History
The Florida Public School Choice Consortium commenced with a fateful and unexpected opportunity. In 2002, a surprising phone call came to Dr. Judith Stein, longtime magnet leader, from a company responsible for locating dormant non-profit funds in Florida. They called Dr. Stein to announce the discovery of nearly $4,000 designated for “magnet schools” in Florida. Inasmuch as Nova Southeastern University had operated Magnet School of America (MSA) and because Dr. Stein had been the Executive Director of MSA, they contacted her to determine if she knew of the Florida Magnet School organization for which these funds had been allocated. She responded, “Of course!” and proceeded to ask for the company representative to provide the monies to support the fledgling organization, Florida Public School Choice Consortium (FPSCC).
How did this happen? Well, the $4,000 unearthed in a Tampa bank had been left there by the Florida’s former choice organization—which was initiated by Dr. Stein of Miami-Dade, Dr. Judith Poppell of Duval (Jacksonville), and Ms. Maryellen Elia of Hillsborough (Tampa), who had served as first, second, and third president, respectively, of the precursor to the FPSCC, the Consortium of Magnets and Public Choice Schools COM/PCS or COMPACS. This organization was started by a hopeful group of public school choice leaders in 1992, who believed in school choice and its potential for growth in Florida.
This grassroots Florida endeavor followed in the footsteps of a similar national movement, the creation of Magnet Schools of America (MSA) in 1991. Five hopefuls sat in Columbus Ohio in 1991 and declared, “We will start a non-profit to advocate for and support magnet schools.” Those five vanguards included Dr. Stein, Mr. Walter S. Millman of Newburgh, NY, Dr. Gladys Pack of Yonkers, NY, Mr. Charles Cassidy of Connecticut, Dr. Robert G. Brooks of Rhode Island, and Dr. Donna Grady Creer of Arkansas.
Given the discovery of the $4,000 in Tampa, it was providence that the meeting to organize the Florida Public School Choice Consortium occurred there in conjunction with MSA’s SMART conference during the summer of 2003. A group of 29 educators and stakeholders from various parts of Florida, as well as MSA staff, convened on the afternoon of July 9th and the morning of July 10th and determined there was a need for such an organization. Through a great deal of discussion, the following was resolved since Florida, even in 2003, had many forms of school choice:
- Name: Florida Public School Choice Consortium (FPSCC)
- Vision: All Florida students will have access to high quality public school choice options.
- Mission: To provide information and support to maintain and expand public school choice options in Florida.
- Target Membership: Professionals involved in magnet, charter, and other public school choice options and parent groups that must understand “school choice” in order to provide choices for their children.
- Goals/Purposes:
- To promote public awareness of the benefits of diversity in public school settings.
- To promote networking opportunities.
- To advocate and/or lobby for legislative support for public school choice options.
- To provide professional development opportunities and resources.
- To assist in evaluating and/or assessing the impact of public school choice options on student achievement.
- To assist with the implementation of state and federal legislative choice requirements.
- To disseminate information about best practices and funding opportunities for public school choice options through the parent groups.
- To develop a common language for Florida’s public school choice options.
A resolution was proposed and passed in support of a single Florida state office for choice – one with specific staff in charge of magnet programs, charter programs, voluntary public school choice, and other alternative programs.
Ms. Joan Courtney, from Hillsborough County Schools, agreed to head a committee to draft bylaws for the new organization. She had been provided with copies of bylaws from Texas and MSA. Others on the bylaws committee included: Ms. Leslie Brown of Broward, Ms. Lois Lee of Miami-Dade, Ms. Lisa Kammel from the South Florida Choice Resource Center, Ms. Michelle Jerger of St. Lucie, Ms. Charlene Einsel of Pinellas, and Sheryl Riker of Manatee. Ms. Courtney and her committee prepared bylaws for the FPSCC’s initial meeting. Once the bylaws were adopted, the organization’s initial officers were elected.
Mary Helen Arbogast was named the liaison with Magnet Schools of America for, at that time, she was the MSA director representing Florida. Mr. Joseph White of Connecticut was named FPSCC’s liaison with other national organizations and Ms. Deidra Honeywell was tapped to be the new organization’s consultant and secretary.
The new 2002-2007 USDOE Voluntary Public School Choice Program federal grant had just been awarded by to the FLDOE (where Dr. Rufus Ellis Bureau, Chief of the FLDOE Choice Office had written the grant). There, Scott Banner of Florida State University (FSU), was asked to keep the group aware of the activities of the North Florida Choice Resource Center and Ms. Kammel did the same for the South Florida Center. Note: The Center at FSU closed in 2004 and all of its activities were transferred to Nova Southeastern University’s Fischler School of Education.
