Despite concerns, Betsy DeVos is a breath of fresh air for choice advocates

Perhaps one could be forgiven for thinking Tuesday’s confirmation of Betsy DeVos as education secretary marked a dark turn for America’s over 50 million students. After all, Senate Democrats spent Monday night taking turns denouncing Mrs. DeVos as being an out-of-touch billionaire historically unqualified for the position. Republican senators found themselves inundated with phone calls from angry constituents. The outcry even persuaded two Republicans to cross the aisle, with Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska stating that Mrs. DeVos was “so immersed in the push for vouchers, that she may be unaware of what actually is successful within the public schools, and also what is broken and how to fix them.”

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School choice isn't about pitting public schools against private schools

With the Senate's final vote on Betsy DeVos likely taking place on Monday, the spotlight on school choice shines brighter and brighter. Thursday, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education held its first public hearing of the 115th Congress on "Helping Students Succeed Through the Power of School Choice."

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Why Betsy DeVos' Support for School Choice Will Help America's Schoolchildren

According to her opponents during Wednesday's Senate confirmation hearing, Betsy DeVos, President Donald Trump's choice for secretary of education, is guilty of wanting to privatize the public schools. To be sure, the nominee's critics are entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. Here are the facts: DeVos believes that all children are entitled to the same educational opportunities regardless of income or ZIP code. If you want a more accurate picture of DeVos, some journalists in her home state are more likely to paint it for you.

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Virtual School Makes it Possible: Through minimalist movement, single-mom gives children the world

Imagine life on the road—one day in Florida on the beach, the next in Georgia on a balcony overlooking a peach tree while eating peach pie. Finally, traveling to New York, marveling in the evening glow of Times Square. Recently, single mom, Sara Logue had the same thoughts. Soon her house was up on the market. After multiple garage sales, donations to the Salvation Army, a ton of research and an RV later, she and her two sons were on the road.

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Celebrating choices in education

Susan Scrivner and her daughters, Rebecca and Hattie Scrivner, attended the School Choice Week rally Wednesday, Jan. 25, in Des Moines. The family is one of thousands in Iowa benefitting from alternatives to traditional public school, but it’s not as different as some might think.

“It’s public school,” said Scrivner of the Iowa Connections Academy, an online program with tests, teachers and video sessions involving classmates. “It’s kind of like a regular class. They just do it through the internet.”

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THE ECONOMIC BENEFIT OF SCHOOL CHOICE IN MILWAUKEE

Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s school voucher program will generate nearly $500 million in economic benefits to the city during the next 20 years, a study has found.

Researchers Corey DeAngelis, distinguished doctoral fellow at the University of Arkansas, and Will Flanders, education research director at the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, conducted a study they declared in a December 2016 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel op-ed, “for the first time, combines state-of-the-art statistical techniques with existing peer-reviewed research to show the long-term economic impact of the choice program and high-performing schools.”

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School choice means real results for real families

I had the pleasure last week of testifying in front of the House Education Committee hearing, “Helping Students Succeed Through the Power of School Choice.” The timing of the hearing couldn’t be more critical: with so many American’s hearing terms like “school choice” and “public charter schools” and “district-charter collaboration” for the first time, we need to ensure both they and our education policymakers hear how public school choice impacts students and families. Only then can we come together to decide on the future of education in our country – based on real stories, real facts, and real results.

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Florida Virtual School Student on a Journey to Become a Professional Chess Player

Theo Slade, a 16-year-old young man and new Laureate Park resident, started playing at the age of six when, living in England at the time, his father, Andrew, took a chess set out of the cupboard. “It could have been Monopoly, it could have been tiddlywinks, it just happened to be chess,” said Andrew, “but within weeks of learning the game, he was beating me!” he laughed. Today, he can beat his dad “blindfolded,” without looking at the board for the whole game! “Most people wouldn’t think of chess as something people do professionally,” Theo said. “I didn’t, to start with, but as soon as I realized that I could do what I love, travel the world and meet interesting people, I made up my mind that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life!” Ten years after seeing a chess board for the first time, how has he been faring?

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NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOL ENROLLMENT SURPASSES 3 MILLION

Nationwide charter school enrollment topped three million students this year.

According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, an estimated 3.1 million students attend one of the more than 6,900 public charter schools during the 2016-2017 school year. This in an increase of approximately seven percent, or 200,000 students, over the past year.

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