School Choice in the States: Florida

SCHOOL CHOICE IN THE STATES

FOCUS ON:
FLORIDA

Florida's 1999 A+ Plus Education Plan includes a school choice provision and focuses on providing accountability and improving student learning; raising standards and improving training for educators; and improving school safety and reducing truancy. In just a few short months it has spurred educators throughout the state to rise to the challenge to improve education for all Florida students, but opponents have taken the school choice scholarship provision to court. In October, 2000, the First District Court of Appeals for the State declared the A Plus plan constitutional, and in April 2002 the State Supreme Court declined to review that decision. However, the trial court is now considering whether funds received by religious schools participating in the A+ Plan violates the religious establishment clause of the Florida state constitution.

Meanwhile new, path-breaking research has found a major ripple effect from the establishment of the state's A+ school choice program. The study found that "schools receiving a failing grade from the state in 1999 and whose students would have been offered tuition vouchers if they failed a second time achieved test score gains more than twice as large as those achieved by other schools." Link to: CER Summary.

DEVELOPMENTS:

WHAT'S THE SCORE, II: Schools in the Sunshine State received their annual grades last week, as authorized by the state's A+ Program, now in its fifth year. The ripple effect is evident — nearly half the state's schools earned "A" grades, and 22 percent "B's", an increase of over 500 percent since scores were first reported in 1999. Nine schools received their second “F” grade, making more than 13,700 students in those schools eligible for Opportunity Scholarships. More than 550 students are now using Opportunity Scholarships today. More details and links at CER Newswire June 24, 2003.
WHAT'S THE SCORE, I: The most recent Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), announced in September 2002, show encouraging progress across the board. Some of the most notable accomplishments include nearly tenfold increases in the number of African-American and Hispanic 4th graders achieving the highest possible scores in reading, and overall increases in math and reading for almost all grades. It seems that setting high standards and holding schools accountable for meeting them not only hasn't ruined Florida's schools but has actually been one of the best things to ever happen to them. From CER Newswire September 24, 2002.
COURT REPORT: A circuit court judge in Florida has ruled that the state program that allows children in failing schools to get scholarships to move into better schools, including private institutions, violates the state constitution. (CER Newswire August 6, 2002).
BLOB WATCH: The NEA, which has joined in the legal challenge to Florida's statewide program offering students in failing schools options, will argue their case in the Florida courts in August, 2002. (Link here for more on what the BLOB is saying about school choice and the recent Supreme Court decision upholding parents' right to choose.)
CHOICE IMPROVEMENTS: Nearly 9,000 children at 10 Florida schools are now eligible for opportunity scholarships, a result of the state's three-year old A+ accountability program which allows children in schools that have failed for two years out of four to choose to attend public or participating private schools. The "double-F" schools are likely to reconstitute staff or undertake serious restructuring. But the State's accountability plan also resulted in widespread improvements in public schools. "Nearly 40 percent of the state's schools improved a grade or more," according to the St. Petersburg Times. More at CER's June 18, 2002 Newswire.
Florida School Choice Judge Disqualified
The First District Court of Appeals has disqualified Judge L. Ralph Smith from further proceedings in the school employee union-inspired challenge to the Florida A+ Opportunity Scholarship program because he is related to one of the parties in the case. Judge Smith's son is married to the daughter of Jack Carbone, Deputy Chief of Staff for the Florida Education Association.
Smith so vigorously opposed his disqualification that he took the rare step of filing his own opposition brief to the disqualification motion. In March, 2000, Smith denied that his son was engaged to Carbone's daughter. They were married in October, 2000.
