F.A.C.E. to FACE
F.A.C.E. BULLETIN
02/13/07
February 13, 2007
Thousands of New Scholarships Available for Low-Income K-12 Students
(More scholarships available! See bottom of Newsletter!)
A Tide For School Choice, by George Will of the Washington Post.
Florida's public schools not growing as expected, Gainesville Sun.
EDUCATION, Cautious optimism for education budget proposal, Miami Herald. Wow, Miami-Dade school officials said that the $114.5 million increase would not go far enough in helping the district. How much of that gets to the students?
Princeton University Summer Journalism Program
Don’t forget, School Compliance Forms are due
March 1, 2007!
Thank you for Stepping Up For Students,
Michael A. Benjamin
Executive Director, F.A.C.E.
Florida Alliance for Choices in Education
A Tide For School Choice
By George F. Will
Thursday, February 1, 2007Fifty-seven years later, Sumner Elementary School in Topeka is back in the news. That city's board of education is still wrongly preventing the right people from getting into that building. Two educators wanted to use Sumner for a charter school, a public school entitled to operate outside the confinements of dictated curricula and free from many work rules written by teachers unions. Their school would have been a back-to-basics academy from kindergarten through fifth grade, designed to attack Topeka's 23-point gap between the reading proficiency of black and Hispanic third-graders and that of whites.
When the school board rejected the application of the two educators -- African American women -- but praised their dedication to children, one of the women was not mollified: "A bleeding heart does nothing but ruin the carpet."
Sumner is a National Historic Landmark because in 1950 Oliver Brown walked with his 7-year-old daughter Linda the seven blocks from their home to Sumner, where he unsuccessfully tried to enroll her. But Topeka's schools were segregated, so Linda went to the school for blacks 21 blocks from her home, and her father went to court. Four years later came Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
Sumner, which has been closed for years, would have needed costly repairs. Still, clearly one reason for the rejection was the usual resistance of public educators to innovations that challenge the status quo, meaning centralized control of schools.
In Arizona, some amazingly persistent and mostly liberal people are demonstrating the tenacity with which some interests fight to prevent parents of modest means from having education choices like those available to most Americans. In 1999, Arizona's Supreme Court upheld a program whereby individuals receive tax credits for donations they make to organizations that provide scholarships to enable children to attend private schools, religious and secular. More than 22,500 children have benefited from the program in a decade. Thousands of families are on waiting lists for scholarships because 600 Arizona schools have failed to meet federal academic requirements.
In 2000, Arizona opponents of school choice, in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, attacked the program in a federal court. They failed again, in a ruling issued in 2005, which was not surprising, given that in 2002 the Supreme Court held that there is no constitutional infirmity in government-sponsored and administered programs that involve "true private choice" by giving government aid directly to parents, who use it at their discretion for sectarian or nonsectarian schools.
Now Arizona opponents of school choice, thirsting for a third defeat, are challenging what Arizona's legislature enacted last year. Noting the success of the individual tax credit for scholarship contributions, the legislature has authorized corporate donors a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for contributions to private, nonprofit school tuition organizations. So opponents of school choice are trudging back to court, where they will recycle twice-rejected arguments.
Doing the same thing repeatedly while expecting different results is a sign of insanity, but what really defines the plaintiffs is banality. This is about the control of schools by bureaucrats, about work rules negotiated by unions and, not least, about money -- not allowing any to flow away from the usual channels.
The public school lobby, which apparently has little confidence in its product, lives in fear of competition -- the fear that if parents' choices are expanded, there will be a flight from public schools. But the tide is turning:
Newark's mayor, Cory Booker, a member of the board of the national Alliance for School Choice, proposes a scholarship program similar to Arizona's. New Jersey corporations could get tax credits totaling $20 million a year collectively for scholarships for low-income students in five cities with especially troubled schools.
New York's new Democratic governor, Eliot L. Spitzer, proposes lifting the cap that restricts the state to a mere 100 charter schools. This common-sense idea -- lowering a barrier the government has erected to limit innovative schools that compete with the government's existing system -- is welcome, but it is not as bold as what Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is doing with the nation's largest school system, New York City's, with 1.1 million pupils.
