Travis Pillow, Author at NextSteps: Step Up For Students

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Travis Pillow

My background story

What I did before joining Step Up For Students

What do I do on my day off?

How to reach out?

02/03/25 | Travis Pillow

More than 120,000 students apply for Florida education choice scholarships in record opening weekend

Initial demand for Florida’s K-12 scholarships has set a new record. Step Up For Students, the nonprofit organization that administers 98% of the state’s scholarships, opened applications for the 2025-26...

01/31/25 | Travis Pillow

Districts are leading Florida’s generational education transformation

A generation ago, Florida’s school districts could safely assume that most students would board a yellow bus (or perhaps walk less than two miles) to a public school they operated. ...

01/30/25 | Travis Pillow

National education news: Down, but why?

This week’s roundup of national education news is focused on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Wednesday’s release of the 2024 Nation’s Report Card brought grim news. TL;DR: Results are...

01/23/25 | Travis Pillow

National education news: Institutions, individuals and trust

This week’s biggest story on forces shaping public education didn’t show up in the education section. The New York Times published a new survey showing nine in ten Americans, with...

01/16/25 | Travis Pillow

National education news: Do the math

Education writer Lauren Camera revives an overlooked report from last year showing the most effective thing educators can do to boost students’ later-in-life outcomes: improving math skills. Specifically, the analysis...

01/13/25 | Travis Pillow

By the numbers: Florida’s history-making growth of education options

This school year, Florida is empowering half a million students to direct funding to education options of their family’s choice. In the 2023-24 school year, after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed...

01/09/25 | Travis Pillow

Ten trends that will shape the education news in 2025

Today we are debuting an interruption of our normal roundup of Florida education news with a new weekly scan of events across the country. It will land in your inboxes...

11/04/24 | Travis Pillow

Analysis: Florida schools boast better reading results, especially for low-income students, for less money

Florida’s public schools score among the best in the nation in nine-year-olds’ reading achievement. For low-income students, their results are the best in the nation, period. And they also deliver...

10/08/24 | Travis Pillow

Florida school district offers virtual classes to scholarship students – with more to follow

This school year, 2024-2025, for the first time, Brevard County students using Florida’s education choice scholarship programs will have a new option: the ability to sign up for online courses...

07/17/24 | Travis Pillow

Nearly half a million students awarded Florida education choice scholarships

Nearly half a million Florida students have been awarded scholarships that will allow them to direct public education funding to providers of their choice next school year. Step Up For...

06/24/24 | Travis Pillow

In education, this is where the energy is

For the first time last week, I flew home from an education conference with a feeling that recalled Hunter S. Thompson’s wistful remembrance of San Francisco in the mid-’60s. You...

06/12/24 | Travis Pillow

Florida ranks No. 5 nationally for children’s education

Of the 50 states, Florida held the No. 5 spot for education in a national report on child wellbeing released this month. The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count report...

06/12/24 | Travis Pillow

Florida No. 1 in parent-directed public education funding

Florida is now the No. 1 state in the nation for parent-directed public education funding, according to data compiled by EdChoice. During the 2023-24 school year, the Sunshine State carried...

06/07/24 | Travis Pillow

Go GATOR: Louisiana poised to become 19th state with parent-directed public education funding

A bill to make Louisiana the 19th state allowing parents to direct public education funding to learning options of their choice awaits a signature by a supportive governor. Right now,...

05/15/24 | Travis Pillow

Charter schools and private options can thrive in tandem

The nation’s first charter school law passed in 1991, the year after an improbably left-right coalition enacted the nation’s first modern school voucher program. Ever since, charters have been the...

03/27/24 | Travis Pillow

Florida rolls out welcome mat for Success Academy

The renowned New York charter school operator Success Academy moved a step closer to opening new schools in Florida, as the state Board of Education approved it as the state’s...

03/26/24 | Travis Pillow

Success Academy eyes Florida expansion as Schools of Hope operator

Florida’s decade-long efforts to recruit more high-quality charter school operators to the state could be on the verge of a major breakthrough. Tomorrow, the state Board of Education is set...

03/22/24 | Travis Pillow

Wyoming now the 17th state giving families the power to direct public education funding

With Gov. Mark Gordon’s signature, Wyoming is now the 17th state to place public education funding in the hands of parents. As he signed HB 166 into law, Gordon struck...

03/20/24 | Travis Pillow

Can this bill help online students take their tests?

For years, Florida’s online schools have grappled with a logistical challenge: Getting their students to the campuses of brick-and-mortar schools, operated by school districts, to take their standardized tests. Kevin...

03/12/24 | Travis Pillow

What teachers unions can learn from NBA players

Over the past two decades, taxpayers across the country have increased their investment in public education. One surprising group hasn’t seen much benefit from this spending growth: Public-school teachers. A...