School Choice Impact on Public Education
This year Governor Ron DeSantis celebrated the success of school choice in Florida. He announced that nearly 1.4 million students use a school choice option in the state, and more than half a million scholarships were awarded.
Critics of the school vouchers program say the expansion comes at the expense of public schools.
Central Florida Public Media education reporter Danielle Prieur joins Engage to explain how Florida’s universal school choice voucher program works.
More than 800 Orange County teachers received a non-reappointment letter. This is a normal process that is done each year to adapt to enrollment numbers. But this year, the district projects a loss of more than 3,000 students. The Orange County Classroom Teachers Association says the lower student enrollment and the cuts in teacher positions are a direct consequence of the state’s expansion of school vouchers. Clinton McCracken has taught with OCPS for more than 20 years and is President of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association. He joins Engage to discuss the anxiety he says educators are experiencing and the impact of school vouchers.
Scott Howat, Chief Communications Officer for Orange County Public Schools, joins Engage to discuss what he’s seeing happening now in the district.
The nonprofit Step Up For Students administers most of the state-backed vouchers in Florida. Lauren May, Senior Director of Advocacy, joins Engage to discuss her support for school choice.
Drought Remains
Central Floridians are enjoying a brief respite from the dry conditions this week with thunderstorms rolling through the region. April is a traditionally dry month in the area, but this year parts of our region are seeing the worst drought conditions in eight years. Dr. Rob Eicher, an associate professor of meteorology at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, joins Engage to parse out the source of this drought, what kind of impact it may have on Central Floridians, and how much this rain will contribute to rehydrating the region.
Central Florida fire crews are seeing the drought manifest in the form of brush and wildfires throughout wooded and undeveloped parcels in and around Orange County. Burn bans have been put in place. Last week, multiple fires were fought throughout Volusia County, and residents in the Silver Springs community in Marion County were asked to evacuate their homes as fires in Ocala National Forest crept uncomfortably close to their neighborhoods. William Farhat is the marshal of Orange County Fire Rescue. He joins Engage to discuss his department’s efforts, fending off numerous brush and wildfires.
BCU Grads Focus on Books not Bills
It is commencement week at Bethune Cookman University. Thursday, hundreds walked across the stage with their diplomas in hand as new college graduates. About 60 of them are involved in a BCU program that made this journey possible by letting them focus on the books, not the bills. Eternity Bradshaw and Amber Matthews are two of them. They join Engage along with Sherry Paramore, Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Bethune, to discuss the program.
