School Choice

As Mater Academy seeks to co-locate inside Oak Park School — Sarasota County’s only K-12 school for students with special needs — the move raises critical questions about how charter schools serve (or fail to serve) children with disabilities.

In a letter to families, the district announced it was withdrawing the proposal following backlash from parents.

Booker Elementary and Booker Middle were included in the superintendent's plan to prevent a charter school from moving in because both are operating at less than half capacity.

Mater Academy has a Schools of Hope designation from the state, meaning it can apply to share space in public schools with low enrollment.

The idea is to protect Brookside Middle from a charter takeover by moving Suncoast Polytechnical High there and creating a new school for grades 6 to 12.

The district lost 7,000 students this year alone in part due to the state's school voucher program.

Tom Hudson of "The Florida Roundup" joined Houston Public Radio to discuss how Florida is serving as a model for school voucher programs.

All parents are eligible for public funds to help pay for nonpublic education since state lawmakers have dramatically expanded access to the scholarships in recent years.

"We can't continue to have a death by a thousand cuts,” said county superintendent Terry Connor, who had to eliminate some support staff this year.

Six weeks into the school year, families of special needs students still have not received school vouchers following a major expansion of the program.

Opponents of Florida's universal choice plan worry resegregation in public schools will only accelerate.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that will expand school vouchers and school choice. Here's what it means.