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During the 2014 National Summit on Education Reform, Florida Senator Marco Rubio fielded a number of questions regarding the state of education in the country.
Rubio, who sat alongside Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, was asked about the criticism that charter schools face because of a lack of difference in test scores when compared to non-charter schools.
Rubio made it clear with his response that some charter schools, like the Latin Builders Association Construction & Business Management Charter High School, provide students with invaluable work experience that cannot be measured with a standardized test.
“I would say that at the end of the day, the parents have chosen to put them in that environment because it’s not just the results of the tests,” Rubio said. “But it’s the learning environment that they’re in.”
He added:
“I go back to my home state where the [Latin Builders Association] has started a charter school that teaches people the construction trades. When you’re in that school, a member of the Latin Builders will bring you on board after you go to school for six hours to work apprentice jobs with them. When you graduate from that school, you graduate with a diploma and a job with one of the Latin Builder members. I don’t know how you’re going to measure that in a test, but these are kids that are graduating and that are going to go to work.”
The LBA Academy opened in June of 2012, surprising many along the way because it was the first time that a business association such as the LBA had partnered with Miami-Dade County Public Schools to open and operate a district-managed charter academy.
Two years later, the Academy is being recognized on a national stage as an example on what specialized charter schools can offer young entrepreneurs on the road to success.
See the clip below:
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