Governor Scott is considering vetoing the entire budget as well as HB 7069, the massive education bill. Encourage him! (850) 488-7146. The Miami Herald published the League call to action.
The budget:
- reduces per student funding.
- shares capital outlay with charters. Charters already get a disproportionate amount of available state capital outlay money. Many districts would be unable to maintain roofs and air conditioning.
- creates Schools of Hope which are charter take overs of district schools. The bill is acknowledged to be difficult to implement. It gives money to struggling schools after charters take them over, not before when districts could do something to help.
Charters in Florida are not known to do as well as public schools, according to the latest CREDO Urban Cities report. Over three years in four of six major Florida cities, public school students outperform students matched on initial achievement scores.
High performing charters in other states are known to have student high attrition. Students who do not do well are ‘counseled out’. Forty percent of black males leave KIPP schools between grades six and eight, according to a 2017 Ed Week report.
What is the advantage of dismissing nearly half of your students? This is the turn around Schools of Hope. Give the funding to districts and help them succeed. They are OUR schools.