He is dividing large schools into smaller ones, emancipating many principals to be educational entrepreneurs under a system that holds them accountable for cognitive results. The logic is that public money should follow wherever students are attracted by competing schools. So school choice is gaining ground in the city that has historically been ground zero for collectivist, centralizing liberalism.
georgewill@washpost.com
Article published Feb 5, 2007
Feb 4, 2007Florida's public schools not growing as expected
By Karen Voyles
Sun staff writer
Florida's public schools have been given a multiple-choice test question without an answer key.The question: Why have 48,376 students projected to enroll in public schools this year never shown up for class? The possible answers:
a.) Property taxes, utility costs and homeowners insurance are too expensive for families looking to relocate from other states.
b.) Concerns about potential future hurricane damage.
c.) Declines in the national housing market made it impossible for families to sell houses in other states.
d.) All of the above.
e.) None of the above.
While public school enrollment did increase statewide this year, it was at the slowest pace in more than 15 years — just 0.02 percent, an increase of about 477 students. Nearly half of Florida's counties — 29 of 67 — reported declines in enrollment this year. In North Florida, counties reporting declines included Bradford, Columbia, Levy and Putnam.
"It's not that we lost students. We just didn't get as many as we expected," said Department of Education spokeswoman Cheryl Etters. "What we don't know is why this is happening."
State and local officials have offered several possible explanations, including those involving housing costs and hurricane concerns, but no one has come up with a definitive answer.
Between 1989 and 2004, public school enrollment in Florida has increased by about 51,000 annually. In 2005, enrollment only grew by about 30,000 students, and a student census mandated by the state for later this month is expected to show even fewer new students enrolled in 2006.
Whether the declining new student enrollment is indicative of an overall decline in migration to Florida is unclear, according to Stan Smith, director of Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida.
"If there is a correlation with overall population growth we will see when our next set of data are collected," within the next few months, Smith said. "There is a little bit of indirect evidence that there has been a slowdown in the last years but I just haven't heard any good explanation for what has happened in the schools."
No matter what the reason, the unexpected enrollment slump can be expensive.
Districts get money from the state based on each enrolled student's grade level and educational needs, Etters said, and the average per-pupil allocation this year is nearly $7,000.
Because Florida's school districts have enrolled 48,376 students fewer than projected, they will not receive $240 million they had budgeted for this school year in August.
Levy County Superintendent Cliff Norris said when his district did not enroll 129 projected new students, it meant cutting about $700,000 from a $43 million budget immediately. In Levy County, $700,000 would cover the cost for about 14 teachers.
"We had a reserve fund that we are using to make this up," Norris said. "But that means the reserve budget has been cut way back and so we will have to start building that back up while we are trying to figure out what our enrollment will be for next year."
Like other districts around the state, Levy County selected one of nine methods provided by the state for projecting enrollment, methods that had previously been fairly accurate. At least until the last couple of years.
"You feel like you are safe with the (enrollment) number you come up with based on history and the state formulas and you base teacher raises and class-size reductions and your entire district based on the projected budget," Norris said. "It was after all those things were in place for this school year that we found out that the students we were expecting did not materialize."
In 17 of Florida's 67 counties, the projected number of new students or more enrolled this year, including in Alachua, Dixie, Putnam, Suwannee and Union counties.
"We all have to project a year in advance," said Mel McMullen, the assistant superintendent for instruction in Suwannee County. "We were one of the few that did not have a problem this year, but we understand that it has always been very complicated to make these projections and even more difficult now because no one can be real sure of the state trends."
Carolyn DuBard, a statistician, has been analyzing school enrollment in Florida for 28 years in the Office of Economic and Demographic Research, a research agency for the Florida Legislature.
"This is very surprising to me, very unusual," DuBard said. "I have no special knowledge about why this is happening."
DuBard said the trend began early in the 2004-2005 school year, about the time that four major hurricanes left their marks on Florida. Since then she has noted fewer students transferring in from other states and more students leaving the state to attend schools elsewhere. A few also left public schools to attend private schools or be home-schooled.