In honor of the ongoing involvement of MSA in the organization (it is their “Florida” choice organization); plans were to convene at the MSA National Conference each year. [See the MSA website, www.magnet.edu/conferences for details.]
The organization has been well served by the following Presidents:
- Ms. Leslie Brown, Broward County
- Mr. Donnie Evans, Hillsborough County
- Ms. Connie Scotchel-Gross, Palm Beach County
- Dr. Carlo Rodriguez President-Elect, Miami-Dade County (deceased)
- Kathy Israelson, Bay County
- Audrey Potter-Lewis, Gadsden County
The FPSCC organization holds a statewide conference in the fall of each year, most recently in conjunction with the Florida Charter School Conference. It has also held past conferences in conjunction with Magnet School of America and with FLDOE’s School Reform Conference.
In addition, since 2005 the organization has sponsored a Career Academy on the Hill Conference concomitant with the legislative session so as to bring this important forum of career and technical education and choice to Florida’s legislators.
The FPSCC organization fulfilled the Voluntary Public School Choice Program’s (VPSCP) grant objective of “bringing together the mentor and mentee school districts of the 2002-2007 VPSCP grant” so that they could provide the mentoring services each year and also became a means of sustainability for school choice in Florida. Following is a list of participating Florida mentor/mentee school districts in the 2002-2007 VPSCP grant:
School |
Contact |
VPSCP |
Title |
|
Bay |
Kathy Israelson |
Mentor |
School Choice Coordinator |
|
Brevard |
Vicki Mace |
Mentor |
Director, Office of School Choice |
|
Bradford |
Becky Reddish |
Mentee |
Director, Student Services |
|
Collier |
Dr. Dee Whinnery |
Mentee |
Executive Director, |
|
Collier |
Tom Stephens |
|
Coordinator for Grant Development |
|
Collier |
Dale Johnson |
|
Coordinator, Title I, |
|
Duval |
Sally Hague |
Mentor |
General Director, |
|
Escambia |
Dawn Ramirez |
Mentee |
Coordinator, |
|
Gadsden |
Audrey Lewis-Potter |
Mentor |
Coordinator, |
|
Hillsborough |
Pansy Houghton |
Mentor |
Supervisor of Choice, |
|
Jackson |
Frank Waller |
Mentee |
|
|
Lake |
Harry Fix |
Mentee |
Director, Grants & Planning |
|
Lee |
Leila Muvdi |
Mentee |
Director, Student Assignments |
|
Leon |
Lawanda O’Brian |
Mentor |
Project Manager, Planning & Policy Management |
|
Madison |
Gwen Hubbard |
Mentee |
Director, Federal Projects |
|
Manatee |
Herb Tschappat |
Mentor |
Ex. Director, District Planning, Policy & Program Evaluation |
|
Manatee |
Sheryl Riker |
|
Specialist, School Choice |
|
Miami-Dade |
Dr. Alina Diaz |
Mentor |
Ex. Director, Charter Schools Operations |
|
Orange |
Dr. Evelyn Chandler |
Mentee |
Director, School Choice Services |
|
Palm Beach |
Kelly Daniels |
Mentor |
Choice Manager, Choice Programs & School Choice |
|
Pinellas |
Jim F. Madden |
Mentee |
Director, Unitary Status Implementation |
|
Polk |
Carolyn Finch |
Mentee |
Sr. Director, Magnet, Choice & Charter |
|
Sarasota |
Williams A. Storms |
Mentor |
Supervisor, Student Assessment |
|
Seminole |
Leslie Reilly |
Mentor |
Choices Coordinator |
|
St. Lucie |
Michele Jerger |
Mentor |
Director of Student Assignment |
|
Volusia |
Peggy Hildebrand |
Mentee |
Coordinator, NCLB |
The new VPSCP federal grant of 2007-2012 is aimed at parental involvement and inter-district choice by improving student achievement through offering students transfers from lower performing schools to higher performing schools. Consequently, the FPSCC expanded its focus to include the provision of support for the parents and school districts implementing these programs and services. Of particular note is the FPSCC’s creation of the State of Florida Parent Advisory Council and its regional and local affiliates. The establishment of this Council has facilitated training and professional development for the parent liaisons and state, regional and local SCPAC’s members.
In 2007, after the untimely death of the President-Elect of FPSCC, the organization developed the Dr. Carlo Rodriguez Champion of School Choice Award and Scholarship, offering a half scholarship and award for a school choice or parental involvement advocate who desires to pursue a masters or doctorate degree at Nova Southeastern University’s Fischler School of Education and Human Services.
Under the leadership of FPSCC’s new President for 2009-2010, the organization has a new web site; an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) article feed for members and is developing a comprehensive strategic plan. The sky is the limit for the FPSCC!
Respectfully submitted:
Judith Stein, Ed.D.