Florida parents–especially the Determined Moms–beat the Parent Trigger again. The Senate voted 19-19. The tie vote was a repeat of last year’s vote.
Enough Florida Republicans voted Nay to block the bill.
Parent power beat corporate power!
Florida parent groups–the PTAs, Testing Is not Teaching, Fund Education Now, 50th No More, and others–stood firm against the charter lobby.
Florida has more than 600 charter schools, but not enough to satisfy the charter industry. It has for-profit charters and cyber charters, but not enough to satisfy the profiteers.
Who won? Public schools.
Who lost? Jeb Bush. Michelle Rhee. The charter industry.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I’m shocked. I am not used to democracy working against big money in FL. This is fantastic news.
Vote on Parent Trigger in Florida today was 20-20. Six Republicans joined 14 united Democratic Senators voting NO.
Vote was 20-20….six Republicans joined the 14 Democratic Senators against the bill.
Ken,
Rita Solnet was in the Senate chambers and texted me that the vote was 19-19. Two senators were not present.
Impressive that a number of Republicans voted against parent trigger. The Senate is 26 Republicans, 14 Democrats.
On her personal page comments are reporting it as 20-20 and Rita has yet to correct it. But a tie is still a miraculous win!!! I am sure Rita will have the best birthday ever!!! If I could, I would send her and every other parent who fought this to a spa for a week.
And Jeb has to be making a lot of angry phone calls today–or even receiving them. Maureen Dowd may want to do a follow up on her Sunday column about him.
Hooray to those parents who stood up against the greedy corporate raiders of the public schools.
This law deserved to go down on the part of the law which wiped out teachers due process and rights. The sections on charter schools, if you actually read the bill which I am sure hardly one of you have and I can supply it, are really good for accountability. I wish we had the charter school accountability sections in California like the transparency on the financials and such. The Parent Trigger law in Florida does not exclude parents, teachers and community from excluding corporatists privatizers from the process and doing it themselves. Why do you educators who are supposed to be educated and able to analyze and read english no understand that if you “Pull the Trigger” you can run the school and all the funds will go to education not to anything else. You say that is your dream, I don’t believe you. Proof is in the pudding. You don’t know what you are talking about. too usual in my experience. If you did know we would not be in this mess.
For someone that purports to be educated, you have fallen for the big lie. Tax money is for public education. If Charters are so great, why do they need Tax Money! IF Charters were so wonderful according to the rich, they would fund their own charters without tax money! You have fallen for the oldest trick in the book, bait and switch schemes.
If parents want to improve the schools you don’t need a law like the parent trigger law. Just get involved. I have worked in Charter schools for 6 years (not any more ) and they exclude people and that is what is inherently wrong with them. Once a school is handed over to a management company the parents can say goodbye to choice. They will have none. The management company will not “serve” the parents or students. They answer to share holders and If the parents don’t like the school or have complaints the pat answer is always, ” you can choose to put your child some where else”. Hmm, some choice. Of course there is some accountability but not much. I guess Florida tax payers can be thankful for that but not much else. I say “amen” and wait until the next election because we are gonna get rid of these legislators who make decisions about education but haven’t a clue. 2014 is coming soon.
In my experience the charter school’s primary objective is for the CEO and family to make large portions of taxpayer money while everyone else gets shafted. The “choice” is about the CEOS “choice” to make money off of your child.
That depends on the Charter School. I worked first at a not-for-profit Charter, one of the first in our county. It was created by teachers and it was to promote innovation. I liked the school and it was always an A+ school. But, as an ESE teacher I saw first hand children being asked to leave for various reasons but some of whom were ESE students or potential and the real choice was the schools. The mantra was/is “this is a school of choice and if they can’t perform they don ‘t belong here”. My hours at the school fluctuated yearly so after nearly five years there I moved to a full-time position at a for-profit charter. I saw a big difference in quality. I left mid- year my second year and went back to the real public schools. I had to learn the hard way but what I learned went against my very core belief and that is, education for all.
Thank you for being honest Alison!!!
George, you should post a link or something to the accountability and parent rights part. Knowing what you have written in the past, I believe what you have said here. BUT, there’s a problem. Running a school is a LOT of work as you know, and busy parents are vulnerable to sales pitches from CMO’s. The available corporate money is more than sufficient to pay for a small front group of parents that then functionally become a shell organization for the CMO’s. This type of Balkanization, of divide and conquer looks like one of the long game plans of privatization to me. What do you think?