The Court ruled "reasonable persons could find that the content and tenor" of Judge Smith's brief "created an inappropriate adversarial relationship between the judge and the petitioners."
RIPPLE EFFECT: An Evaluation of the Florida A-Plus Accountability and School Choice Program, by Jay P. Greene, shows the positive effect of the A-Plus plan on the public school system. Link to: CER Summary.
CROWD PLEASIN': In Florida, legislation has been introduced that would grant a $3,000 scholarship to any student in a school that was 120 percent or more over capacity. Supporters tout the effort as a short-term fix for the space crunch in public schools, and a way to lower class size in those schools. For more on this, go to: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/daily/detail/0,1136,37500000000105055,00.html
ELECTION 2000: The Florida state commissioner of education's race was seen as a referendum on the Florida A+ /school choice program, with former State Senator Charlie Crist running on that plan and winning by 54-44 over his opponent, who vowed to gut A+.
FLORIDA KIDS WIN! Choice Declared Constitutional! On October 3, 2000 Florida First District Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision that had declared Florida's Opportunity Scholarship Program unconstitutional. In so doing, the Florida courts declared that the regular public school system is not the only venue through which public education dollars may flow -- and preserved an educational lifeline for Florida parents and children most in need of help.
LESSONS FROM FLORIDA ON SCHOOL CHOICE: Rather than doomsday, the program had sparked major improvements in all public schools. The result? None of the F schools had repeat Fs.
All of the 78 schools that received a failing grade last year pulled themselves off the list this year with passing grades on the writing portion of the state test -- with an average increase of 36.9 points. (CER Newswire, June 20, 2000.) However, at least 20 new schools were put on the failing schools list as a result of this year's test scores. (CER Newswire, June 27, 2000.)
CER Amicus Brief Filed in Support of Appellants and the Florida School Choice Opportunity Scholarship Program, May 27, 2000 (See also CER Newswire, June 14, 2000.)
GROUNDBREAKING REPORT SHOWS COMPETITION FROM SCHOOL CHOICE SPARKS WIDESPREAD PUBLIC SCHOOL REFORM, April 24, 2000. Link to: COMPETING TO WIN How Florida's A+ Plan Has Triggered Public School Reform.
RE: SCHOOL CHOICE RULING IN FLORIDA By Howard Fuller, Ph.D., March 15, 2000
A Florida Circuit Judge ruled on March 14 that the program authorizing Florida's Opportunity Scholarships is unconstitutional.
FLORIDA'S LAWSUIT IS JUST A DISTRACTION, By Dave DeSchryver, Tampa Tribune, January 8, 2000
Op-ed by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan: POOR SCHOOL CHILDREN AREN'T DESTINED TO FAIL.
CER Press Release: School Choice -- Florida Public Schools Strive to Stay off Failing Schools List; First State-Wide Voucher Program Explodes Myths
News Article: EDUCATORS BET SALARY AGAINST GRADES, By Linda Chion-Kenney, St. Petersburg Times, reprinted in the Detroit News, August 12, 1999.
CER's press release regarding passage of Florida's A+ Education Package.
Summary of Florida A+ Plan.
Key legislative provisions of choice program. Updated for 2001-2002 school year.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION:

J. C. Bowman
Choice/Policy Education Administrator
Florida Department of Education
325 W. Gaines Street, #1614
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0400
Phone: 850.201.7344
Fax: 850.201.7425
Email: diane.mccain@fldoe.org
Website: http://www.floridaschoolchoice.org/

SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS:

Dr. Patrick Heffernan
Floridians for School Choice
1000 Brickell Avenue, Suite 900
Miami, FL 33131
Phone: 305.702.5576
Fax: 305.379.7114
E-mail: info@floridians.org
Web: www.floridians.org

Search the Reform Update and Monthly Letter Libraries to get the latest developments on school choice state-by-state.

See School Choice Facts for an overview of how school choice programs are not only improving the education opportunity for participating children, but also having a dramatic impact on how non-choice public schools operate.

See Key Legislative Provisions for a point-by-point breakdown and comparison of the Florida, Cleveland and Milwaukee school choice programs.

See School Choice Research for the latest findings on the impact of school choice for students, schools and communities.

See Private Scholarship Programs for state-by-state listings of and links to privately funded school choice programs.

CER Home Page School Choice E-Mail CER