Judy’s Journal

Article By Dr. Judy S. Stein

JudyHappy New Year for the new decade! We do not know what this decade will bring; however, we do know that there are students to teach, parents to inform about their school choices and schools, and systems of schools to reform and reenergize!  We are pleased to continue our cooperative agreement with the Florida Department of Education (FDOE), Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice for the Voluntary Public School Choice grant and to work with Miami-Dade and Hillsborough counties (which were also were funded) among only fourteen grants in the nation under the Voluntary Public School Choice (VPSC) program 2007-2012.

We are pleased to continue our work for school choice and educational options in Florida. Nova Southeastern University, Fischler School of Education and Human Services (FSEHS) have provided the home of initiatives for school choice through the National Institute of Educational Options (NIEO), which has been part of the FGSEHS since 1998.  
A little history:

  • Our Florida School Choice Resource Center was developed under the 2002-2007 Voluntary Public School Choice grant (VPSC) from the United States Department of Education which was provided to the State of Florida in the 2002-2003 school year to expand, reinstate or improve school choice in Florida.
  • With the new grant of 2007-2012, we expanded the reach of our Parent Resource Centers, beyond Miami-Dade to include Broward, Jacksonville, and Gadsden and Orlando.
  • The year 2009, we added two parent liaisons in Palm Beach—one at the Hispanic Council and one in the offices of Multi-Cultural Education and School Choice in the school district of Palm Beach.  
  • Now we also expanded to Escambia County—Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle, and we have a new PRC in Orlando at Latino Leadership where we are bringing school choice to Orange County and Osceola County.

We will be rounding off the statewide PRC sites late this year when we join the Seminole Nation in Glades County at the new Native American Charter School there.  We are working with the Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice led by Yolanda Miranda-Hill, the VPSCC Manager. She is spearheading the three models of inter district choice with Palm Beach, Polk (and nine districts), and Hillsborough. The state grant  included a competition for “inter district choice” to enhance and expand it in Florida and the NSU-FSEHS portion was to further the original Parent Resource Centers and to develop new Parent Resource Centers in Palm Beach, Escambia, and Gadsden counties and on the Seminole Reservation in Glades/Okeechobee County.   
We can also update you on the progress of the Florida Public School Choice Consortium (FPSCC), which began in 2003 and is an extension of the organization that Maryellen Elia (now Superintendent in Hillsborough County) started in Florida in the 1990’s, and its purpose is to network for school choice and parental options in Florida. The new President is Audrey Lewis-Potter, the Parent Coordinator in Gadsden County and has led the development of the state approved parent training modules called DOLPI (Different Levels of Parent Training. In November 2009, the FPSCC ran the first statewide School Choice Summit before the Florida Charter School Conference. Read about it here.

Another tradition of the FPSCC is the Dr. Carlo Rodriguez Champion of School Choice awards. The second set of awards and scholarships happened in the fall of 2009 at the State Board of Education meeting in Miami. The winners were our own Lois Lee of Miami-Dade and Pansy Houghton of Hillsborough County. Dr. Rodriguez was the State of Florida Executive Director of School Choice whose untimely death took away a visionary in school choice.  Nova Southeastern University at FSEHS has provided two scholarships for masters and doctorate degrees so that the Champion for School Choice awards for the year 2010 will include a half scholarship each year for further education in an area of school choice.  Read about this award and the requirements soon.

Finally, an important development is the collaboration between the Florida Public School Choice Consortium (FPSCC), a nonprofit for school choice in Florida, and the organizations for parental involvement, such as statewide PTSA, the parent organization for parent educators, the two federally funded Parent Information Resource Centers (PIRC), and others, as the new President—Audrey Potter (FPSCC) brings in these purposes and this emphasis for the FPSCC. Read her message for more highlights for FPSCC. We will meet together, when possible, work with FAPE—the Florida Association for Partnerships in education, and share our eNewsletter, and continue to support quality school choice through parental involvement.  

Two outstanding educators who led school choice organizations are retiring this year—Lois Lee of Miami-Dade in January and Mary Vreeland if Palm Beach. Read our eNewsletter and learn about the conferences and institutes of our partner organizations, the Magnet Schools of America, the National Career Academy Coalition, The Florida Association of Partnerships in Education, the Southeast Coalition of Essential Schools and the Small Schools Workshop, as well as the Florida Public School Choice Consortium and Florida Association of Charter School Authorizers

We hope that you have a great second half of the school year and good FCAT results.  

Judith S. Stein Ed.D.
Principal Investigator
Florida School Choice Resource Center--
State of Florida VPSC grant of the USDOE
Executive Director of the
National Institute of   Educational Options (NIEO)
Nova Southeastern University
Fischler School of Education of Human Services