Archives for category: Florida
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Where Was the National Democratic Party During the West Virginia Teachers Strike?

By dianeravitch
March 6, 2018 //
82

 

An article in the Daily Beast asks the question that is the title of this post.

Another question: Where was President Obama and Secretary Arne Duncan when Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker stripped away collective bargaining, and union members encircled the State Capitol in protest? Answer: absent.

They did, however, find time in March 2011 to fly to Miami to join Jeb Bush in celebrating a “turnaround school” whose staff had been replaced. (A month later, the same high school was listed by the state as a “failing school” slated for closure, but the national media had moved on.)

Categories Bush, Jeb, Democrats, Duncan, Arne, Florida, Obama, Turnaround Schools, Unions, Walker, Scott, West Virginia

Florida: Senate Approves Bill to Punish Teachers’ Union

By dianeravitch
March 4, 2018 //
31

 

At a time when teachers in Parkland proved that they are braver than armed guards, the Florida Senate struck a blow at the union that represents the state’s teachers. One senses the ugly hands of Jeb Bush and his consigliere, Patricia Levesque, behind the scenes.

“The Senate on Friday narrowly defeated an effort to eliminate part of a major education bill that could force teachers’ unions to disband if they don’t meet new membership standards.

“In a 21-17 vote, the Senate rejected a proposed amendment by Sen. Perry Thurston, D-Fort Lauderdale, that would have removed the controversial provision from the bill (HB 7055). The provision could cause teachers’ unions to lose their state certification if their membership falls below 50 percent of the employees they represent in the collective-bargaining process. If decertified, a union would have to reorganize and seek another majority vote from the members they are seeking to represent.

“Thurston said the provision was singling out teachers among all unions and that there is already a decertification process in state law that would allow teachers to disband a union if they were unhappy with the representation.

“It’s not right that we say teachers are the only ones we are going to punish,” Thurston said.”

Maybe it is time for a statewide teachers strike in Florida.

The articulate students at Parkland should speak out for the teachers who saved their lives. Name the bill for the teachers who lost their lives shielding students.

Start a fund to defeat the senators who voted for this bill. I want to contribute.

This is an outrage.

 

 

 

Categories Education Reform, Florida, Teachers, Unions

Florida: The Parents’ Opt Out Guide

By dianeravitch
March 3, 2018 //
7

 

Testing season has started in Florida.

Test scores are used by the privatization industry to seize public schools and punish teachers.

Deny them the data!

Here is a guide written specifically for Florida parents about how to opt out of testing.

Starve the beast!

Opting out against punitive and pointless tests is the most effective way to make your voices heard.

Categories Education Industry, Florida, Opt Out, Parents, Privatization, Students, Testing

Florida Senate Committee Approves Two New Voucher Bills, Plus Anti-union Bill

By dianeravitch
February 28, 2018 //
6

 

Why do the people of Florida elect these people?

The Florida Senate Appropriations Committee approved two new voucher bills and a bill that would require teachers unions to seek recertification.

The Florida State Constitution explicitly bans the transfer of public funds to religious schools. In 2012, Jeb Bush sponsored a statewide referendum to delete that provision, and the people of Florida voted down his proposal.

why do the state legislators ignore the state constitution and the expressed will of the people, who said NO to vouchers?

Why do the state legislators hate public schools?

Vote them out!

Categories Florida

Florida: House Appropriations Committee Rejects Weapons Ban, Votes to Arm Teachers

By dianeravitch
February 27, 2018 //
42

 

Despite the pleas of anguished survivors of the Parkland massacre, the Florida House Appropriations  Committee voted against a ban on assault weapons and voted to arm teachers. 

The $67 million “school marshal” program is the most controversial aspect of a House bill that imposes a three-day waiting period for gun purchases, raises the age to buy any gun from 18 to 21 and gives police more power to seize guns from people who threaten themselves or others. Most of the money for the marshal program would be spent on training.

Oliva said the bill doesn’t address whether teachers would be provided guns or would have to buy them. He said that should be decided locally by school boards and superintendents.

The goal: 10 marshals (teachers trained to carry a gun) in every school, which would equate to 37,000 statewide. The state would cover the costs of background checks, drug testing, psychological exams and 132 hours of training. The bill does provide a one-time $500 stipend for those who volunteer to have a gun.

The bill also calls for spending $400 million to put a school resource officer in every school, improve mental health counseling and make public school buildings safer.

 

Categories Education Reform, Florida, Guns in Schools

Parkland: Claims That At Least 3 Armed Officers Refused to Enter School to Stop Shooter

By dianeravitch
February 23, 2018 //
33

 

Police officials are investigating the possibility that at least three armed deputies stayed outside the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School while mass murderer Nikolas Cruz was gunning down students and teachers.

