Executive Director, F.A.C.E. Florida Alliance for Choices in Education   Dear educators: Be encouraged as you view this (click on) http://www.dallasisd.org/keynote.htm Step Up Provides Help for Struggling Students News4Jax.com - Jacksonville, Florida Monday, November 10, 2008 Reported by: Kristen Cosby Email: kcosby@tvjasfl.com In a time when government budgets are tight, the private sector is stepping in to help struggling students with a Florida program called Step Up. Christina Long says it changed her life. She just graduated high school and plans to get a teaching degree, but three years ago it was a different story. "I hated math. I hated science. I hated everything," she said. Step Up paid for Christina to switch from her Duval County public school to smaller, private school. There, she got more one on one time with teachers. "I seen a change 180- where she was the first one up in the morning. That was quite a blessing there to have her so interested in school," said Christina's dad Michael Long. Long is a single father and recently disabled. "There's no way that I could have taken care of three children and paid any kind of tuition," said Michael Long. 2,500 Duval county kids are in Step Up at 85 private and charter schools. The program gives scholarships to lowincome students for out of district public schools or private schools. Its all funded by private companies. Monday two Jacksonville companies presented checks to the program. Fidelity donated $2.3 million and PSS World Medical gave a $1 million check. Step Up doesn't just cover tuition. It also pays for things like uniforms, school supplies, tutors and textbooks. Monday Governor Charlie Crist stopped by one of those schools,The Potters House Christian School, to support the program. "To give children the opportunity to have a great education is critical and important," said Crist. "If i hadn't gotten that opportunity through the scholarship I probably would have wound up dropping out," said Christina Long. There's no better success story to go from a want-a-be drop out to a girl pursuing her masters degree. Video available at: http://www.news4jax.com/video/17952471/index.html Monday, November 10, 2008 Jacksonville, Florida Listen Online: Reporting on the Step Up For Students Donor Rally in Jacksonville: http://www.wjct.org/mp3/NOV08/nov10kf.mp3 View video online at: http://www.jacksonville.com/multimedia/video/?bcpid= 1329229943&bclid=1308023108&bctid=1912371019 Low-income Families Can Choose Children’s School First Coast News WTLV NBC-12 and WJXX ABC-25 FirstCoastNews.com Jacksonville, Florida Monday, November 10, 2008 JACKSONVILLE, FL — The Step Up For Students program allows low-income parents to choose where to send their children to school, thanks to millions of dollars in scholarship funding from corporations. Step Up For Students, or the Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship program, is in its sixth year in Florida. Since 2001, more than $400 million in corporate contributions have gone to help the parents of low-income families make a choice otherwise out of their reach: where to send their children to school. This year alone, 22,000 kindergarten- 12th grade students across Florida are receiving the scholarships, including 2,500 in Duval County. Step Up For Students has allowed children like 18-year-old Christina Long to find success. For years, Long attended public school in Duval County. Her grades were poor, and she says she felt little motivation to graduate. What Christina longed for was a small classroom environment where she could receive more one-on-one help from a teacher, but as a single father of three, Michael Long says he could not afford private school for his daughter. Right before Christina's sophomore year of high school, the Longs learned about Step Up For Students and applied. Michael's daughter spent the last three years of high school at Jacksonville Christian Academy, where he says Christina made a turnaround. Not only did she excel academically, the recent graduate now plans to attend college for a Masters in Education, so she can give other children the help they need. Monday, Governor Charlie Crist joined former Duval Sheriff Nat Glover and other local leaders in education to commend the project. At a rally held at The Potters House Christian Academy, Crist praised the children who have excelled as a result of the program, and thanked corporate sponsors who donated millions of dollars to make it happen. Different children learn in different ways. Through the program, parents are able to choose a private school or an outof- district public school that might better suit their child's learning needs. Corporations receive a dollar-fordollar tax credit for their contributions. Qualifying guidelines include: -The child must be 5 by Sept. 1, 2008 -If the child is entering 2nd grade or higher, the child must have attended a Florida public school the prior year. -The household income must be at or below $25,900 for two people; $32,560 for three people; plus $6,660 for each additional person. These families, on average, pay $1,000 out of their own pockets to make up the difference between the scholarship and the full cost of the private tuition. Businesses invest in kids' school success statewide Florida Times Union November 11, 2008 By TOPHER SANDERS