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[D3]Dade County Florida Schools

by Patricia Hawke, Pat

Florida schools have long struggled with the wide disparities between schools in affluent neighborhoods, and those that serve the state's weaker sections in high poverty pockets of the state. Low economic status of the students has been proven to be detrimental to a student's learning ability. Along with other factors like the student's intellectual capacity and economic status of the schools he or she attends, its not anything that Florida schools can do much about. It's not surprising that most Florida schools in the state's poorest belts rank so low on standardized tests.

As a result of these poor performances, many Florida schools that cater to the poor are denied precious funding that would otherwise help them introduce new programs, renovate structures, or upgrade existing tech equipment in their schools. Of all these possible uses for funding, the most important from the point of view of preparing students for life in the real world is undoubtedly access to state of the art computers and technology. With a knowledge driven global economy in which only those with at least minimal computer skills will make the cut, schools that aren't able to offer access to the latest equipment are in danger of failing their students. Many Florida schools lag dismally in this regard with many students forced to use aging equipment or share computers with other students.

Big Business Backs Florida Schools

Now there appears to be some good news for impoverished Florida schools. Microsoft Corporation's anti-trust settlement reached with several states, including Florida, means the software giant will shell out funding to each state which will be used by the state's education department. In Florida's case, this funding will be in the form of vouchers valued at over $80 million. The technology vouchers will go towards purchasing new computers and software, and will directly impact those Florida schools that would otherwise have no access to the funding for these upgrades.

Benefits to Florida Schools

The schools expected to benefit are those that have at least half the student population on reduced price or free lunches. According to Florida education authorities, at least 1,790 schools with student populations of a total of 1.1 million will be eligible for these technology vouchers. Half the vouchers will be utilized for upgrading existing software and purchasing new ones, while the remainder will be used for hardware. A chunk of the money will also go towards programs that include curriculum development, and training of Florida schools administrators. With this windfall, computer labs at Florida schools will get a much needed shot in the arm. The main beneficiaries will be the students in these Florida schools who will receive much needed access to current technology.

The kindergarten through 8th grade virtual school was created in the Florida schools in 2003. It was sold to lawmakers as a great way to save money, offering coursework to replace on-campus teachers and classrooms at a savings of $700 per student. Only students who had attended the Florida schools the previous year were eligible to participate at a cost to the Florida schools of $4,800 per student. The savings over physical classroom instruction for the Florida schools was expected to be $700,000 with a 1,000 student enrollment in the virtual school program.

Though in theory the money saved by the Florida schools was substantial, someone forgot to tell the rules to Jim Horne (then education commissioner). He allowed kindergarten and first grade students, who had never attended the Florida schools previously, to enroll in the virtual school. These newly eligible students accounted for 27 percent of all students enrolled at a taxpayer cost of $4,800 per student. All projected savings were lost, and it ended up costing the Florida schools an additional $653,000, according to a March 14th article in the Palm Beach Post.

The Florida schools have found the virtual school a success, even though a costly one in the beginning. All participating students must meet the Florida Sunshine State Standards and must take the state-required Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).

In March, the House education committee approved HB 799, which expands the K-8 virtual school program. If passed by the Senate, all home and privately schooled children in Florida will be allowed to participate in the virtual school program with no cap on the number of students enrolled.

Currently, the virtual program is limited to 1,384 students at a $5,200 per student cost for a total of $7.2 million funding cost to the Florida schools. Though few privately schooled children are expected to enroll (a parent must be present during use of the program), there are currently 52,000 children in Florida being home schooled. The expanded program, which provides parents with a computer, books, software and online access to teachers, could easily cost the Florida schools about $312 million with a per student cost increase to almost $6,000.

Such a cost to the taxpayers and the Florida schools may force lawmakers to place an enrollment cap on the virtual school program. Backers believe the Senate will insist upon it, since they expect a tight budget this year.

The bill also requires all program providers to be nonprofit. Current contracted providers are the Virginia-based K12 and Maryland-based Connections Academy. The Florida subsidiaries of these two firms are currently making a transition to nonprofit status in compliance with HB 799. Though the subsidiaries will be nonprofit, they will be allowed to continue purchasing supplies and equipment for the virtual school program from their for-profit parent companies. The bill does not require competitive bidding by these providers.

The expanded virtual school bill, HB 799, is sponsored by Representative Will Weatherford (R-Wesley Chapel). He believes that the parents of home and privately schooled children pay taxes, and their children should have equal opportunity to participate in this state-paid program of the Florida schools, too.

Article Source : Pg. 96

Patricia Hawke has sinced written about articles on various topics from Education, Food And Drink and Education Toys. Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit . Patricia Hawke's top article generates over 246000 views. to your Favourites.