"When this initially happened — about the time of the four hurricanes — we thought the drop was due to that but we had another drop last year and the trend is continuing and even more dramatic this year," DuBard said.
Since she began working on enrollment projections in 1979, DuBard said she has seen hurricanes have some effect on enrollment, but rarely a long-lasting effect.
"What is interesting is that the phenomenon isn't happening everywhere," DuBard said, noting some districts like Alachua County are exceeding new student projections.
"There may be no one, single answer," DuBard said. "This may be the result of several factors, but we do expect that this will not continue for more than another year or so."
Karen Voyles can be reached at 486-5058 or voylesk@gvillesun.com.
Posted on Sat, Feb. 03, 2007
EDUCATION
Cautious optimism for education budget proposal
Some of Gov. Charlie Crist's plans for school spending met approval from South Florida education leaders, while others flunked.
BY HANNAH SAMPSON
hsampson@MiamiHerald.com
Educators in South Florida greeted the new governor's spending plans for education with a few cheers -- and some boos -- on Friday.
''We are cautiously optimistic -- however, pleasantly surprised,'' said acting Broward School Superintendent Jim Notter.
Although Gov. Charlie Crist has proposed a $1.3 billion increase in education spending this year, some school district officials say it's still not enough.
''This budget not only fails to invest in a district whose academic performance has outpaced the state's but threatens the viability of high-quality, student-centered educational initiatives critical to the economic vitality of Miami-Dade's community and its workforce,'' Miami-Dade County School Superintendent Rudy Crew said in a statement.
Miami-Dade school officials said Friday that the $114.5 million increase recommended by Crist would not go far enough in helping the district -- and keeps intact the decision three years ago to alter the school funding formula, a move that has cost the district more than $80 million.
NOT ENOUGH
District officials say the budget proposed by Crist falls short of what is needed to maintain salary agreements, pay for higher insurance costs, and keep in place enhancements.
Broward school district lobbyist Georgia Slack sent an e-mail to School Board members saying that the budget would give that district an additional $95 million over the previous year for operating expenses. That's far less than the estimated $166 million more that the district says it needs, she wrote.
Included in Crist's proposal is a plan to increase spending per public school student by $500, to $7,341.
''That's probably a tippytoe step in the right direction,'' United Teachers of Dade President Karen Aronowitz said.
The state also would spend slightly more per child for 4-year-olds to go to free prekindergarten. Crist asked for the amount per student to increase by $62, to $2,622 from $2,560.
''Any increase is a good increase,'' said Penny Westberry, executive director of the Early Learning Coalition of Broward County, which administers the program in Broward. ``We would like it to at least keep pace with inflation.''
A proposal to keep a controversial teacher performance pay plan -- but increase the amount of money that would be awarded to the top quarter of instructors -- was met with considerably less excitement by union leaders.
'That is like saying, `We're going to give you dessert' and you're a starving person. Because where's the main course?'' Aronowitz said. ``Just raise our salaries. You want to talk about performance pay after that? Fine.''
BONUS BOOSTS
Crist is proposing that the funding for the bonuses increase to $295 million from $147.5 million and that the top 25 percent of teachers get 10 percent bonuses instead of 5 percent awards.
Said Broward Teachers Union president Pat Santeramo: ``I feel that the state has really missed the ball on what needs to happen. Teacher salaries need to be increased, but not in this fashion.''
Ingrid Robledo, who teaches advanced placement Spanish to eighth-graders at George Washington Carver Middle School in Coral Gables, said the plan leaves too many educators out.
''To consider that only 25 percent of teachers are hardworking people, that is offensive to me,'' she said. ``All of us work so hard.''
Miami Herald staff writer Gary Fineout contributed to this report.
Value Added
Princeton University Summer Journalism Program
I am writing to inform you of a 10-day all-expenses-paid summer journalism program held in August at Princeton University for students from underresourced financial backgrounds.
All application materials are available at http://www.princeton.edu/~sjp.
