1/26/17 • Jacksonville, FL • School Board Considers Access and Diversity for Montessori

1/26/17 • Jacksonville, Florida •  The Duval County School Board is “figuring out how to ensure diversity at a Jacksonville elementary Montessori school” according to a story on WJCT, a community-supported public broadcasting station in Jacksonville.  The Montessori program at J. Allen Axson Elementary starts at age three, but state funding starts at age four, and covers only half of the full-day program, so those children pay tuition.  Board members were concerned that “there might not be spaces in the kindergarten classes for students who couldn’t pay for preschool classes.”

The Board did note that the Montessori tuition is less than daycare, and that “Axson — with 13 percent African-American students — is more diverse than nearby Chets Creek Elementary, which is about 8 percent African American. ”  Jacksonville itself is about 30% African-American.

David Ayer

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David worked in private Montessori for more than twenty years as a parent, three-to-six year-old and adolescent teacher, administrator, writer, speaker, and advocate. In 2016 he began working with the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector. David lives in Portland, Oregon.