Help Us Increase Your Child’s Scholarship From $3,750 to $4,500 per year.

Have your voice heard; if you don’t, someone may speak for you…

With your help, we believe we can make it happen!

We know that in many cases your scholarship does not cover all of the costs to send your child to private school. Currently, families must pay for the school registration fees and any additional tuition over the $3,750 scholarship. 

We want to change the current law to increase the maximum amount to $4,500 and include all school fees.

You may be familiar with our Tallahassee rallies but this year we are planning something a little different. Instead of our usual Tally Rally, we have committed to a three-day blitz Tuesday March 25th to Thursday March 27th . This blitz will consist of constant wave of legislative visits. We believe that this Tally Blitz will be more effective in passing the new legislation we proposed this session. The purpose of these activities is to convince our legislators that we need to increase the amount of the scholarship (from $3,750 to $4,500) and allow 5,000 new students to join every year for 5 years. In five years that is 25,000 students that will have a better chance of graduating from high school. Training will be provided to teach you, so that you how to effectively tell your story and express the need of your family to have this bill passed.

Due to this change in format, children are not able to attend.  This year we will be providing buses at central locations throughout the state that parents, teachers and administrators can board to transport them to this exciting event.  Schools are encouraged to book their space for all that will attend keeping in mind students and children will not be allowed at this event due to the format.

If you can join us for one of these days, we will provide bus travel and a meal; or stipend if you choose to travel on your own. You get to choose which day you can attend. 

We MUST have parents of scholarship students at the State Capital to be successful in the effort!

Your involvement is so important! Please join us for the Spring 2008 Tallahassee Blitz!

If you are interested, visit the website below or click the link below to sign up for more information:
http://www.zoomerang.com/recipient/survey.zgi?p=WEB227C7SVMURZ

Thank You For Stepping Up For Students!

*Step Up For Students Scholarship Administered Through Florida P.R.I.D.E. and Children First*

The Tally Rallies of the past have been quite successful and effective but might have reached their end. We are now committed to a three day blitz (200-300 adults each day) Tuesday, March 25th, Wednesday March 26th and Thursday, March 27th in Tallahassee with wave after wave of legislative visits. You get to pick one of the three days that week you would like to attend. The Tallahassee Blitz would be a departure from prior rallies but might be more effective for the passage of the legislation we have proposed this session.The main points will be to encourage legislators to endorse a $150 million increase in the cap ($30 million per year for the next 5 years) and an increase in the individual scholarship amount of the scholarship from $3,750 to $4, 500 for CTC students.Theme: Lift the Cap

We are requesting only adult groups of parents, administrators, staff, clergy, and businesspeople etc., to go on the legislative visits. We've had several schools indicate they want to attend. We want your school to participate but just adults. We will work on a piece of correspondence that we can share with schools that would detail their options for participation as an organized group and what would be required of them and what they can expect from us. Again, this Blitz is primarily adults. If an exception is made and a students attends, they must have a completed student spotlight form on file with us, know the issues or can be trained on the issues and hold their own (if exception-high school or middle but no lower grade levels). What we would like to do is send a bus to central, agreed up, sites and have several schools bring their folks to fill the respective buses. We don't mind how many buses, as long as they are filled with adults (we need your count of how many adults) that know the issues or can be trained on the issues and hold their own. If people want to go on their own they will need to contact us and we will be using a stipend for travel, meals, etc.

Please understand that this blitz is a whole new animal and we're definitely going to have some departure from previous events in order to accomplish our goal and also so that we can make sure provision is made for whatever scenario a school chooses in support of this effort.

Again, the week long "Blitz" of activities in Tallahassee is Tuesday, March 25th through Thursday, March 27th. Please have all parents that plan to attend fill out the student spotlight form to tell their inspiring story.

2007 Many Faces, One Dream Rally: 4,000 Show Support for Educational Options

Click here to view the slideshow

On April 12, 2007, more than 4,000 students, parents, educators and businesses joined Governor Crist at the Capitol to support educational options for all Florida students...

Last Thursday, the 2007 "Many Faces, One Dream" Rally was held at the State Capitol in Tallahassee to thank legislators for their support of educational options for all of Florida's children. The rally participants included more than 4,000 students, parents and educators who rode on buses from as far away as Miami, an eight-hour trip, to join legislators and business leaders for the rally.

The rally began with a five-block march from the Civic Center to the Capitol Courtyard, in which students, parents and educators participating in Florida's school choice programs marched along the streets carrying large signs displaying the names of their hometowns and the theme of the rally - "Many Faces, One Dream." It was an unbelievable sight to see the 4,000 participants - a record-breaking number - make their way through the streets and into the Capitol Courtyard to show their tremendous support for the scholarship programs that have positively impacted the futures of thousands of Florida's low-income children.

Cheers erupted from the Capitol grounds as Gov. Crist reaffirmed his support for educational options and his dedication to a quality education for all of Florida's children. Rev. H.K. Matthews, a hero of the civil rights movement, spread his enthusiasm amongst the overwhelming number of school choice supporters when he stated "All of us who are here want what's best for our children, our parents and our state," adding "giving poor families school choice is a continuation of a dream that black leaders envisioned 40 years ago." In addition, Speaker pro tempore Dennis Baxley and Senator Alfred "Al" Lawson expressed their continued support for educational choices and the 2007 legislation proposed.

Additionally, moving testimonies were given by Sharonda Perkins, the mother of a CTC scholarship recipient from Tallahassee, and Alberto Garrido, a five-year CTC scholarship recipient from Hialeah. Both revealed how Florida's educational options have a provided a second chance at an education and a future through the eyes of a parent and student.

The rally was also an opportunity for families to meet with their state legislators. Following the rally program, many of the scholarship students and parents, met with their legislators to share their positive experiences with these programs and encourage them to expand options currently available. The 2007 proposed legislation includes a bill to expand the eligibility of CTC Scholarships to students who have been placed in foster care, enabling foster children who have lived in multiple environments during the previous year to receive a scholarship even if they were not counted as full-time students during that year. This bill also adds CTC Scholarship eligibility for youth who were counted as full-time equivalent students at any time during the previous year in a Department of Juvenile Justice educational program.

The 2007 "Many Faces, One Dream" Rally sponsors included the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO), Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options (HCREO), The Coalition of McKay Scholarship Schools, National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders, Florida Alliance for Choices in Education (FACE), and the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

The "Many Faces, One Dream" Rally brought awareness to the general public and legislators of the importance of educational options in Florida. The rally highlighted how these programs are greatly benefiting thousands of low-income children in Florida and creating a well-educated workforce, paving the way for a more productive, prosperous Florida. The event also generated a great amount of press coverage, including articles in The Gainesville Sun, The Tallahassee Democrat, The News-Press, Orlando Sentinel and The Florida Times-Union, and television coverage on all the major networks statewide.

Tallahassee Democrat
April 13, 2007

Civil-rights leader: Give parents choice in school

By Bill Cotterell

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.''