Florida Public School Choice Consortium Online Newsletter

Welcome to a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

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Welcome to a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Colleagues, I sincerely hope your holiday break brought time for enjoyment and special reflections for you and your family, relatives, and friends. As president of this Consortium, I am honored to make you aware of some very special ANNOUNCEMENTS, which will encourage positive change for all stakeholders in the areas of school choice. The first great news is the overwhelming positive historical events that took place during the celebration of the 5th Annual Florida Public School Choice Consortium (FPSCC) in Orlando in November. Three renowned educators were honored as Champions for School Choice for their untiring contributions to school choice and they are: Iris Wilson, Retired USDOE, Steven Brockhouse, Deputy Director of School Choice and Dr. Rufus Ellis, Jr., former FLDOE Director of School Choice.

Special Highlights
In addition, a special inauguration of the Dr. Carlo Rodriguez Champion of School Choice Summit was the special highlight of the collaborative conference with the Charter Schools of Florida. Dr. Rodriguez, until his untimely death, was a former Department of Education Executive Director of Parental School Choice who envisioned the establishment of an annual, statewide summit to encompass ALL aspects of school choice in Florida. Attending participants representing school choice and options were all seated together in one room joining in a new partnership and collaboration for all parents and their children. Therefore, Carlo’s dream became a reality!

Change is Good! “Leave No Parent Behind”
The vision was even more evident as ALL choice experts and leaders cheered as they heard words of wisdom and encouragement from the Honorable T. Willard Fair, State Board of Education Chairman who was the keynote speaker at a luncheon surrounded with participants from Charter Schools, Home School Education, Virtual School, Private School, McKay Scholarships, Tax Credit Scholarships, Career Academies, Title 1, and many more! Mr. T. Willard Fair made a suggestion to the Consortium’s board; “Why not change the name of this organization from Florida Public School Choice to the Florida Parental School Choice Consortium’ to include all. The audience’s applauds and standing ovation definitely signified their agreement to leave no parent behind.

Forging Partnerships as we “Race to the Top”
To top off the special guest list, Dennis Bega, Senior Policy Analyst from the USDOE brought resourceful information on “Race to the Top” grant funding and its requirements. We were able to forged new partnerships and relationships during the School Choice Summit with organizations such as Step Up For Students, Florida PTA, FACTE-Florida Association for Career and Technical Education, Florida Virtual School, FPEA (Florida Parent Educator Network) and the State of Florida - Office of Independent Education & Parental Choice (Private, Home Education, Charter, Scholarships) and Florida A&M University.

Florida Parental School Choice Consortium
From this year’s conference, Florida’s parents and the community soon will hear and see the name change; now known as the “Florida Parental School Choice Consortium”. Nevertheless, there still remains a need to include all parents, share resources and make parents aware of their choices for their children. Most importantly, this new reform is for all of our parents in our community. Their children are the ones who will reap the results of their choices with the success needed for a better and brighter future for all students throughout the State of Florida. This School Choice conference and Summit was a “win-win” for all involved.

Colleagues, I sincerely hope your holiday break brought time for enjoyment and special reflections for you and your family, relatives, and friends. As president of this Consortium, I am honored to make you aware of some very special ANNOUNCEMENTS, which will encourage positive change for all stakeholders in the areas of school choice. The first great news is the overwhelming positive historical events that took place during the celebration of the 5th Annual Florida Public School Choice Consortium (FPSCC) in Orlando in November. Three renowned educators were honored as Champions for School Choice for their untiring contributions to school choice and they are: Iris Wilson, Retired USDOE, Steven Brockhouse, Deputy Director of School Choice and Dr. Rufus Ellis, Jr., former FLDOE Director of School Choice.

Special Highlights
In addition, a special inauguration of the Dr. Carlo Rodriguez Champion of School Choice Summit was the special highlight of the collaborative conference with the Charter Schools of Florida. Dr. Rodriguez, until his untimely death, was a former Department of Education Executive Director of Parental School Choice who envisioned the establishment of an annual, statewide summit to encompass ALL aspects of school choice in Florida. Attending participants representing school choice and options were all seated together in one room joining in a new partnership and collaboration for all parents and their children. Therefore, Carlo’s dream became a reality!

Change is Good! “Leave No Parent Behind”
The vision was even more evident as ALL choice experts and leaders cheered as they heard words of wisdom and encouragement from the Honorable T. Willard Fair, State Board of Education Chairman who was the keynote speaker at a luncheon surrounded with participants from Charter Schools, Home School Education, Virtual School, Private School, McKay Scholarships, Tax Credit Scholarships, Career Academies, Title 1, and many more! Mr. T. Willard Fair made a suggestion to the Consortium’s board; “Why not change the name of this organization from Florida Public School Choice to the Florida Parental School Choice Consortium’ to include all. The audience’s applauds and standing ovation definitely signified their agreement to leave no parent behind.

Forging Partnerships as we “Race to the Top”
To top off the special guest list, Dennis Bega, Senior Policy Analyst from the USDOE brought resourceful information on “Race to the Top” grant funding and its requirements. We were able to forged new partnerships and relationships during the School Choice Summit with organizations such as Step Up For Students, Florida PTA, FACTE-Florida Association for Career and Technical Education, Florida Virtual School, FPEA (Florida Parent Educator Network) and the State of Florida - Office of Independent Education & Parental Choice (Private, Home Education, Charter, Scholarships) and Florida A&M University.

Florida Parental School Choice Consortium
From this year’s conference, Florida’s parents and the community soon will hear and see the name change; now known as the “Florida Parental School Choice Consortium”. Nevertheless, there still remains a need to include all parents, share resources and make parents aware of their choices for their children. Most importantly, this new reform is for all of our parents in our community. Their children are the ones who will reap the results of their choices with the success needed for a better and brighter future for all students throughout the State of Florida. This School Choice conference and Summit was a “win-win” for all involved.