With seven of the 25 largest public school districts in the United States, Florida’s public education system has for the past decade been in crisis. And it's getting worse. With no state income tax, Florida relies on property taxes to fund public education -- and that tax base is steadily declining as foreclosures have ravaged property values. In 2010 alone, Florida lost $778 million in property value.
Now, newly elected Republican Gov. Rick Scott, a business executive who has never held public office, is about to make Florida a laboratory for a dramatic education experiment. Critics say it will destroy public education. Supporters say it will provide school choice. Known as a “vouchers-for-all” plan that will move millions of dollars out of public schools and into private schools, Scott’s proposal promises to spark an ideological battle between rich and poor, urban and suburban, advocates for public and private schools.
Is this the end of public education in Florida or is it, as the governor's transition team describes, a "re-branding" of the state Department of Education?
This in-depth report, which will examine what is sure to be one of the nation’s most far-reaching education policy shifts as it happens, will be the first in a series about Florida’s public education system and how it could prove to be a model for other cash-strapped states.
Now, newly elected Republican Gov. Rick Scott, a business executive who has never held public office, is about to make Florida a laboratory for a dramatic education experiment. Critics say it will destroy public education. Supporters say it will provide school choice. Known as a “vouchers-for-all” plan that will move millions of dollars out of public schools and into private schools, Scott’s proposal promises to spark an ideological battle between rich and poor, urban and suburban, advocates for public and private schools.
Is this the end of public education in Florida or is it, as the governor's transition team describes, a "re-branding" of the state Department of Education?
This in-depth report, which will examine what is sure to be one of the nation’s most far-reaching education policy shifts as it happens, will be the first in a series about Florida’s public education system and how it could prove to be a model for other cash-strapped states.