The Parent Trigger law does not give parents the power to run their own schools because it limits their options to five “interventions” that are already part of Race to the Top. All of these choices require that the principal and most teachers be fired.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/pe/pedescofints.asp
“A Parent Empowerment (Parent Trigger) petition requests the Local educational Agency (LEA) of a Subject School to implement one or more of the four interventions identified below, or the federally mandated alternative governance arrangement.
Turnaround Model
Restart Model [charters run by a CMO or an EMO]
School Closure Model
Transformation Model
Alternative Governance Arrangement…”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnaround_model
“The Turnaround Model is one of four strategies available to American local education agencies (LEAs) under the Race to the Top and School Improvement Grants programs of the Obama administration. The other three programs include Restart, Transformation, and School Closures.[1]”
George,
We already have in place options for failing schools, we do not need the “Tricker Bill” to do that. We already have the most Charters for any state and when the figures were brought out today, they showed that 1% of children fail in regular public school while 5% fail in Charters.
Charters also pick and choose who they will take, say goodbye to ESE or ESOL students. They also do not have to follow the same rules as public schools and once you become a charter that’s it, there is no going back.
It was also pointed out today that in Indiana there are Charters that are closing that owe the districts over 12 million dollars and now they are going to “forgive” them that debt. Do you know how much money that is that no one, not the public schools will see, that is ridiculous!
As Senator Maria Sachs said today, that if the Foundations like Jeb’s or Rhees really want to help, let them send in tutors to help the students and give them supplies like Ipads…………..that’s the help that’s needed!
By the way, I almost fell out of my chair when she said that on the Senate floor, way to go Senator Sachs!!
The bill wasn’t needed and that’s why it was defeated!!!
(P.S. I’m involved in Education too, Rita is a friend of mine, way to go Rita!!!)
Sounds like all charter schools should be paying liability insurance to protect the taxpayers against failure and those types of losses.
Check the charter CEO’s Caymen account.
Yay! Remarkable that ordinary citizens can defeat big money and big media when well-informed by the efforts of fellow citizens who aren’t paid a dime fot their efforts and perseverance. Remarkable because it is hardly a level playing field out there. Congratulations to Rita Solnet and all those parents/teachers/legislators who worked together for this victory. And Diane what a warrior you are in exposing the war against public education. Thank you again for all that you do
Such empowering news!
And in the same week that Sandra Day O”Connor basically admitted that SCOTUS never should have gotten involved in (Jeb Bush’s orchestrated) handing over the 2000 presidential election win to George W (Cheney)! Way to go, democracy!
Bye Bye waning Bush influence! (Isn’t a George W Bush Library an oxymoron?)
No, as long as all the books are plastic baby books that can get wet in the water when he is painting.
Paint by numbers of only up to ten with the primary colors and three brushes. Is our Georgie learning?
As a Floridian I am so happy! I spent my afternoon yesterday calling senators. A big sigh of relief can be heard coming out of Tallahassee!
Sent from my iPhone
As a Floridian, I am so happy. I spent yesterday afternoon calling on the Senators urging them to vote “no”. I hear a big collective sigh from all the parents and teachers and other concerned citizens across the state.
The dirty tricks on behalf of parent tricker failed, but have not been forgotten.
http://bobsidlethoughtsandmusings.wordpress.com/2013/04/28/rhee-stargel-got-some-splainin-to-do-about-those-parent-trigger-petition-signatures/
We must get some of those clowns out of office or we will face this every year.
We may not Michael, Jeb has now lost twice in Flori-DUH, people are wising up.
They are moving on to NC, they had a bunch of them down here on a vacation, buying there votes!
We just have to let people know, get more on the band wagon!
Help!!! Please get the word out!!! About 2.5 hours after a tie vote in the Senate killed the controversial “parent trigger” bill Tuesday, Senators amended another education bill to include provisions similar to some some of those in the failed proposal.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/blogs/school-zone/os-portion-of-parent-trigger-bill-added-to-charter-school-proposal-20130501,0,5491106.post
After reading an op-ed piece in “The Gainesville Sun” by someone who works for Stepping Up For Students, I felt compelled to write. Fortunately, the paper published all of what I wrote http://www.gainesville.com/article/20130428/OPINION03/130429649 I’ve received a lot of positive comments from this and believe we have to fight back against the push to give taxpayer money to private schools.