All expenses, including travel costs to and from Princeton , will be paid for. This will be the sixth year of the program, and if this summer is anything like the last five, it will be a great experience. Our last five classes of journalists were taught by writers from The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Miami Herald, and The New Republic; toured The New York Times and ABC News, met with editors and producers; attended and covered Yankees, Mets, Jets and Liberty games; and reported, wrote, edited, designed, and produced a 12-page edition of The Princeton Summer Journal on the program's final day.
The program is also designed to give students a taste of what life is like at one of the best colleges in the country - students live on campus and eat in one of the university's cafeterias. Students meet with Princeton University 's president and the school's dean of admissions - people who are able to offer guidance on the difficult decisions about college that high school students face. The program is staffed by young alumni of Princeton, current Princeton students, and students who attended the program in past summers.
Applicants must meet the following qualifications:
1) You must be entering your junior or senior year of high school in fall 2007.
2) You must have at least a 3.0 grade point average (out of 4.0).
3) You must have demonstrated an interest in journalism.
4) The combined income of your custodial parent(s)/guardian(s) plus child support payments, if any, must not exceed $45,000.
This program is intended for students from underresourced financial backgrounds. If the combined income of your custodial parent(s)/ guardian(s) plus child support payments, if any, exceeds $45,000 and you still wish to apply, you can attach a note explaining why you believe your family qualifies as financially underresourced.
The application must be postmarked by February 15th. More information and the application materials are available online at http://www.princeton.edu/~sjp <http://www.princeton.edu/~sjp>
If you are a teacher, please distribute these materials to your students and to other teachers at your school. If you are a school board administrator and can have an announcement posted in a newsletter to all high schools, please do so. If you
are another type of school administrator, please distribute these materials to anyone who might be interested.
Please direct any inquiries to rinderle@princeton.edu <mailto:rinderle@princeton.edu> , and include a phone number and an e-mail address where you can be reached.
Don’t forget, School Compliance Forms are due March 1, 2007!
There are new requirements this year like fingerprinting, background checks and standardized tests.
8,000 New Scholarships Available
for Low-Income K-12 Students
Florida P.R.I.D.E. and Children First Florida, Florida Corporate Tax Credit scholarship funding organizations, will award approximately 8,000 new scholarships for the 2006-2007 school year to Kindergarten through 12th grade students who qualify for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program. Applicants must be currently enrolled in a public school, unless they are entering kindergarten or first grade. Those who qualify may receive up to a $3,750 scholarship for tuition at an eligible private school of their choice or a scholarship for up to $500 for travel expenses to an out-of-district public school. The scholarships provide a fresh start for students who are not succeeding in their current school setting.
This year, $70 million in scholarships will be awarded to qualifying Florida students until funding is exhausted so applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Income limits for scholarship recipients are determined by household size. For example, a family of four can earn no more than $37,000 to qualify. To apply, log on to www.floridapride.org or call (813) 258-2700 for Florida Pride and www.scholarshipfunding.org or call (904) 247-6033 or (407) 702-2607 for a Children First Florida application.
The Florida Corporate Income Tax Credit scholarship program provides K-12 scholarships that currently allow over 14,000 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.
Children First Florida - Serving Orlando, Central Florida, Jacksonville and Panhandle
P.O. Box 49099
Jacksonville Beach, Florida 32240
(904) 247-6033 or (407) 702-2607
cforster@scholarshipfunding.org
Florida P.R.I.D.E. - Serving Tampa Bay, South Florida and Marion County
P.O. Box 1670
Tampa, Florida 33606
(800) 782-9140
info@floridapride.org
School Year 06 - 07 Income Eligibility Guidelines
Persons in Household
Annual Household Income
2
$24,420
3
$30,710
4
$37,000
5
$43,290
6
$49,580
7
$55,870
8
$62,160
9
$68,450
10
$74,740
11
$81,030
12
$87,320
13
$93,610
For each additional person, add
$6,290
Effective from June 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007
Florida Alliance for Choices in Education (F.A.C.E)
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