(Guest Post by Matthew Ladner)
Drawing on data from redefinED and the Digest of Education Statistics, I produced the following chart. With 1.46 million students learning in part or wholly at schools other than their assigned public schools, Florida’s choice students outnumber the total public school population of all but about 8 states.
Okay, so it may be around 12 or 15 or so if we were to account for some inevitable double counting in the figures (I’ve already separated out the McKay and Step Up for Students from the private school number). The choice programs however are just getting warmed up in the Sunshine State.
Matt,
I’d leave out the private pre-school students, as that’s common almost everywhere. The distinctiveness of Florida lies in the volume of students in the other categories that you present.