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Education Issues Blog

To Educate and Inform on Issues Relating to Public Education

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Our blog is a tool box. Make it work for you. Here you will find data, studies, and perspectives that inform the discussion about school choice. Send stories of events in your state. Tell us about studies that clarify issues. Do your own studies. Use the information you find here to advocate for League positions.

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Abandoning our Public Schools

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by Pat Drago

Pat, a member of the State Board of the Florida League of Women Voters says it all. School choice is all about changing what we value as a society couched in deceptive language about helping children by turning them over to private corporations. Read Pat’s thoughts and share your own. Don’t just tell each other. Let your legislators know. Help others to understand the money interests behind the privatization of education

HB7069 – ABANDONING OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS
When the 2017 legislature passed the 278 bill titled HB7069 in the last days of an extended legislative session and Gov. Scott signed the measure into law, Florida’s constitutional responsibility for public education was out-sourced. And it doesn’t even have to go to the lowest bidder. No bids required.

This is the wholesale transfer of public dollars to line private pockets with no performance requirements. The entry criteria are marginal at best. Why did this pass in the last minutes of the session, with no time for scrutiny? It was because it could not stand the light of day.

What happens now? Struggling public schools in high poverty areas can be closed and students allowed to attend charter schools operated by corporate charter operators. Do they need to meet any performance measures for students? No. Do all students need to be educated by them? No. They will be eligible to receive millions in state funds. Is there any requirement that their expenditures to inure to the public? No.

In addition, after the Fl. Senate heard testimony this session on the dire situation in many districts related to deferred maintenance and deteriorating schools, what did HB7069 do, but take funds from local districts’ capital outlay and transfer to charter schools. There was very good language the senate had included that required the recipient of any of these dollars to protect the public interest and not engage in self-dealing. The final version of HB7069 deleted that language. And we have to ask ourselves WHY?

Why the last minute rush that deleted the good language and left the indefensible? Why avoid the scrutiny and benefit that debate and amendment bring to the deliberative process? Why did the governor sign it when he had thousands of Floridians who begged him not to?

It’s official – the State of Florida as personified by House Speaker Corcoran and Gov. Scott, no longer believes in its neighborhood public schools or believes it has any role to play in improving the future for its children. They also do not believe in transparent financial accountability for millions of taxpayer dollars.

Moody Warns HB 7069 Could Downgrade District Credit Ratings

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It is no surprise that taking money away from district public schools and giving it to privately owned charters is a credit negative. Moody Corporation has long reported credit ratings for many companies. Now it warns that district financial ratings will decrease because they will have less money to pay for loans to support school facilities. This is serious. It means that the loans districts do receive will cost more. Interest rates will be higher. What is our legislature doing to our tax payers and our public schools.

You can find the rating by doing a Google Search for the News4Jax article on June 22, 2017

Appeals Court to hear Citizens for Strong Schools Case

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I just received the following announcement from the Southern Legal Counsel:

Please be advised that the oral argument in the appellate case is scheduled for 9:00 A.M. on Tuesday, July 18, 2017 in Courtroom One at the First District Court of Appeal located at 2000 Drayton Drive, Tallahassee, Florida.

If you can go, do. The League strongly supports the plaintiffs in this case.

Want to brush up on the arguments? Basically it comes down to whether or not Florida’s system is following the constitutional requirement for a uniform, safe, efficient and high quality system for ALL students.

I reviewed the closing arguments in the initial case. You can read them on the blog here:

Citizens for Strong Schools Closing Arguments

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

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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.

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