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Scott Unveils Education Agenda; Charters Get Boost
October 26, 2012
Gov. Rick Scott unveiled an education agenda Thursday that could allow more students to go to existing charter schools while preparing the state to adopt a new national curriculum.
Most of the initiatives Scott announced Thursday were not a surprise, but they amount to one of the first vigorous education agendas he has unveiled since taking office last year. Scott largely focused on the economy in 2011, and his main education priority for 2012 was to persuade lawmakers to plow roughly $1 billion of new funding into public schools.
The most controversial element of Scott’s plan could potentially prove to be measures to increase the role of charter schools, public schools that are usually run by third parties and are free of many of the regulations faced by typical schools.
Scott’s plan would remove enrollment caps on existing charter schools and allow school districts to operate their own charter schools.
“We’ve got a lot of choice in our state, but we know in everything else in life, if you have more choice, quality goes up, prices sometimes come down,” Scott told WBBH-TV in Fort Myers in an interview Thursday morning.
In a news release issued after Scott formally unveiled the agenda at an event in Fort Myers, State Board of Education Chairman Gary Chartrand praised the charter school proposal.
“Having been involved with charter schools, I know firsthand how they can positively impact the student performance of children who come from economically disadvantaged areas. … Governor Scott’s agenda would make those opportunities available for more students in Florida,” Chartrand said.
Scott’s agenda would also make other changes, junking some regulations and giving debit cards to teachers to pay for school supplies, with the hopes that businesses would help support the program. And the agenda would require the state not to introduce any new testing that doesn’t conform to the “Common Core Standards,” a national set of curriculum guidelines set to take effect next school year.
Educators largely responded to the news with cautious optimism or at least took a wait-and-see approach.
“It’s kind of sketchy,” said Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association, the state’s main teachers union. “The proof will continue to be in the details.”
Ford’s group has frequently clashed with Republicans in recent years over whether and how to expand policies promoting school choice. Ford said he would like to see accountability for charter schools as part of the expansion.
“We have to make sure that we aren’t allowing charter schools to cherry-pick students,” Ford said.
He also said the state would “have to make sure that all schools are being treated fairly” in the school supply initiative, given that schools in more affluent areas might have an easier time getting businesses to partner with them.
Democrats, meanwhile, questioned Scott’s motives.
“While we hope that Scott’s plan — introduced just 12 days before the election — is sincere, it does not erase the Republican’s long record of hurting our parents, teachers and students,” Florida Democratic Party executive director Scott Arceneaux said in a statement.
By Brandon Larrabee
The News Service of Florida
Comments
7 Responses to “Scott Unveils Education Agenda; Charters Get Boost”
Governor Scott favors charter schools
President Obama favors charter schools
ergo, they must be good things
If Scott were the Dean of an educational institution, it would be called the school of hard knocks, and his constitutents would comprise the student body.
If you are not satisfied with Gov Scott, vote him out. I cannot imagine what you people saw in him, in the first place.
Big pot of money in education. Scott is not going to let that go. I don’t believe the education budget is going directly to the schools. A lot will go to these big testing services. The FCAT is paid off so it is time to hire a new company.
Having been in other states when my son was in school, I know some states have better education. However, we need to think about the jobs these children we are educating will have. They will do what many do and go work somewhere else because a good education doesn’t help you get a job here if there are no decent jobs.(And I don’t mean working at some minimum wage job in the tourist or retail shops.)
Our schools are awful Change needs to come from some place teachers can only do so much. Florida is becoming a joke all around it is nomore a nice place.
So, glad Scott focused on the economy in 2011, becuase it grew only 0.5% ranking Florida someplace in the bottom half of all states… even bankrupt California grew 2.0%… I hope his education plans are better, but its not his strong suit… that was supposedly the economy, and that hasn’t worked out so great… just saying…
“…while preparing the state to adopt a new national curriculum.”
I cannot understand why the so-called Conservatives in the state legislature are allowing this to happen. More big government, more unconstitutional federal control, and less local decision-making.