Florida Department of Education Awards Nova Southeastern University
$5 Million Cooperative Agreement to Expand on Success of Florida School Choice Resource

Article Submitted By:  Katy Beth Twist-Harty

FT. LAUDERDALE-DAVIE Fla. – The U.S. Department of Education has awarded one of the thirteen five-year Voluntary Public School Choice Program (VPSC) Grants to the Florida Department of Education’s (FDOE’s) Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice (OIEPC).  The FDOE’s OIEPC granted approximately $5 million in a cooperative agreement to Nova Southeastern University’s Fischler School of Education and Human Services (FSEHS) National Institute for Educational Options (NIEO) Florida School Choice Resource Center (FSCRC) over the next five years.

This is the second time that the FSCRC received this VPSC grant from the FDOE. The grant will be used to expand the operations of the Florida School Choice Parent Resource Center’s (PRC’s) administered by FSEHS/NIEO. The Center assists parents, educators and community members in making informed decisions on their children’s education by offering workshops and resources on K-12 school choice options.
The cooperative agreement, to be paid over a five-year period, will fulfill various objectives including:

• Create five additional Parent Resource Centers across Florida;
• Expand existing Parent Resource Centers across Florida and collaborate with the Parent Information Resource Centers(PIRC);
• Assist the state with implementation of local, regional and statewide Parent Advisory Councils;
• Provide parent resources including workshops and trainings on parental involvement;
• Assist the FDOE with technical assistance on the inter-district choice models;
• Provide FSEHS with the ability to work in collaboration with the University of South Florida’s Alliance for Applied Research in Education and Anthropology to create an effective evaluation system for all desired DOE services.

 “We are incredibly honored to receive this grant for a second time,” said Dr. Judith Stein, Executive Director of the NIEO at NSU-FSEHS. “This demonstrates the success of our efforts in providing school choice related services in the community. At the same time, we are excited to further expand the success of our efforts to other parts of Florida.”

The FSCRC serves to improve the quality and quantity of school choice options for Florida families with the goal of increasing the number of student transfers to high-performing schools among families that have children in lower-performing schools.

Parents, groups, schools and organizations interested in visiting one of the parent resource centers can call 1-800-986-3233, extension 28717 or email Katy Twist-Harty at tkaty@nova.edu.           

About Nova Southeastern University: Situated on 300 beautiful acres in Davie, Florida, Nova Southeastern University is a dynamic fully accredited institution dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs of distinction from preschool through the professional and doctoral levels. NSU has more than 26,000 students and is the sixth largest not-for-profit independent institution nationally. The university awards associate's, bachelor's, master's, specialist, doctoral, and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields, including business, counseling, computer and information sciences, education, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, dentistry, various health professions, law, marine sciences, early childhood, psychology and other social sciences.
For more information visit www.nova.edu.

Katy Twist-Harty
Florida’s Voluntary Public School Choice Program
Fischler School of Education and Human Services
Nova Southeastern University
Office:  (800) 986-3223  x28717
Fax:      (954) 262-3988