Florida Public School Choice Consortium Online Newsletter

Groundbreaking Dr. Carlo Rodriguez Champion of School Choice Summit

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Groundbreaking Dr. Carlo Rodriguez Champion of School Choice Summit

Orlando, November 17-19, 2009 – Over 150 educators participated in The Florida Public School Choice Consortium (FPSCC) conference as they celebrated its 5th year with the inauguration of the Dr. Carlo Rodriguez Champion of School Choice Summit. The 2009 FPSCC Conference encompassed all aspects of school choice in Florida. Prior to his untimely passing in 2007, Dr. Rodriguez served as Executive Director of The Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice for the Florida Department of Education (FDOE). During his brief tenure with the department, Dr. Rodriguez envisioned the establishment of an annual, statewide summit. This year, the FPSCC is proud to have made Dr. Rodriguez's vision a reality with the Dr. Carlo Rodriguez Champion of School Choice Summit.

This year’s conference included the one day summit where stakeholders from every school choice area: Public, Private, Virtual, Home Education, and more, participated on a panel to share information and updates in their specialty school choice area. The question and answer sessions allowed for participant interaction.

T. Willard Fair, State Chairman of the Board of Education, gave an invigorating speech to the participants during the luncheon. Aside from local and state representatives, the FPSCC was happy to welcome special presenters Steven Brockhouse, ex-USDOE Director for Parental Options and Information, David Kikoler and Elaine Rosales, the principal officers of American Education Solutions, Inc. (AES), and Dennis Bega, Senior Education Staff for the USDOE.

Special recognition went to five “Champions of School Choice” for their unwavering support and dedication to School Choice: Steven Brockhouse, Dr. Rufus Ellis, Jr., Iris Lane, Rose Raynak, and Dr. Judith Stein were honored at a special reception Tuesday evening.

During the final day of the conference, the Voluntary Public School Choice grant recipients met at Nova Southeastern University’s Student Educational Center in Orlando to participate in sessions on grant monitoring and compliance as well as data collection. The FPSCC would like to especially thank the presenters for giving their time to share their knowledge and to the participants for making this a successful event. Thank you to the Florida Department of Education, Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice, Step Up For Students, the International Association for K12 Online Learning (iNACOL), Florida Virtual, the Florida PTA and Florida Association for Career and Technical Education (FACTE) for their support and collaboration.

This event could not have been possible without the support of our sponsors. Thank you to Academica for providing the phenomenal luncheon, Charter Schools USA for their conference bag donation, SweatMonkey for their water bottle sponsorship, National Institute for Educational Options (NIEO) for their ongoing management and support, Nova Southeastern University for the use of their facilities, the Florida School Choice Resource Center, Benjamin Ramos for the design of the conference program, and to West Boca Raton Drafting and Design Academy for the printing and assembly of 200 conference programs.

Orlando, November 17-19, 2009 – Over 150 educators participated in The Florida Public School Choice Consortium (FPSCC) conference as they celebrated its 5th year with the inauguration of the Dr. Carlo Rodriguez Champion of School Choice Summit. The 2009 FPSCC Conference encompassed all aspects of school choice in Florida. Prior to his untimely passing in 2007, Dr. Rodriguez served as Executive Director of The Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice for the Florida Department of Education (FDOE). During his brief tenure with the department, Dr. Rodriguez envisioned the establishment of an annual, statewide summit. This year, the FPSCC is proud to have made Dr. Rodriguez's vision a reality with the Dr. Carlo Rodriguez Champion of School Choice Summit.

This year’s conference included the one day summit where stakeholders from every school choice area: Public, Private, Virtual, Home Education, and more, participated on a panel to share information and updates in their specialty school choice area. The question and answer sessions allowed for participant interaction.

T. Willard Fair, State Chairman of the Board of Education, gave an invigorating speech to the participants during the luncheon. Aside from local and state representatives, the FPSCC was happy to welcome special presenters Steven Brockhouse, ex-USDOE Director for Parental Options and Information, David Kikoler and Elaine Rosales, the principal officers of American Education Solutions, Inc. (AES), and Dennis Bega, Senior Education Staff for the USDOE.

Special recognition went to five “Champions of School Choice” for their unwavering support and dedication to School Choice: Steven Brockhouse, Dr. Rufus Ellis, Jr., Iris Lane, Rose Raynak, and Dr. Judith Stein were honored at a special reception Tuesday evening.

During the final day of the conference, the Voluntary Public School Choice grant recipients met at Nova Southeastern University’s Student Educational Center in Orlando to participate in sessions on grant monitoring and compliance as well as data collection. The FPSCC would like to especially thank the presenters for giving their time to share their knowledge and to the participants for making this a successful event. Thank you to the Florida Department of Education, Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice, Step Up For Students, the International Association for K12 Online Learning (iNACOL), Florida Virtual, the Florida PTA and Florida Association for Career and Technical Education (FACTE) for their support and collaboration.

This event could not have been possible without the support of our sponsors. Thank you to Academica for providing the phenomenal luncheon, Charter Schools USA for their conference bag donation, SweatMonkey for their water bottle sponsorship, National Institute for Educational Options (NIEO) for their ongoing management and support, Nova Southeastern University for the use of their facilities, the Florida School Choice Resource Center, Benjamin Ramos for the design of the conference program, and to West Boca Raton Drafting and Design Academy for the printing and assembly of 200 conference programs.