Archives for category: Separation of church and state
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

“Bring Your Bible to School Day” is October 3

By dianeravitch
September 29, 2019 //
66

 

October 3 should be interesting. Apparently it is “Bring Your Bible to School Day.”

Presumably, Muslim students will bring their Koran. Jewish students will bring a facsimile of a Torah. Mormon students will bring the Book of Mormon. And other religious groups will bring their sacred texts.

Will it remind everyone that religious activity belongs in houses of religious worship, not in the public school?

 

September 23, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Students Bring Bibles to School

 

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — More than half a million students from across the United States will participate in the sixth annual Bring Your Bible to School movement on Thursday, October 3, 2019.

 

Though the First Amendment guarantees students the right to discuss their beliefs and read the Bible at school, Bring Your Bible to School day provides a unified opportunity for young people to share their faith at school without fear.

 

Throughout the day, students can share their experiences on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #BringYourBible.

 

The Constitution allows students the religious freedom to bring their Bibles or other religious books to school and read them during free time. Students can even use the Bible in a class assignment if they do so in a way that is relevant to the subject matter and meets the requirements of the assignment. Students can voluntarily express their personal and religious beliefs to their classmates through verbal or written expressions if they follow school policy and do not engage in these activities during classroom or instruction time. The First Amendment also guarantees students the right to pray individually or in groups on school grounds during any non-instructional time. All students may express their opinions verbally or in writing before or after school, in between classes, during the lunch hour or on the playing field, according to the federal guidelines on prayer in public schoolsfound on Liberty Counsel’s website.

 

Liberty Counsel’s Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Liberty Counsel supports all students who exercise their constitutional right to bring their Bibles to school on Bring Your Bible to School day and throughout the academic year. Schools must remain neutral towards any expression of a religious viewpoint and provide equal access to students exercising their right to freedom of speech by praying or reading the Bible during non-instructional time,” said Staver.

 

Liberty Counsel is a nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics. Liberty Counsel provides broadcast quality TV interviews via Hi-Def Skype and LTN at no cost.

Liberty Counsel, P.O. Box 540774, Orlando, FLORIDA 32854, United States

Categories Education Reform, Religion, Separation of church and state

Bill Phillis: Will the Supreme Court Wipe Out the Ban on Public Funding of Religious Schools?

By dianeravitch
September 14, 2019 //
18

Bill Phillis of the Adequacy and Equity Coalition of Ohio fears that the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, to which Trump added two religious zealots, is on the verge of eliminating the separation of church and state. This would be a huge victory for Betsy DeVos, ALEC, and the anti-government crusaders of the Right. Some states—such as Ohio, Indiana, and Florida— have already decided to ignore their state constitutions, to fund religious schools with vouchers.

The irony is that vouchers are a lose-lose proposition. The public schools—attended by nearly 90% of all pupils—lose finding, lay off teachers, cut programs. The children take away a voucher worth $5,000-$7,000 and get a worse education than their public school peers.

Bill Phillis writes:

The U.S. Supreme Court is moving toward the concept of forcing states to fund private religious schools on the same basis as public schools
 
The so-called Blaine Amendments in the constitutions of 39 states prohibit the states from funding private religious schools. Pages 235 through 238 of the Ninth Edition of American Public School Law by Kern Alexander and M. David Alexander provide a succinct and thoughtful review of the background and implication of President Grant’s proposed amendment introduced by U.S. House Speaker James G. Blaine after the Civil War.
 
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has been heard to say that the constitutional provisions prohibiting the states from funding private religious schools are rooted in bigotry. She may have picked up on Justice Clarence Thomas’ assertions in Mitchell v Helms that if states don’t provide funds to religious schools they are manifesting hostility toward religion. Further Thomas asserted that the state’s constitutional provisions were subtle devices to deprive Catholic schools of public money; thus a manifestation of anti-Catholic bigotry.
 
