Charter schools to parents: Write to Gov. Scott, get volunteer hours
Some school choice advocates in South Florida are going so far as to offer incentives to parents in order to amplify the perception of public support for a controversial K-12 public schools bill that many are urging Gov. Rick Scott to veto.
At least two privately managed charter schools in Hialeah — Mater Academy Lakes High School and City of Hialeah Educational Academy — publicly advertised this week that they would give parents five hours’ credit toward their “encouraged” volunteer hours at the school, so long as they wrote a letter or otherwise urged Gov. Rick Scott to sign HB 7069.
“It is IMPERATIVE that the Governor, and the rest of the State of Florida, see what a POSITIVE DEMAND there is for this education bill,” read an alert on the homepage of Mater Academy Lakes’ website Thursday evening. “This is the strongest legislation supporting the charter school movement since charters were first established in Florida 20 years ago.”
“We need all of our Bear Family to show their support for HB 7069 and encourage your friends, family and children to get involved as well,” the message continued.
The City of Hialeah Educational Academy issued calls to actions to their parents through email and text alerts, such as this one, asking them to praise HB 7069 on social media.
A similar alert was blasted across the City of Hialeah Educational Academy’s website, too, offering the same volunteer-hour credit to parents if they attended a pro-HB 7069 event at the school this past Wednesday or Thursday.
The school also sent email and text alerts to its parents asking them to “use all realms of social media to advocate for House Bill 7069!”
Mater Academy Lakes Principal Rene Rovirosa dismissed criticism that his school’s efforts to drum up support for the bill were akin to bribing parents. He argued students were free to express their views on either side of the issue, and it was a socialHialeah charter schools offer parents incentives for supporting education bill | Miami Herald:
