Florida Department of Education & Charter Schools

Quality of FL education compared to other states

A fairly recent study was conducted by Stanford University that analyzed school effectiveness by learning rates for students across US public schools from 2009 to 2018. In the study, it was found that Florida students learn 12% less each year from third grade to eighth grade.* This seems to be a thing for the South, with Alabama at an 11% loss, and North Carolina and Virginia at a 7% loss each year.

Conversely, New York and Pennsylvania students learn 1% less each year. Some northern states are even producing learning gains each year, with areas like Ohio, Vermont, and New Jersey at 1%, 4%, and 6% gains each year, respectively.

Admittedly, I don’t know much about the content provided by PragerU. So I took a quick look at the kids section of the PragerU website. At first glance, it looks very informational and attention-grabbing. Even Kyrie peeked over my shoulder to look when he saw the bright colors and animation.

Fortunately, for the ‘23-’24 school year, it seems Kyrie’s school has not made any plans to introduce PragerU Kids into the social studies curriculum. Instead, the curriculum uses the Core Knowledge History & Geography program with Studies Weekly as a supplemental resource. When compared to the 2023 FL DOE Social Studies State Academic Standards, it does seem to align very closely, so it would be interesting to see if any changes are made with the recent PragerU Kids content approval.

Change in learning about slavery

While we won’t have to immediately worry about this particular curriculum change, it’s certainly one that has generated a lot of noise lately and is worth mentioning for a number of reasons. In the same 2023 FL DOE Social Studies State Academic Standards guide, it’s shown that grades 6-8 American History and African American History Strands will have adjusted messaging as it relates to the history of slavery in America. Standard SS.68.AA.2.3 (pages 6 & 71) has a specific benchmarking clarification that reads:

“Clarification 1: Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

Is it incorrect to say that slaves learned skills while being enslaved? Technically, no. But, as my husband likes to say, context is important. In this context, we need to remember that the slaves who learned these “beneficial” skills weren’t even considered people. They were human chattel who did what they needed to do to stay alive.

Were slaves stolen, sold, traded, abused, and murdered? Yes. Did they learn things while being enslaved? Also yes. Is it possible that they could have learned this skill without being enslaved? You guessed it–yes. You don’t need to be enslaved to learn a skill.

For now, the one thing I’m hoping for is that the message for this charged topic is factual and correct in the negative aspects. Because, let's be real, slavery was absolutely and still is a negative concept. Be clear and direct if mentioning which of these instances in slavery was actually 'beneficial', and be prepared to answer why it was beneficial. Instructors need to also be prepared to be countered by students who are well-informed about what and how terrible slavery actually was, and how impactful it has been on the future generations of those enslaved.

Charter vs. Traditional Public

The changes I spoke of above are just a couple in a handful that are causing a frenzy. And it’s because of the traditional public schools’ requirement to uphold FL DOE standards and curricula without effectively sustaining long-term learning effectiveness that we decided to seek alternative education for Kyrie in the form of a charter school.

What is a charter school? 

Charter schools are nonsectarian public schools that operate under a performance contract with a sponsor*. One of the main focuses of a charter school is to increase parental choice and student learning opportunities. Charters are technically classified as public schools and are tuition-free.

Do charters follow FL DOE curricula?

To put it simply, charter schools can develop their own curricula. However, charter schools are held to the same education accountability requirements that traditional public schools are held to and must submit to state testing requirements like traditional public schools. Even so, the quality of the education received in a charter school is more substantial than a traditional public school (depending on the area). For example, a study found that Florida students who attended a charter high school were 7%-15% more likely to graduate with their diploma. They were also 8%-10% more likely to pursue higher education.

Why did we choose a charter school for Kyrie?

I've mentioned on more than one occasion how my husband and I were unimpressed with our basic education here in Florida. It was natural for us to look into what ways we could provide a more sustainable educational path for our kids. In our area, private schools that aren't tied to a religion are rare. We have a handful of charter schools and decided to look into them. And, because charters have a little more freedom in their curriculum structure, we wanted to find the best fit for Kyrie. 

Educational & child development standards

Note that a lot of identifying information has been redacted from this chart to protect my son’s and family's privacy. The green line item is Kyrie's current school. The orange-boardered line item is the traditional public school he is zoned for.

Note that a lot of identifying information has been redacted from this chart to protect my son’s and family's privacy. The blue line item is Kyrie's current school. The orange line item is the traditional public school he is zoned for. To see data for the rest of the schools in our county, click here.

Minority Student Levels

Back when Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse first premiered in theatres, my husband and I decided to take Kyrie to see it. At the time, his favorite character was Spiderman and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to take him to see Miles Morales. I remember very vividly, during one of the first scenes where Miles appears as Spiderman, Kyrie yelled out in the otherwise quiet theatre, “WOAH HE LOOKS LIKE ME!” I nearly cried.

That said, our second important attribute for choosing a school was the diversity levels of the students. I’ve been in Florida longer than my husband has. So I got used to being one of the few “minority” students in my classes. I am also mixed and wasn’t truly embraced by my Hispanic classmates (for not speaking Spanish) or my black classmates (for looking more Hispanic than black). My husband, on the other hand, never attended a school where he was part of a minority group until he moved down to Florida during his freshman year of high school. He had always been one of many black children at his schools up north, so it was a big change for him at first. That’s why it was important to us that Kyrie attend school with children of all sorts of backgrounds. We wanted him to have the common ground of being around children with races/ethnicities similar to his, and we wanted him to be around children who didn’t have those similarities so he would learn that it was character, not race or ethnicity, that defined a person.

This piece is a bit of a tightrope to walk, though. Again, we live in the south–our area is well-mixed but still predominately white. And, historically, past studies of charter school demographics have shown that student enrollment actually intensified racial and economic segregation*. That’s why, in addition to researching the education standards, we researched the demographics of the charter schools in our area compared to the traditional public school that he would be zoned for.

These numbers are so important to us. It’s amazing to have him complete his day-to-day with such a diverse class. And we believe it’s going to be extremely impactful for him to see the older students on campus that look like him, too. I can’t wait to see how Kyrie develops his skills and sense of self and this charter school.