NextSteps: Step Up For Students

On this episode, reimaginED senior writer Lisa Buie talks with Doug Tuthill and Amy Graham of Step Up For Students, the nation’s largest K-12 education choice scholarship funding organization. Tuthill is president of Step Up, and Graham is vice president of policy, innovation and empowerment for the Florida-based organization. Step Up For Students administers most of the education choice scholarships in Florida and hosts this blog.

“The fantastic thing about (education savings accounts) is they're very flexible, and we're all about customization. And this whole ed choice movement is about giving families more flexibility to be able to customize an education for their child. And I think the ESA piece, as well as universal eligibility, are really game changers.” – Doug Tuthill, president, Step Up For Students

https://nextstepsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/PEDHB1Podcast.mp3

Tuthill offers an overview of the 40-year history of education choice in the Sunshine State and how district magnet schools gave rise to more options such as charter schools, virtual schools and scholarship programs that allowed parents to decide the best learning environment for their children. Tuthill also discusses the details of the newly signed law HB 1 and how the conversion of traditional scholarship to education savings accounts will give families even greater flexibility in customizing their children’s education. He also clears up misinformation about the expanded program regarding eligibility, costs and equal opportunity. Tuthill also talks about how HB 1 will open up opportunities for educators to start their own innovative programs, further expanding options for students.

Graham discusses regulatory accountability and guardrails built into the bill as well as a new personalized education plan classification for homeschool families who choose to use state funds to completely customize their child’s education. (The law exempts homeschool families who do not wish to accept state funds from certain accountability rules that apply to those in the personalized education program.)

Graham offers details on the new purchasing guide under development that will list pre-approved goods and services to make it easier for families to manage their funds. She also discusses how HB 1 will simplify the evaluation process for non-public school students to qualify for funding through the state’s education savings account program for students with unique abilities. That program also received expanded funding through HB 1 to eliminate a wait list.

Graham also outlines how HB 1 is intended to aid school districts by providing relief from some of their most burdensome regulations so district schools can be competitive options.

EPISODE DETAILS:

RELEVANT LINKS:

Final version of HB 1

https://www.fldoe.org/schools/school-choice/k-12-scholarship-programs/fes/

https://www.stepupforstudents.org/

The post podcastED: Step Up For Students top leaders discuss how Florida’s HB 1 will transform education choice in the Sunshine State through flexibility appeared first on NextSteps: Step Up For Students.

Aimee Uriarte and her two sons, 15-year-old Alejandro, left, and 17-year-old Sebastian, right.

On this episode, reimaginED senior writer Lisa Buie talks with Aimée Uriarte, a single parent whose two sons attend Christopher Columbus High School, an all-male Catholic school in Miami.

Older son Sebastian, 17, receives a Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, while his brother, Alejandro, 15, attends on a Family Empowerment Scholarship for students with Unique Abilities.

A Costa Rica native, Uriarte moved to the United States but left in 2008 due to the Great Recession. One of the reasons she returned to Florida was to ensure her children received opportunities for an education that best fit their needs. Columbus High fills that bill and more, she said.

Uriarte, who was among the scholarship beneficiaries who spoke during the recent signing ceremony for HB1, a major education choice expansion bill, said she looks forward to the additional flexibility the legislation will bring to her family and others.

“The Columbus staff has come through, truly as a family, I never expected this compassion regarding our family's reality. Every family has different struggles … they are very hands on, all of them, and they’re very concerned about the wellbeing of each family.”

https://nextstepsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/PEDAimeeUriartePodcast.mp3

EPISODE DETAILS:

RELEVANT LINKS:

https://www.fldoe.org/schools/school-choice/k-12-scholarship-programs/fes/

The post podcastED: South Florida mom welcomes education savings account flexibility for two sons appeared first on NextSteps: Step Up For Students.

Katie Switzer of West Virginia

On this episode, reimaginED senior writer Lisa Buie talks with Katie Switzer, a soon-to-be-mother of five who played a key role in helping overturn a court ruling that shut down West Virginia’s new Hope Scholarship program about a month before schools were set to re-open for the 2022-23 academic year.

Switzer, founder of a part-time forest school for families, and another parent were intervenors in the appeal of the circuit judge’s ruling. They were represented by the Institute for Justice, a national non-profit public interest law firm that supports giving parents the opportunity to choose the best educational fit for their children.

In January, the Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy honored Switzer as its Advocate of the Year for education choice.

“My dream is not to get rid of public schools. I don’t think that’s the answer. I think the answer is just to change the system so that we can give public schools flexibility so they don’t have to be these big, one-size-fits-all classrooms and these huge buildings and kids who have ADHD and don’t fit in get lost because they don’t want to deal with them.”

https://nextstepsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/PEDKatieSwitzerPodcast.mp3

Switzer talks about her own experience in public schools in New York, which she described as “middle of the pack” in terms of quality metrics. She says how she was shocked to learn after moving to Morgantown, W. Va., that her children’s school district, which was ranked third in the state, delivered results that were worse than the middling schools she attended.

Switzer also shares the story of her second child, Ruth, who has apraxia of speech and dyslexia, benefited from therapies that she can now use Hope Scholarship funds to pay for. She also recalls the day that the circuit judge granted a permanent injunction shutting down the Hope Scholarship program and the “chaos” that resulted from families who were left scrambling for alternatives with about a month before classes were set to resume.

She recalls the fear she felt about having her name on the appeal and how she refused to let her kids attend their local public schools during that time to avoid any possible retribution from Hope opponents. Switzer also shares her emotions upon hearing about a victory at the West Virginia Supreme Court and how she can use the funds to customize her school-age children’s education.

An entrepreneur herself, Switzer talks about establishment of her forest school for young children and their parents to learn about science and nature.

EPISODE DETAILS:

 RELEVANT LINKS:

 https://www.hopescholarshipwv.com/

https://monforestschool.org/

https://ij.org/press-release/west-virginia-supreme-court-issues-full-ruling-upholding-hope-scholarship-program/

The post podcastED: W.Va. mom takes bold stand to help save education choice for families in Mountain State appeared first on NextSteps: Step Up For Students.

New Hampshire education choice advocates rally at a National School Choice Week event in January.

On this episode, Tuthill interviews Demers, who started the Children’s Scholarship Fund in New Hampshire, and has worked tirelessly as its executive director for the establishment of a tax credit scholarship fund in 2012 and Education Freedom Accounts, which lawmakers approved in 2021. Both are open to families whose incomes fall at or below 300% of the federal poverty level.

“I have the opportunity to talk to the families that participate in our children's scholarship fund programs every day. And so first and foremost, they are the ones that drive these programs into being and I think I see myself as a messenger for the families in New Hampshire.”

Demers offers an overview of each program and recalls how she went from a successful businesswoman and charter school board member to the founder of a nonprofit organization that expanded education choice opportunities for families and fended off legal challenges from opponents.

She also shares details of growing up in a lower-income neighborhood and how that inspired her to help others who are in similar circumstances. Demers shares her advice with those in others seeking to establish or expand choice programs in hostile climates.

EPISIDE DETAILS:

The post podcastED: Step Up For Students President Doug Tuthill talks with New Hampshire education choice pioneer Kate Baker Demers appeared first on NextSteps: Step Up For Students.