Travis Pillow
@travispillow
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Kirstie's husband. Eva, Karl and Martin’s dad. Square peg. Florida man. Working to create a functioning market for K-12 education. [email protected] / 407-376-3105
Sanford, FL
Joined September 2009
🚨Big news today: former Secretary of Education @arneduncan is supporting the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit. That’s big! School choice opens doors for families who need it most. Let’s keep pushing for fresh ideas and real collaboration in education. Kids deserve it!
Former US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in support of the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit: "No one claims the program is a silver bullet. But it is a real tool available to help kids right now. Passing it up would deepen the crisis and send the wrong message about our
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Good rundown of the numbers! Of that $1T, $5.5B is directed by parents through education savings accounts. And each year that number is rising by ~$1-2B. Meaning parents will soon direct about 1 percent of public education funding.
US education PK12 market numeracy: * there are about 4M children per grade level * total public school spending is about $1T == 20k/student/year * about 20% of that is special ed * total private school consumer spending, including prek, is about $100B
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The gap between the highest and lowest performing math students in the US is the worst on record
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Remarkably important point from @rpondiscio: "An ESA doesn’t change who is eligible to receive a free public education. It changes who is eligible to provide it." https://t.co/iHKsTsiBax
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A century of empirical research continues to validate the pedagogical insight of Maria Montessori
Handwriting (copying or tracing) led five-year-olds to learn new letters and words more accurately than typing, suggesting that early literacy benefits from writing by hand.
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A tablet or computer can be a much more expansive and personalized shelf
No one wants to hear this but the missing piece in Montessori is screens
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This is an incongruity in the Montessori community that holds back the advancement of the pedagogy. Yes, Maria had kids polishing silver. I think it’s clear from her writings that in 2025 she’d be having them load and operate a dishwasher as a practical life lesson.
Montessori saw tools as extensions of the hand and mind. "Education must progressively adopt the new techniques which humanity’s progress requires." — Maria Montessori In the age of AI, the “new techniques” are digital. To honor her, we adapt, not resist.
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Florida freezing college costs under Govs. Scott and DeSantis is a stunning achievement that doesn’t get nearly enough national attention and will pay dividends for kids who grow up in our state
In-state tuition has not gone up a penny since I’ve been governor. We have the lowest tuition in the nation — and our Bright Futures program allows many FL residents to go for free (or at a greatly reduced rate). The result is that almost 80% of undergrads at Florida’s state
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The reality of public education in the United States is that by fifth or sixth grade half of kids have missed a few fundamental concepts and will spend the next six years ushered down a conveyor belt with increasingly complex topics based on fundamentals they missed, with no shot
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The optimal unit of change for state policymakers is the market for educational services. The optimal unit for schools is the individual student. In between those layers (districts, school networks) - it gets muddy.
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It’s time to re-examine 50 years of ed reform dogma that the school is the primary unit of change. It was a logical approach to bring best management practices to an industrial-era system. It is ill suited to the current realities and will grow more incongruous with time.
Aldeman: About one-third of schools at the top and bottom of rankings move toward the middle after 5 years — and about half shift after a decade https://t.co/B3RhymCe8U
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Another 10 districts are in the piepeline. So soon a majority of Florida school districts will be offering a la carte public school classes to scholarship families - a seismic shift from last year, when it was just one district. More here:
nextstepsblog.org
When I think about the state of public education in Florida, I recall a song from “The Wiz,” the 1978 film reimagining of “The Wizard of Oz,” where Diana
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3) We have shifted from families being assigned to institutions based on where they live to families shopping for the best possible learning environment for their children
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2) We have shifted from sending publicly funding directly to institutions to funding families
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Keith highlights 3 major shifts that are driving districts to offer classes on a few for service basis. 1) We have shifted from institutions directing the education of children to parents directing the education of their children.
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Of Florida’s 67 school districts, 27 now offer classes — online, in-person, or both.
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In his Ed Talk at @FiftyCAN summit, @AlphaKJ813 breaks down how public schools are offering classes and services to families who use state scholarship programs
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Pulled this quote from my last in-person interview with Kirk. His pitch wasn't just "join the GOP, you'll get lower taxes" - it was that you could give yourself to Jesus Christ and have a life worth living.
RIP Charlie Kirk, who at 31 was one of the most important figures - in elections, in commentary, in media - in the conservative movement.
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Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
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Tell me you don’t understand the current dynamics in education philanthropy without telling me you don’t understand the current dynamics in education philanthropy
Just wait until you find out what else the Gates Foundation is funding. 2 words: School Choice A great way to get taxes to fund his new math program.
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