CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Another Voucher Problem (And Not The One You Think)

CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Another Voucher Problem (And Not The One You Think)

FL: Another Voucher Problem (And Not The One You Think)

When the Orlando Sentinel revealed that many Florida schools-- 156 of them!-- were both receiving taxpayer dollars and openly discriminating against LGBTQ students, it was not exactly news. Rebecca Klein had the same story on a national level at Huffington Post back in 2017. Voucher money goes to religious schools, and some religious schools discriminate against LGBTQ students (and teachers).

But sometimes a particular story hits at just the right moment and suddenly draws a huge reaction. That's apparently what happened this time, because the backlash against Florida's tax credit scholarship program has begun (tax credit scholarship programs, you may recall, are the programs that let wealthy donors fund their favorite private school in place of paying their taxes).

Two huge banks-- Wells Fargo and Fifth Third Bank-- have indicated that they would no longer contribute to the Florida program (Step Up for Children) funding the vouchers.

We have reviewed this matter carefully and have decided to no longer support Step Up for Students. All of us at Wells Fargo highly value diversity and inclusion, and we oppose discrimination of any kind.

We have communicated with program officials that we will not be contributing again until more CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Another Voucher Problem (And Not The One You Think)