Giving Compass' Take:

• This op-ed at The Hechinger Report argues that Florida’s limited school choice program does not always provide students with more opportunities. There's an awareness gap. 

• Do you agree with this assessment of Florida's approach to school choice? How can we make sure that all families have equal access and knowledge of the opportunities available to them?

• Recently, public support for school choice has increased dramatically. 

In language, we usually understand that choice and opportunity are different things. They, quite literally, have distinct meanings — a distinction that can mean a great deal to families who need both choices and opportunities.

It’s ironic, then, that in schools — the very places where language is taught — we blur the lines of meaning between those words, often using them interchangeably. Florida’s limited school choice program, for example, is called an “opportunity scholarship.”

Maybe that’s because the program was created and named by politicians who thought a program that promoted opportunities sounded better than one that offered choices. But that’s about selling an idea, not accurately describing what it does. What it does is create choice that can become opportunity — but not always.

When we casually use (or misuse) these words, we perpetuate a basic misunderstanding that “more choice” always equals “more opportunity.” Even in describing the program on its website, the Florida Department of Education uses the phrases interchangeably. It says, “As originally implemented, the program offered students who attended or who were assigned to attend failing public schools the option to choose a higher performing public school or a participating private school.” Offered an option — that’s correct.

But in describing the court ruling that disallowed state funds to be used for private schools, the same site continues, “Students … are no longer offered the opportunity to transfer and enroll in a participating private school.” Opportunity — that’s not always correct.

Read the full article about school choice in Florida by Jinal Jhaveri at The Hechinger Report.