“My choice for one of Florida’s United States Senators is Charlie Crist . Am confident that as my US Senator, Charlie Crist will continue to be a pro life conservative who will focus on less taxes, reduced spending, improvement in governmental transparency , and will focus on increased preservation of the environment. Charlie Crist is a man who has demonstrated integrity and honesty while (to name a few)….supporting educational reform, increasing adoptions, advocating for 2nd amendment rights, restoration of rights where indicated, and is known as a public servant who serves all of Florida.”
– Debbie Ressler
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Charlie Crist on Education
As a former Commissioner of Education, Charlie Crist understands the need to provide a year’s worth of knowledge in a year’s worth of time. In Florida, thanks to the foresight and leadership of Governor Bush, public school students are showing great gains. Accountability has provided mechanisms where students are being taught and tested on the key subject matters. Testing results show that these progressive education reforms are working.
In fact in 2008-2009 1,822 schools received an A grade. That recognition was a 679 increase in A schools from the 2006-2007 school year. Florida’s low performing and failing schools are also declining.
Measures that are in place also show our 8th and 10th grade students reading and writing at higher levels than the previous school year. Students enrolling in AP classes have increased by large numbers. The most significant increases in student performance in AP test taking are among African American and Hispanic students.
Graduation rates among all students increased from 2006 to 2008, and the dropout rate has steadily declined in recent years. Since 2004-05, Florida’s graduation rate has improved 6.6 percentage points. During that same time period, African-American and Hispanic graduation rates increased by 9.3 percentage points. Florida’s dropout rate continued its decline this year. Florida’s public school students are showing tremendous strides.
Governor Crist also believes strongly in school choice. As the state senator who offered the charter school legislation, Charlie Crist believes in the work of Florida’s charter school communities. Due to the existing laws on the books, charter schools have seen a steady rise in their student population over the last three years. Today, the charter school population is well over 117,000 with a total number of 389 schools across the state.
Florida’s tax credit scholarship program is providing a record number of scholarships to students throughout the state. At inception, the program provided 15,585 scholarships. Today, the program has more than 24,800 students enrolled in participating private schools and Hispanic and African-American students comprise 63% of the total enrollment.
Charlie Crist will be a U.S. Senator who will fight to bring accountability to our nation’s public schools. He will advocate for programs such as Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program to be available and offered across America. He will also fight for school choice whether through charter schools, home schooling or private schools.
American students deserve an American educational system that readies them to compete against their international counterparts. The future of America hinges on an educational system that is progressive. A system that provides accountability of students and teachers. A system that provides school choice to families across America regardless of socio-economic background. A system that rewards quality teachers through merit based pay.