The “good guys”with the guns did not even attempt to stop the “bad guy”with an AR-15. They knew they were outgunned and they failed to do their duty. They left zcruz to kill at will.

Trump used this information to argue at the Conservative PAC that teachers should be armed because they “know”and “love” the students, and they would confront a mass murderer with an AR-15 armed only with a handgun.

New York Police Department statistics show that well-trained police officers are accurate only 18% of the time in a gunfight.

Imagine the scene in a school, where there is pandemonium, and teachers start firing wildly. How many students and teachers will be killed by friendly fire? Trump imagines that 10-20% of America’s teachers are highly trained marksmen, perhaps with Marine training. At one of his news conferences, he said that General Kelly could have stopped Nikolas Cruz with a handgun. Since General Kelly is unlikely to be located in any American school at any future time, this claim is pure fantasy.

Trump forgets that 70% or so of educators are women. Very few of America’s teachers are former Marines or expert marksmen. His remedy will guarantee mass mayhem.

The only meaningful cure is banning military weapons, keeping them out of the hands of civilians.

 

Categories Accountability, Florida, Guns in Schools

Warning: This Cartoon Might Make You Cry

By dianeravitch
February 21, 2018 //
12

 

Football coach Aaron Feis shielded students with his body from the gunfire of a mass murderer in their school in Parkland, Florida. He left a wife and young child.

Cartoonist Oia Guerra couldn’t sleep, thinking of the trAgedy inFlorida. She drew this cartoon.  

Categories Florida, Guns

Nancy Bailey: No Mending of Broken Hearts: Time to Ban Assault Weapons

By dianeravitch
February 21, 2018 //
14

 

Nancy Bailey writes about the wounds that will never heal, about the unnecessary deaths at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Add to them the still-grieving families of those who lost their children in many other school massacres. Their wounds will never heal.

Bailey writes:

”Even if you don’t live in Parkland, many knew those who did. Maybe you sat on the edge of your seat Wednesday, hoping against all odds that it wasn’t the parent you knew who was going through hell trying to hear a word from their child hiding in the building.

“Yet you still knew in your heart that no matter whose child or staff member it was, whoever didn’t make it out, it was another senseless tragedy. Another one! Another one! Another one! How many children this time? How many teachers?

“How much longer must we subject children to a society that pretends civility, while forcing us all to yield to those with money who force their power of war-like weaponry upon us? Who endanger us all and especially our children? What gives them that right?

“What’s it going to take to get Americans to actually do something to end the violence in our schools and in the country, and to actually care about all our children?

“This isn’t about hunters and rifles. It isn’t even about handguns. It’s about war machinery that has no logical use in a peace loving nation. No use but to kill innocent people.”

Senator Marco Rubio, a favorite of the NRA, sent his prayers.

Governor Rick Scott, who will give the keynote speech at the NRA’s annual convention in Dallas (May 3-6), mourned with the families. What will he tell the NRA? Will he boast that in Florida a teenager can buy an assault weapon but not a beer?

 

Categories Accountability, Florida, Guns in Schools

Florida: House Refuses to Ban Assault Weapons

By dianeravitch
February 20, 2018 //
25

Wiith survivors of the Parkland massacre watching, the Florida House voted down a bill to ban the kind of gun that Nikolas Cruz to murder 17 students and teachers only days ago.

This is from the Sun-Sentinel of Florida:

 

With Stoneman Douglas students watching, Florida House declines to take up assault weapons ban
Less than a week after 17 people were fatally shot at a Florida high school, the state House has voted down a motion to take up a bill that would ban assault rifles, effectively killing the measure for this session.

The motion failed by a 36-71 vote.

Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were in the gallery to watch the vote. An Associated Press photo showed Stoneman Douglas junior Sheryl Acquarola, 16, overcome with emotion, alongside several other students.

As the Florida House opened its session Tuesday, Democratic Rep. Kionne McGhee asked for a procedural move that would have allowed it to consider a bill to ban assault rifles and large capacity magazines.

He said the move stemmed from the massacre last week that has refueled a national debate about gun control.

The bill had been assigned to three committees but was not scheduled for a hearing. The committees won’t meet again before the legislative session ends March 9.

McGhee said that means the bill would be dead unless the House voted to remove it from the committees and let it be considered by the full House.

Republican leaders in the House and Senate say they will consider proposals including raising age restrictions for gun purchases and the red-flag bill regarding temporarily taking away someone’s guns if they are deemed a threat to others.

The House did not debate the merits of the bill because McGhee’s motion involved a procedural issue. But the House voted 71-36 to reject taking up the measure on the floor.

