The Southern Poverty Law Center is one of the most respected names in the nation among groups that fight for justice and civil rights.
They have turned their firepower to fight against the privatization of public schools.
SPLC was instrumental in the court case that ended with the judge striking down a constitutional amendment that hid its true intention–removing the ability of school districts to control the growth of privately managed but publicly funded charter schools.
The Florida League of Women Voters–a steadfast ally of the great majority of students who attend public schools, not charter schools–brought the suit.
There will surely be appeals. The SPLC is a powerful ally. It recognizes that privatization and school choice do not ensure the rights of vulnerable students but are a raid on state treasuries for the benefit of the few.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
SPLC does great work and should be supported by all that believe in justice!
“The language drafted by the Constitution Revision Commission was misleading, concealing the true intent of the revision from voters, and hiding the crucial effects the measure would have on the powers of locally elected public school boards,” said the judge in his decision.
The whole intent of “Revision 8” was to mislead and confuse the voters as it lumped three different proposals into a single vote. Their main objective was to take decisions about future schools out of the hands of county school districts and put the decisions in the hands of the state where many representatives are on the payroll of the charter lobby. It was a means to redirect local funds out of local hands. Many thanks to the League of Women Voters of Florida and the SPLC for their defense of democratic principles.
Right on, retired Teacher.
So agree with your, “Many thanks to the League of Women Voters of Florida and the SPLC for their defense of democratic principles.”
Does the SPLC still support the Common Core? https://www.splcenter.org/news/2014/05/07/splc-report-extremist-propaganda-distorting-debate-over-common-core-state-standards, https://www.splcenter.org/20140430/public-schools-crosshairs-far-right-propaganda-and-common-core-state-standards
Good question. I did some key word searches. As far as I can tell, the SPLC had not recognized flaws in “the origin story” about the CCSS from the promoters and publicists.
As far as I can tell, they have not acknowledged the horrible influence on public schools of the CCSS, the associated tests, or the racist history of the standardized testing still continuing today.
At the website, the CCSS mentions that I could find were relatively few and part of larger effort, from 2014 to 2017, to point out the intense attacks on the CC from the far right religious groups and conspiracy theorists. See this example. https://www.splcenter.org/20140430/public-schools-crosshairs-far-right-propaganda-and-common-core-state-standards
In 2014, the CCSS were mentioned in order to promote a literacy project https://www.splcenter.org/news/2014/09/08/teaching-tolerance-offers-new-curriculum-schools-nationwide
I would hate to see what-about-ism minimize the importance or derail the SPLC’s current effort to defend public schools.
There is way too much what-about-ism here, too fast to find fault with allies.
I criticized them for it at the time.
That was then.
This is now.
I welcome their powerful support in the fight against privatization.
And now is the time to make sure that they are informed of how wrong that past support was and how it is time to come out against it.
https://www.splcenter.org/news/2018/09/07/splc-florida-supreme-court’s-decision-remove-misleading-ballot-measure-education-‘victory
Fantastic work by so many people!
I hope everyone who has been shedding a light on this subject sees this as a fruit of their labor.