Denisha Merriweather said she was headed down the path of a school dropout and a statistic. She was held back twice by the time she was in the third grade and failed all of her third-grade subjects. A corporate-sponsored scholarship to attend a private school helped turn her life around, the 17-year-old told Gov. Charlie Crist and an audience of 600 on Monday at Potter's House Christian Academy in Jacksonville. Now an honor student at Esprit de Corps Center For Learning in Jacksonville, Merriweather received Florida's Step Up For Students scholarship in 2004. The scholarships are awarded to lowincome students who meet federal guidelines for the national free- or reduced- cost lunch program to attend private schools. The program accepts applications throughout the year. Crist joined parents, students and educators at Potter's House to thank the corporate donors who make the Step Up scholarships possible. More than 100 businesses helped fund the program's $118 million budget for 2008. Representatives for Walgreens, PSS World Medical and Fidelity National Financial were in attendance. Walgreens donated $9 million to the program this year; PSS World Medical gave $1 million and Fidelity, $2 million. The donors redirect up to 75 percent of their corporate state tax liability to a qualified scholarship funding organization in exchange for a dollar-for-dollar tax credit. Merriweather, now a junior, is one of 22,000 K- 12 students in Florida and 2,500 in Duval County on a Step Up scholarship. "The Step Up For Students scholarship gave me a second chance for a better future," Merriweather said. "The teachers worked on me one-on-one and by the end of the first semester my grades had risen from D's and F's to A's and B's. That first year I made A/B honor roll for the first time ever." The crowd gave Merriweather a standing ovation when she told them she now has a 3.8 grade-point average and wants to attend college to study genetics. Crist said the scholarship program is a model for the country for what collaboration and cooperation between government and businesses can accomplish. "When we work together with our friends in the private sector," Crist said,"those of us in the public sector can do a lot of good for a lot of young people in Florida." La Norra Dennis teaches fifth grade at Potter's House and has six children who attend the school on Step Up scholarships."There is no way as a single parent I would ever be able to afford to send them to a private school," she said. Dennis' 14-year-old son, Erick, is a ninth-grader at Potter's House. Dennis said her son's attitude and grades have greatly improved since coming to Potter's House in 2004, when he was in the fifth grade. Erick agrees. "It's a lot better than the public school that I went to before," he said. "My teachers, when I'm slacking off, they don't give up; they care. They call parents and let them know what I'm not doing. They buckle down a little bit more." Crist out front on vouchers November 11, 2008 The Grade Book Posted by Jeff Solochek We know this isn't new news. And we don't want to overdo the voucher posts. But it's worth noting that nearly halfway through Gov. Crist's term, vouchers are one of the few parts of the Jeb Bush education program that Crist has embraced beyond statements in press releases. Crist was in a Jacksonville church yesterday, before a predominantly black audience, for the fifth annual Step Up for Students rally to support corporate tax credit vouchers. "We are no longer just competing with other states in this great nation, but with other countries as well," he said in a press release from the governor's office. "Step Up For Students Scholarships are helping us diversify our education system to achieve greater results and provide our children and future workforce with a world-class education." The scholarships are "an example of what we need to do to adapt public education to a new century," he said in another release sent out by the Florida School Choice Fund. For more on the event, see this Florida Times Union story and video. - Ron Matus, state education reporter (Photo of Crist with student Denisha Merriweather and Step Up For Students founder John Kirtley, courtesy of Step Up For Students) Free phones for low income families... One of the qualifying items is free lunch, so all Florida PRIDE, CFF & Meek should qualify. Please view link: https://www.safelinkwireless.com/EnrollmentPublic/Home.aspx The Step Up For Students (Corporate Income Tax Credit) scholarship program provides K-12 scholarships that currently allow almost 17,000 low-income Florida students to attend an eligible private school or out-of-district public school. One hundred percent of corporate contributions go directly to funding scholarships - not a single penny can be used for administrative costs.   School Year 08 - 09 Income Eligibility Guidelines Persons in Household New & Add-Ons (185%) Renewals (200%) 2 $25,900 $28,000 3 $32,560 $35,200 4 $39,220 $42,400 5 $45,880 $49,600 6 $52,540 $56,800 7 $59,200 $64,000 8 $65,860 $71,200 9 $72,520 $78,400 10 $79,180 $85,600 11 $85,840 $92,800 12 $92,500 $100,000 13 $99,160 $107,200       For each additional person, add $6,660 $7,200       Effective from June 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009

 

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