Nikolas Cruz is accused of using an AR-15 rifle, a type of weapon that would be covered under the bill.
A Senate version of the bill (SB 196), filed by Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, also has not been heard in committees.

Meanwhile, a Florida Senate committee endorsed a proposal to put law enforcement officers in every school in the state.

Only slightly more than half of Florida’s more than 4,000 public schools have the resource officers. They are sworn law-enforcement officers and allowed to carry a weapon on a school campus.

The Senate Education Committee voted Tuesday to include the requirement in a sweeping education bill that is now moving through the legislature.
Information from the News Service of Florida and the Associated Press was used in this report.

Categories Florida, Guns

Australia Has Not Had a Mass Murder Since 1996: Will We Learn from Their Example?

By dianeravitch
February 19, 2018 //
36

 

In 1996, Australia experienced a horrendous mass murder known as the Port Arthur Massacre. A man named Martin Bryant went to a popular tourist site and methodically murdered 35 people, including a few that he murdered on his way to Port Arthur and after his departure. Among his victims was a young mother and her two daughters, ages 6 and 3.

This event shocked the nation, which proceeded to enact strict laws about access to guns, registration of guns, and restrictions on private ownership of semi-automatic guns. In addition,  the government initiated a massive gun buy-back program.

There has not been a mass murder in Australia since 1996 and the national adoption of meaningful gun controls.

In the U.S., there are a significant number of people who love their guns more than human life.

Will the latest school massacre in Florida turn Americans against the National Rifle Association and its adherents in Congress and state legislatures? Will it be the equivalent of the Port Arthur Massacre?

The New York Times explains the obstacles to any significant change in gun laws in Florida, which is one of the most gun-friendly states in the nation.

“In the wake of Florida’s latest shooting massacre, and calls to tighten its relaxed gun laws, Gov. Rick Scott declared that now, everything was on the table.

“Yet the governor sidestepped whether he would explicitly support new gun restrictions. And he emphasized he would never “trample” on anyone’s constitutional rights.”

Scott is the keynote speaker at the NRA annual convention in Dallas, May 3-6.

“Florida’s gun lobby continues to instill fear in lawmakers. It is led by Marion Hammer, 78, who grew up shooting rabbits, reportedly packs a pistol in her purse and seeks political vengeance on legislators who disappoint her.

“Though Florida is a purple state, Mr. Scott, a favorite of gun lobbyists, and other Republicans control state government, and they have steadfastly opposed new restrictions. For gun-control advocates, victories of late have included steps like defeating legislation to allow some people to carry guns into airport terminals.
Gun owners are now a major constituency, too: Nearly two million residents have permits to carry concealed weapons, far more than any other state…

”Florida’s pro-gun approach came under scrutiny after mass shootings in Orlando in 2016 and in Fort Lauderdale last year. But, little changed in the Statehouse; bills to limit assault weapons, for example, did not get a hearing.
Even after the massacre in Parkland last week, the only movement on gun bills dealt with proposals to expand where guns could be carried, not to restrict them.

”State Senator Dennis Baxley, a Republican who wrote the Stand Your Ground law in 2005 and is a major gun-rights backer, doubts gun-control proposals will gain traction.”

“I don’t see any interest here on that,” said Mr. Baxley, who represents parts of Sumter, Marion and Lake Counties. “We’re pretty comfortable that freedom works.”

”Mr. Baxley likens gun restrictions to imposing limits on forks and spoons to reduce obesity. He argued the focus needs to be on school safety…

”Changing Florida’s gun laws could come down to two things: Whether Ms. Hammer can keep legislators from breaking ranks. And, the ambitions of Mr. Scott, who is increasingly expected to challenge Bill Nelson, the state’s incumbent Democratic senator this year.

”Ms. Hammer, who stands barely 5 feet tall, has been the state’s chief gun lobbyist for decades and was the first woman to serve as national N.R.A. president. The state’s Stand Your Ground and concealed-carry laws were largely her initiatives.

”Legislators, especially Republicans, fear her ability to marshal angry emails from thousands of gun owners in every pocket of the state, destroying ambitions of even onetime allies.

“She can be pretty hard on people who aren’t coming around,” Mr. Baxley said. “She has a long memory when you cross her.”

Will members of the legislature listen to Ms. Hammer and the NRA, or will they listen to the teenagers of the state?

Ms. Hammer, the NRA, AND Governor Scott have blood on their hands. The blood of victims of the Pulse nightclub and the blood of students and staff at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. How many more children and adults will die until they open their eyes and hearts?

 

 

Categories Florida, Guns in Schools, International
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