LWVeducation
Can you imagine that the Florida House and Senate would support the repeal of the Fair Districting amendments, making the redistricting process secret, as well as rescinding constitutional bans on state support for private, religious schools? The Miami Herald reports that these are the major goals of the legislative leaders. Florida’s constitution would have to be changed, and the process is now in place. We need to know about this; it is real.
The League is in a new lawsuit in the state of Washington. Charters were approved by the voters in 2012, but the League of Women Voters called the move unconstitutional. The Charter School Case filed by the League et al in 2013 was appealed all the way to the state’s Supreme Court. In 2015, the Court ruled that charter schools violated the Washington constitution. Charters were not public schools. In order for the legislature to fund charters, they must be governed by elected school boards, and of course, they were not.
The legislature was not deterred.
There is a new and very interesting twist to the Florida opt out lawsuit. Parents whose children were retained in third grade solely because they did not take the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) brought a lawsuit. Some districts retained these children who would otherwise be promoted to fourth grade and others did not. It sounds like a basic fairness issue, but it is more complicated. Who is responsible for this policy, the State or the federal government? If only 16 states require third grade retention, why would the federal law be involved?
The Brookings Institution’s Michael Hansen has generated five questions he would ask state and national candidates in the upcoming election. You can read his rationale for these questions here. These may or may not be your questions. You can read my thoughts.
Oral arguments were heard in the Joanne McCall vs. Governor Scott lawsuit yesterday. The Florida Education Association, Florida League of Women Voters and the NAACP support the suit. It is not clear that the judges in the First District Court of Appeals agree. They must now decide whether the trial will go forward. A video of the hearing will be available on the Florida 1st District Court of Appeal soon.
The issue is whether tax credit vouchers to send students to private, mostly religious schools is constitutional.
Florida’s educational system is on trial in Tallahassee. The charge? One million Florida students cannot read at grade level. Testimony about the plight of these children can break your heart. Thousands are homeless. Most are from poor families. In some rural counties children are too hungry to learn, and schools provide three meals a day. These children, the plaintiffs argue need much more than school districts can provide with current funding.
The Florida League of Women Voters recognizes that the solutions to these problems are complex, but applauds the attention the suit brings to the weaknesses in our educational system. What are the arguments and what is the defense? What do the witnesses say?
The testimony and closing arguments have been made. Now both sides need to put their arguments in a particular format for the judge by April 25th. He then takes the arguments under consideration and will make a ruling. Win or lose, the decision is likely to be appealed.
When you listen to the two sides, a few points stand out:
Districts state that budgets are inadequate to meet all student needs. Children in poverty and the high rate of homelessness require more funding to provide tutoring, time and behavioral support. However, the defense argues:
While Circuit Court Judge Reynolds denied a request for a summary judgment to halt the voucher and tax credit scholarship programs, the Citizens for Strong Schools case continues. The judge ruled that the attorneys for the case did not show harm to the defendants due to vouchers and tax credit scholarships for private schools, but argument could be made when the case comes to trial in March, 2016.
The Florida Educational Association lawsuit was thrown out of court recently, as you know.
Another case, Citizens for Strong Schools, is working through the courts. It hit a bump in the road. In a December 7th article reported by the Associated Press, Judge Reynolds rejected a portion of the Citizen’s for Strong Schools lawsuit dealing with vouchers. The issue was lack of legal standing. What does this mean? What happens next?