F.A.C.E. to FACE
F.A.C.E. BULLETIN
04/17/07
April 17, 2007
Thousands of New Scholarships Available for Low-Income K-12 Students
(More scholarships available! See bottom of Newsletter!)
All March/Rally participants, you each did an outstanding job! We are honored to be on the front line of this historic struggle with each of you.
Please keep in touch with all the legislative offices you met with while in Tallahassee and try to keep the issue before the community as much as possible. As many of you have stated, we need to continue to target key legislator's positions on the issue of scholarships. Please let us know of your willingness to engage in the furtherance of this cause.
Thank you for stepping up for the students and for the long tireless hours you endure to ensure that all of Florida’s children have more hopeful future.
FACE is very grateful to Alliance For School Choice, BAEO and HCREO, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, CONLAMIC (the national association of Latino ministers), the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and the Coalition of McKay Scholarship Schools for their terrific support in this effort.
Thank you for Stepping Up For Students,Michael A. Benjamin
Executive Director, F.A.C.E.
Florida Alliance for Choices in Education
Over 4,000 attend parental choice rally in Florida
On Thursday over 4,000 parents and children came from as far away as Miami (they got on buses at 11pm the night before) to come to Florida's distant capitol and show their support for school choice.
The theme of the day was "Many Faces, One Dream", and the message was that parental choice should be above partisan politics, and that it can help public education. Speakers reflected that bipartisan spirit, with both Republican Governor Charlie Crist and Democrat Senator Al Lawson giving their remarks.
The rally was co-sponsored by the Florida Alliance For Choices in Education (FACE), BAEO and HCREO, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, CONLAMIC (the national association of Latino ministers), the regular state Chamber of Commerce, and the Coalition of McKay Scholarship Schools.
Having Rev. Matthews as a guest and speaker was a tremendous honor. He marched at Selma and was jailed 35 times in Pensacola in the struggle for civil rights. Non-stop for two hours after the rally, children asked for his autograph and asked, “did you really march with Dr. King?” Rev. Matthews was the keynote speaker at the Florida Legislative Black Caucus’ MLK dinner earlier this year.
After the rally parents and children visited their legislators to spread the message of parental choice. One newly elected Representative, Democrat Ronald Brise from Miami, recognized children from Miami Union Academy in the gallery of the House. He had good reason: over 100 people representing the school made the trip. Rep. Brise is a graduate of the school, is on its board, and is a supporter of parental choice. Miami Union graduates over 95 percent of it students.
It was a great day for parental choice -- John Kirtley
Step Up for Students School Choice Rally
Every child in Florida deserves an equal opportunity to obtain a high quality education. Thursday, nearly 4,000 Floridians – students, parents, teachers and school administrators – traveled to Tallahassee to have their voices heard regarding school choice. Parents should have the option to send their children to a school that is the best fit. Corporate Tax Credit scholarships, like “Step Up for Students,” ensure that all Florida students have access to educational choice, regardless of their parent’s income. -- Gov. Crist’s Newsletter
http://files.intellicontact.com/00/13/22/00132243/7a7244e4c2d859f55490148162f5b00d.jpg
Tallahassee Democrat
Article published Apr 13, 2007
Civil-rights leader: Give parents choice in schools
By Bill Cotterell
FLORIDA CAPITAL BUREAU POLITICAL EDITOR
An icon of Florida's civil-rights movement told students, parents and education administrators Thursday that giving poor families school choice is ''a continuation of the dream'' that black leaders envisioned 40 years ago.
''All of us who are here want what's best for our children, our parents and our state,'' the Rev. H.K. Matthews said as he surveyed the placard-waving crowd in the plaza between Florida's old and modern Capitols.
''This is a flashback of the old movement,'' said Matthews, whose civil-rights activism extends back to his presidency of the Pensacola Council of Ministers in the early 1960s. ''It's a continuation of the dream.''
