HB 7069: It’s not over!! There’s movement afoot.

When HB 7069 was signed into law, many hoped for an outcry from the citizens of the State. It’s been eerily quiet, and makes me think of what we used to call ‘earthquake weather’ in California when I was a child. Just before an earthquake, everything was so quiet that even the leaves on the trees did not move.

Today’s Florida’s Politics reports a rumble starting. Senator Simmons who worked so hard with Senator Farmer and others to craft a reasonable educational policy said, “We’re not done yet with HB 7069”. Senator Farmer is considering a lawsuit because the conference committee members swept up so many provisions and, in secret and at the last minute, created a bill that violates the single subject provision for bills.

Governor Scott could have vetoed HB 7069 but did not. The most destructive provisions include:

  1. Automatic charter school take over of low-performing schools. High performing charters don’t want these schools. Other charters take only the students they want and leave the others to fend for themselves.
  2. House members deleted Senator Simmons’ provisions to control charter school self dealing and corruption.
  3. Sharing local capital outlay that public schools badly need for facility maintenance puts money in privately owned charter facilities. Big charter chains make their money through their real estate companies.
  4. Teacher bonuses based on test scores do not address teacher shortages.
  5. Proposed reduction in testing is meaningless.

Thousands of people urged Governor Scott to veto this bill. He did not. Many more thousands need to be heard. Make a noise; turn the rumble into a roar to end the move to privatize our schools. It does not work; they make false promises. We can solve our own problems. Say so! Don’t let corporations take over our schools; they belong to us.

Florida For-profit Charter Chain Racketeering Charge

How often do we need to hear the same thing before the legislature will act. For profit charter management is an open invitation to fraud. These charter management companies have hidden affiliated companies that do what they want out of public view.

Tbo News reports that racketeering charges have been filed against Marcus May and his associate who run 15 Newpoint charter schools in Florida (Bay County, Jacksonville, Hillsborough, Pinellas). The story underscores the League’s constant refrain: The Legislature must enact measures to correct charter school fraud and abuse. For the past two years, the legislature has rejected first Senator Gaetz’s call for reform legislation and then Senator Simmon’s measures to correct charter mismanagement. What does it take to get action?

These Newpoint related companies are a maze of legal entities that are banded together to make it impossible for local citizens to know where their tax payer dollars are going. Newpoint’s affiliated companies include School Warehouse and Red Ignition. They overcharged for computers, filed fake enrollment reports, extracted large fees, and used money to pay for expensive vacations, personal home, and on and on.

Fifty-seven million dollars of public money was given to this group. Millions were stolen. Initially they were under investigation for giving fake grades to students. Now they face charges of grand theft, money laundering, and white collar crime along with their racketeering charges. They recognize no limits.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Governor Scott’s decision to sign HB 7069 was no surprise.  What needs to surprise our Governor and our legislature is our response.  We must focus like a laser on the November 2018 election.

We have to arm ourselves not only with the facts, but also with specific examples of what we want and do not want.  The local LWVF study process must go into a higher gear.

Here are some suggestions to build a story about your school district:

 

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Governor Scott Makes a Bad Choice

Governor Scott to sign HB 7069 today.  In a symbolic act, Governor Scott is set to sign HB 7069 at Morning Star Catholic Church in Orlando today.  Is private school what we want for our children?  We know that Speaker of the House Richard Corcoran wants to start a steam roller to privatize our schools.  He has said so publically.  The time has come for citizens to stand up for equal access for a high quality public education.

HB 7069 uses charter school expansion to fuel that initiative.  Charter schools are privately owned and managed but funded with our tax dollars.  Now, our local districts will have to give up some of their local facility funding to charters so they can pay whatever lease and bond payments private charter management firms require.

This is a serious blow to public schools whose facility funding has been sharply cut for thee past ten years.

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csusa

Rod Jurado of CSUSA did not like my article in the Gainesville Sun: Consequences of School Choice.  I described what is happening to local schools and neighborhoods as choices proliferate and funding decreases.  I also mentioned that CSUSA, a for-profit charter management company has submitted a proposal to Alachua County Schools.

Mr. Jurado argued, ineffectively, that charters out perform public schools.  I disagreed.  Here’s the response I submitted as a Letter to the Editor.

 

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New Education Funding Bill Filed

Representative Manny Diaz has filed HB 3A that does the following:

  • decreases local required effort from property taxes by over $1.5 million.
  • increases the state’s base student allocation from sales taxes by $43.24 from the 2016-17 allocation.

Allocations for other programs are similar to the prior measures.  This bill does very little to help public schools and less than Governor Scott requested.

Mostly this bill appears to borrow from Peter to pay Paul.  While the state portion of the per student funding (FEFP) that Governor Scott vetoed would increase slightly, the local funding would decrease.  FEFP covers school operational activities like instruction, but it does not cover the capital outlay funds for building construction and maintenance.

Keep up the pressure!

 

 

Have you told Governor Scott to Veto HB 7069?

The revisions Governor Scott proposed to the 2017 budget fall short.  Our public schools have to maintain their air conditioning, roofs and science labs.  We cannot divert money to privately owned charter facilities.  As Governor Scott has said in his other veto messages this year,

 “The following is vetoed because there is not a clear statewide return on investment for the renovation (or construction) of a facility not owned by the state.”

Charter schools are not owned by the state.  Ask Governor Scott to veto sharing local property taxes for public schools with privately owned charters.  Dividing the same amount of money among more schools only ensures no school is adequately funded.

SEND YOUR MESSAGE TO:  [email protected]

 

 

Veto List Has Some Bright Spots but HB 7069 Not On It

Some specific items on Governor Scott’s veto list include:

 

 

 

  • KIPP charter schools in Jacksonville special allocation of $500,000 plus $724,000
  • School funding FEFP ( to be renegotiated during the special session to increase by $200 million or about $100 per student.)
  • HB 2877 Teach for America $1,403,750
  • Principal autonomy Pilot Project

There are also several special programs that made the veto list.  All of these items will be reviewed during the special session.  As of now, HB 7069 has not been vetoed.

 

Charter Takeover of Jefferson County Schools: Why? 

Jefferson County schools in the Florida Panhandle, will become the State’s first charter district. The takeover by the Florida Department of Education was the result of a decade long struggle to improve the schools that simply made things worse.  This latest move is a disaster for the teachers and staff.  One half will lose their jobs for reasons that have little to do with their competence.

What happened in Jefferson County, Florida to cause the State to turn the district over to Somerset, a privately run school board that is part of the for-profit Academica charter school chain?

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