The James G. Blaine family was Catholic. A close cousin established the Holy Cross Sisters. Neither he nor President Grant demonstrated any anti-Catholic biases. They were just attempting to unify the country after the Civil War. Grant believed the key to unity was a “common school education.”
 
The Blaine Amendment which merely prohibited public funds from flowing to religious schools, passed the House but failed in the U.S. Senate. Subsequently many states adopted constitutional amendments that accomplished the intent of President Grant’s proposal.
 
These “Blaine” provisions in the state constitutions are in accord with the first sentence in the Bill of Rights, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, …” There is no contradiction between the states’ constitutional provisions and the Bill of Rights; however, of late, the U.S. Supreme Court, contrary to earlier decisions, is advancing a different constitutional philosophy in Agostini (1997), Mitchell (2000), Zelman (2002), Davey (2004), and Trinity Lutheran (2017), all of which permit Congress and states to provide public funds to religious institutions and schools.
 
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Montana case in which the high court in Montana ruled against vouchers on the basis of its constitution’s prohibitions. If the Court rules against Montana, the “Blaine” amendments in the 39 states could be rendered invalid.
 
Montana’s constitutional prohibition of public funding to religious schools and other religious institutions is among the most stringent “no-aid clauses” in the nation. Article X section 6 states:
(1)   The legislature, counties, cities, towns, school districts, and public corporations shall not make any direct or indirect appropriation or payment from any public fund or monies, or any grant of lands or other property for any sectarian purpose or to aid any church, school, academy, seminary, college, university, or other literary or scientific institution, controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect or denomination.
(2)   This section shall not apply to funds from federal sources provided to the state for the express purpose of distribution to non-public education.
Notwithstanding the stringent nature of Montana’s “no aid” provision, a ruling against the Montana decision would affect states that have less stringent constitutional measures.
Categories Education Reform, Montana, Religion, Separation of church and state, Vouchers

Tennessee: Pro-Voucher Republican Replaced by Anti-Voucher Republican as Speaker of House

By dianeravitch
August 27, 2019 //
19

Great news from Tennessee!

The Speaker of the House, Glenn Canada, who rammed through a voucher bill, was replaced by Cameron Sexton, an anti-voucher Republican.

https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/tn/2019/08/22/tennessee-is-about-to-replace-its-voucher-friendly-house-speaker-with-a-voucher-opponent/

Marta W. Aldrich of Chalkbeat reports:

The House overwhelmingly elected Rep. Cameron Sexton on Friday as its speaker to replace Glen Casada, who stepped down earlier this month. While both men are party loyalists, Sexton voted against the voucher bill that Casada strong-armed through the chamber before a series of scandals rocked him out of his leadership job….

Sexton has strong ties to public education. He attended schools in Knox County before graduating in 1989 from Oak Ridge High School in neighboring Anderson County, where he had access to foreign languages, advanced placement courses, and early college credits before heading to the University of Tennessee. His mother was a kindergarten teacher for more than 30 years, and his grandfather was a principal. He and his wife, Lacey, have chosen public schools for their own children.

That family history, he said, was likely a factor behind his consistent votes against voucher bills, but he cites philosophical reasons, too.

“We should do everything we can to improve all public schools in the state of Tennessee so they can be successful,” he said. “I would rather go that route than the voucher route.”

Pastors for Tennessee Children have been working alongside parents and teachers to protect public schools and separation of church and state. Hallelujah.

Categories Education Reform, Separation of church and state, Tennessee, Vouchers

Jan Resseger: Ohio Expands Vouchers at Expense of Public Schools

By dianeravitch
August 21, 2019 //
26

In the latest Ohio state budget, there are big giveaways to religious and private schools. The Legislature expanded the state’s voucher programs. Originally, vouchers were supposed to “save poor kids from failing public schools,” but in the new expansion, vouchers are available to high school students who never attended a public school. That is, they subsidize students in religious and private schools. Period.

In the only evaluation of the Ohio voucher program, sponsored by the rightwing Thomas B. Fordham Institute, students who used vouchers fell behind students who stayed in the public schools.