Gov. Charlie Crist, House Speaker pro tempore Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, and state Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, promised to work for passage of bills expanding and protecting the corporate tax-credit system that lets companies give part of their business taxes to scholarship-funding organizations.
The Florida Supreme Court last year threw out ex-Gov. Jeb Bush's system for using state tax dollars directly for ''opportunity scholarships.'' Supporters of the corporate program fear that another lawsuit might scuttle those scholarships, too.
Angela Keys said her daughter Arie, 12, and son Jeremiah, 10, ''are on the A-B honor roll'' at S.L. Jones Christian Academy but never did as well in Pensacola's public schools. She said proponents of the corporate tax-credit program don't want to take money away from public education ''but one size does not fit all with every child in every school.''
Sharonda Perkins of Tallahassee said less than 40 percent of black boys graduate in public schools. She said her son, a fifth-grader at North Florida Christian, has benefited from the tax-credit scholarship program.
''I am an unwavering supporter of school choice,'' she said. ''School choice is not a political issue, it's a civil-rights issue.''
Crist, a former education commissioner and attorney general, told the crowd his administration is ''committed to you and committed to your children's future.''
''Education is the equal opportunity provider in this country,'' he said. ''That is what America is all about.''
State Rep. Curtis Richardson, D-Tallahassee, did not attend the rally. A former Leon County School Board member, Richardson said allowing companies to divert some taxes to scholarship-funding organizations hurts kids in public schools.
''Our efforts ought to be put into improving our public education programs, which are woefully under-funded,'' said Richardson. ''We have no guarantees that these children are getting a better education, or even as good an education, in these private academies.''
Organizers of the mass rally counted 4,170 passengers aboard buses from as far away as Miami. The crowd included hundreds of students, parents, and administrators from academies - most of them wearing T-shirts inscribed ''Many Faces, One Dream.''
Lawson, who broke ranks with other Democrats to support Bush's unsuccessful attempt at restoring tuition vouchers last year, said the rally will make an impression on the House and Senate in the final three weeks of their 2007 session.
''I can assure you that 4,000 faces will not be ignored,'' he said. ''I am the strongest possible supporter of public education. But I know that not every school works for every child.''
The Florida Times-Union
April 13, 2007
Thousands rally for school choice
By J. TAYLOR RUSHING
Capital Bureau Chief
TALLAHASSEE - A chorus of 4,000 Florida students, teachers and parents came to Tallahassee on Thursday to voice support for private scholarship programs, saying school choice is their choice. Organizers said the fifth annual "Step Up For Students" rally that packed the Capitol courtyard included 1,000 people from Northeast Florida, including Katherine Merritt. Merritt, 36, a volunteer at Lighthouse Christian School in Jacksonville, came to support the program that enables her to send her two children to the private school.
Merritt said her 18-year-old son, Christopher, is a Type 1 diabetic who struggled in public schools but has excelled at Lighthouse.
"Overall, there's a more comfortable, family-type feeling," she said. "Sometimes, the teachers in the public schools wouldn't help him if he was having a bad day with his illness, and the classes were too big."
The crowd also included Maxine Hansley, a 48-year-old mother of four from Jacksonville whose 13-year-old daughter, Crystal, attends Esprit De Corps Center for Learning.
"Without this scholarship, I wouldn't be able to afford sending her to a private school, and I wouldn't be able to see her blossoming as she's doing," Hansley said. "That's why I'm here today."
The rally was arranged to support Florida's corporate tax credit program, which uses corporate donations to provide scholarships to about 17,000 K-12 students. The program has bipartisan support, although the state's Opportunity Scholarships were struck down by the Florida Supreme Court last year.
Thursday's crowd heard Gov. Charlie Crist reiterate his support for the corporate credit program, repeating the traditional Republican position that the issue is one of freedom in determining where and how children are educated.
"We will continue to work hard to make sure you have the power of choice," Crist told the crowd.
jt.rushing@jacksonville.com, (850) 224-7515
6,000 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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