Meanwhile, In Florida...

- 4th largest gains in the nation for black students.
 
- Largest gains for low-income students across the country.
 
-Number one nationally for gains by students with disabilities.
 
These are all achievements of Florida public school students since 2003, when all states started participating in NAEP, or "The Nation's Report Card."
 
It's no coincidence that these gains have accompanied the implementation and expansion of the nation's most expansive school choice program. Currently, over 37,000 low-income students, and almost 23,000 disabled students take advantage of tax credit - funded scholarships to attend private schools. Far from harming public school performance (or funding), Florida's state schools are demonstrating real, chartable growth in educating disadvantaged students. 
 
Despite these momumental improvements taking place in Florida -  improvements that have come hand-in-hand with the expansion of school choice options  - some lawmakers (and most baffling, educators) continue to demonize school choice legislation as being somehow opposed to education. If this is truly a debate about what is best for students, especially students with special learning needs, and students from low-income families, the doesn't it make sense to pursue policies that are proven to help them? 
 
If helping children is really the objective, then the data speaks quite convincingly in favor of school choice. 
 
The slide above was taken from a presentation on education reform in Florida put together by the Foundation for Excellence in Education.  We encourage to forward it around to anyone you know who may have concerns about how school choice actually impacts public school performance.