Florida Parents Groups Expose SB 1852 as a Plan to Fund Private For-Profit Charter Schools
Even with all the self-righteous preening on Monday by pro-charter school advocates that Steve Wise made sure to trot out first with plenty of time during testimony, legislators can’t hide from the fact that SB 1852 is intended to shift taxpayer dollars away from public schools to for-profit charters. Here’s the statement from a coalition of state parent groups:
“During the past three years Florida politicians have made $4 Billion dollars in brutal cuts to traditional public schools. It is in this context that we strongly oppose the efforts of Senator Wise to force districts to hand over limited revenues meant for school construction to pay for privately owned charter facilities. These funds are collected from the taxpayer/voter supported millage levy specifically meant to keep publicly-owned school facilities safe and modern. Voters never intended to use this revenue to improve, maintain, rent, build, or buy facilities for private people.
SB 1852 is a corporate welfare program financed by our hard-earned tax dollars to prop up for-profit
Steve Wise’s Laughable “this senate doesn’t strong-arm people.”
When the student member of the Florida Board of Governors, Michael Long, dared to stand up to Senator JD Alexander, the powerful republican told him that he had “jeopardized his future career.” Alexander just got closer to following through on his threat. From the Miami Herald:
The bill that would make the student member of the Florida Board of Governors a position appointed by the governor moved ahead in the House education committee Tuesday, despite fervent testimony on students from both sides.
As the state constitution now spells it out, that member is the chair of the Florida Student Association, an organization made up of student body presidents from the state universities. The problem, says bill sponsor Rep. Matt Gaetz, is that the FSA charges dues. He sees the set-up as “pay-to-play.” Only one university is not an FSA member — Gaetz’s alma mater, Florida State
