ALL ABOARD THE CRAZY TRAIN: All about Fla SB 7070
Already, on the second day of this year’s legislative session, the Florida Senate Education Committee decided it would be a good idea to advance another controversial omnibus education bill to the full senate floor. Sometimes referred to as a “train bill,” this type of legislation is expressly prohibited by the state constitution. “[E]very law shall embrace but one subject and matter properly connected therewith, and the subject shall be briefly expressed in the title.“ But for several years running, Republican leadership has been unable to advance their agenda piecemeal. So, in the closing days of each session, they’ve bundled everything together into one, unconstitutional mess and forced their members to vote either up or down on the entire package. Among its various proposals, SB 7070 expands on what’s already the nation’s largest voucher program. It allocates $422 million for another bonus program. For those of you keeping track at home, that’s the seventh of its kind, each of which has been deemed an abject failure. The bill also allows charter and private schools to circumvent safety and construction rules, unlike public schools, which must continue serving their communities as designated shelters during natural disasters. “[We] stand here today to vehemently oppose the introduction of SB 7070, a massive ‘Train Bill’ that caters solely to school ‘choice’ lobbyists and special interests. We reject the combining of a massive voucher expansion that will use public dollars […] to pay for private religious education… “We believe the unfair ‘bonus’ money would be better placed in the base student allocation. We are annoyed that on day two of session we are facing a bill so packed with initiatives that meaningful public comment is impossible. SB 7070 should be broken up into individual bills that can be properly vetted and understood. Anything short of this betrays the trust of voters across Florida.” - Testimony of Catherine Baer, The Tea Party Network Committee Chair Manny Diaz, Jr, complained that “the definition of public education keeps getting twisted.” Yeah. By him and the education profiteers who’ve taken control of our state government. He claims teacher salaries are determined through collective bargaining between local school districts and teachers unions. What a cynical, disingenuous comment from a politician who’s repeatedly sabotaged local school districts’ ability to raise their own funds. This guy is a walking, talking conflict of interest, having personally cashed a $million in salary from the charter school industry he’s supposed to be regulating. http://accountabaloney.com/ https://www.facebook.com/FLBaloney/ @FLBaloney
All about Fla SB 7070 - YouTube
