School choice proponents celebrated a major victory Monday after Florida lawmakers approved a far-reaching education budget that will allocate more than $400 million to charter schools and teacher bonuses.
Senate Democrats, as well as three Republicans, opposed the bill, losing in a narrow 20-18 vote. But the legislation received widespread support in the House, where it passed 73-36.
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Getting a shot to perform for a national Broadway tour can take dozens of auditions and callbacks for most, but for two Franklin sisters, one audition — on a whim — was all they needed to get a spot in the production of “Annie The Musical” that arrives in Boston next week.
Even though it was their first Broadway tour audition, Katie and Amanda Wylie are no newcomers to the theater — 9-year-old Katie and 11-year-old Amanda have been training at summer camps and Franklin School for the Performing Arts for years now. The countless hours they’ve spent practicing singing, dancing, and acting has turned them into what their mom, Kristen Wylie, and the theater world call triple threats.
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In 2013, I graduated from Ohio Connections Academy. I enrolled in the online charter school before my junior year because I had a very difficult experience in my previous school. I had grown to hate everything about school (especially my math courses) and I didn’t care if I finished high school.
College wasn’t even a consideration. Once I started at OCA, I discovered I could learn at my own pace and my teachers motivated me to dive deeper into subjects that interested me. Along the way, I started to love studying and learning and I even found that I actually liked science. Four years later I’m graduating from the University of Alabama with degrees in physics and mathematics and minors in German and Russian.
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It’s 11 a.m. on a recent Wednesday, and the Justice family is well into a busy day. A trip to the zoo was canceled due to rain, but a flexible schedule allows for such changes. After a brief stop at the Central Library, parents Johnny and Marie, who home-school their four children, head to to a music lesson.
While Hallie, 7, practices the violin with her teacher, her younger brother Bobby, 4, reassembles a set of Russian dolls.
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Weary of being the target of bullies at South Hills Middle School five years ago, Sarina Williams turned to the new Pittsburgh Online Academy.
The aspiring Beechview photographer, now 17, found in the city school district’s cyber school a convenient way to juggle her part-time grocery job at Kuhn’s, an internship, a video-editing gig and an entirely new set of academic challenges.
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Tucking her violin under her chin, Emma Palys drew her bow across the strings, sending notes soaring into the air.
Palys spent weeks practicing the duet with her violin teacher, Katie Butler, before the pair’s performance at the Main Street Community Garden as part of the Clayton Spring Art Walk on Saturday.
Her brow furrowed in concentration, Palys’ eyes never wavered from the sheets of music in front of her until she played the last note. Then she broke into a smile. Read more here.
By Ola Lisowski
MacIver Institute Research Associate
When the state legislature created Wisconsin's Special Needs Scholarship Program (SNSP) in 2016, Milwaukee educator William Koehn knew his school had to participate.
"Because we serve students who are all somewhere on the special needs spectrum, it was extremely important for us to be able to take advantage of the special needs scholarship program, and we did just that," said Koehn, administrator and lead teacher at St. Coletta Day School of Milwaukee.
St. Coletta, which serves 24 students with special needs, recently celebrated its 60th year. It was initially established by a group of parents dissatisfied with schooling options in local public or private schools. The school has participated in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program for six years, which Koehn says has drastically changed the kinds of services he is able to provide his students.
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To mark National Teacher Appreciation Week I’d like to recognize Ms. Meagan Torres, my journalism teacher at Insight School of Washington for inspiring me to achieve my highest potential.
Ms. Torres embraces the fact that students have different writing styles and may approach topics from diverse points of view. She nurtures a love for writing and critical thinking skills. She gives accurate and personalized feedback on every piece I write.
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Anna Cecilia Meyer is not afraid to travel halfway around the world to chase her dreams.
And for now, that means her home is at Princess Grace Academy, a professional ballet school in Monaco, where she is studying full-time to achieve her dream of becoming a professional ballerina.
The road to Monaco began when she was a toddler. Anna’s parents placed their active 3-year-old in dance classes at Corona Dance Academy, where she studied several different styles of dance for nearly 10 years.
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When Brenden Santos told his mom, Diana Santos, that Lt. Gov. Dan Forest had emailed him a Christmas greeting card, she was skeptical it was real.
She didn’t want to discourage her son, so she didn’t say so at the time, but she called the number on the email just to be sure. The person who answered confirmed the message was what it appeared to be. In February, Brenden was invited to a dinner where he got to meet Forest.
“As soon as you got up the stairs, what happened?” Diana asks her son.
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