League of Women Voters Calls for Action on School Funding – Tennessee Education Report

League of Women Voters Calls for Action on School Funding – Tennessee Education Report

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS CALLS FOR ACTION ON SCHOOL FUNDING

In an action alert email, the League of Women Voters encouraged members and supporters to push Gov. Bill Lee and the General Assembly to make significant new investments in public education.

Here’s the text of that email:

Tennessee continues to neglect its public schools.  The state consistently ranks as one of the bottom five for public school funding. During the current legislative session, numerous bills have been introduced by members from both sides of the aisle to provide additional funds for some of our public schools’ urgent needs. Among those needs are adequately funding school counselors, social workers, school nurses, and staff to support state-mandated intervention programs.  None of these bills have passed yet. This is the time to invest in our schools and our children. With a current budget CONTINUE READING: League of Women Voters Calls for Action on School Funding – Tennessee Education Report

Florida: League of Women Voters Exposes Voucher Boondoggle As Big Business | Diane Ravitch's blog

Florida: League of Women Voters Exposes Voucher Boondoggle As Big Business | Diane Ravitch's blog

Florida: League of Women Voters Exposes Voucher Boondoggle As Big Business

The Florida League of Women Voters has long been wary about the state’s rush to privatize public school funding through charters and vouchers. It has previously published reports on the conflicts of interests, the politics, and the money in the charter sector. In this report, it investigates the organization created to hand out money for vouchers, called “Step Up for Students.” I am posting only the introduction. To read the body of the report, please open the attached PDF file.

Step Up for Students

 Preliminary Investigative Report

League of Women Voters Education Task Force

For the past 20 years, a private organization has been growing exponentially using direct and indirect public funds largely out of public view. This organization is the conduit for an unregulated school system without standards being created by the Florida Legislature.

The organization is called Step Up for Students (StepUpForStudents.org), an SFO (Scholarship Funding Organization) that awards and manages tax credit scholarships for the state of Florida, as well as in Alabama.  According to Forbes, Step Up is the 21^st largest charity in the United States. To put that in perspective, the American Cancer Society is 18^th. In 2019 Step Up and Subsidiaries had $697,363,075 in total assets. 

Step Up began with a mission to award vouchers to low-income students to attend private schools. It has grown to include vouchers, now known as scholarships, for students with special needs, students who have been bullied, students who are homeschooled, and students with reading difficulties. The income threshold has been raised through the years to at least 300% of the poverty level, with no income threshold for homeschool or special needs students.

Step Up receives donations from corporations who CONTINUE READING: Florida: League of Women Voters Exposes Voucher Boondoggle As Big Business | Diane Ravitch's blog

Contact: Dr. Sarah (Sally) Butzin

President, League of Women Voters of Tallahassee

sally.butzin@gmail.com

850-728-1097

March 2021

Introduction