These programs are simply a transfer of public dollars frompublic schools to private schools, with no benefit to students.

Jan Resseger writes here about the latest betrayal of the people of Ohio and the public schools that most children attend, despite the availability of many charters and vouchers.

She begins:

Ohio has five voucher programs. Two of them are for students with autism and other disabilities, and their enrollment depends on the incidence of these conditions and parents’ awareness of the availability of voucher funds to pay for private programs. A third voucher program—the Cleveland Scholarship Program—one of the oldest in the country—is for students in Cleveland.

This blog post will focus on the last two—EdChoice and EdChoice Expansion. They are statewide Ohio school voucher programs designed specifically, according to the Republican lawmakers who have designed and promoted these programs, to enable students to escape so-called “failing” schools. It is important to remember that those same legislators have failed adequately to fund the public schools in Ohio’s poorest school districts, and those same legislators have looked at state takeover as another “solution” (besides expanding vouchers and charter schools) for the students in those districts. Ohio education policy for school districts serving very poor children is defined by punishment, not support.

EdChoice and EdChoice Expansion vouchers rob the public schools of essential dollars needed to educate the majority of Ohio’s students who remain in public schools. And the vouchers are used primarily by students enrolled in religious schools. Through EdChoice and EdChoice Expansion vouchers, the state is sending millions of tax dollars out of the state’s public education budget and out of the coffers of local school districts to fund the religious education of students who would likely never have enrolled in public schools in the first place.

The problem just got worse this summer when the Ohio Legislature passed a two year budget which radically expands both programs. The Ohio Association of School Business Officials (OASBO) recently published an update on its website to inform school treasurers about what just happened. OASBO reports: “HB 166 (the new state budget) expanded the EdChoice Scholarship program in multiple ways.”

Changes in the EdChoice voucher program: Although legislators have always said the purpose of vouchers is to provide an “escape” from so-called failing schools, the new budget provides that high school students are no longer required to have been previously enrolled in a public school to qualify for the voucher. OASBO explains: “Generally, students wishing to claim a voucher under the original EdChoice voucher program must have attended a public school in the previous school year. However, HB 166 codifies in law… (that) students going into grades 9-12 need not first attend a public school. In other words, high school students already attending a private school can obtain a voucher.”

Ohio was one of the leading states in the 19th century “Common school movement,” which created the American public school as a guarantee of free public education for every child. It is now leading the movement to demolish that promise and renounce the state’s proud history. It should go without saying that the state’s Republican leaders have never put a referendum on the ballot to ask the people of Ohio whether they approve of this massive diversion of public funds to religious and private schools. They know it would be rejected.

The Ohio State Constitution, Article 6, Section 2 and 3

Text of Section 2:
School Funds

The General Assembly shall make such provisions, by taxation, or otherwise, as, with the income arising from the school trust fund, will secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state; but no religious or other sect, or sects, shall ever have any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the school funds of this state.

Text of Section 3:
Public School System, Boards of Education

Provision shall be made by law for the organization, administration and control of the public school system of the state supported by public funds: provided, that each school district embraced wholly or in part within any city shall have the power by referendum vote to determine for itself the number of members and the organization of the district board of education, and provision shall be made by law for the exercise of this power by such school districts.

Categories Accountability, Education Reform, Failure, Ohio, Religion, Separation of church and state, Vouchers

Peter Greene: The Case That Could Shed the Wall of Separation

By dianeravitch
July 2, 2019 //
47

 

Peter Greene writes here about a case that could knock down the wall of separation between church and state.

With two Trump appointees, the Supreme Court appears poised to rule in favor of state support for religious school tuition.

Despite the fact that voters overwhelmingly reject vouchers (when the public is asked to voice its view). Despite the fact that studies consistently show that children who use vouchers lose ground. Despite the fact that many religious schools are openly discriminatory. This Supreme Court appears ready to give a green light to public funding of religious schools.

This is a huge step backwards. The state will fund yeshivas that do not teach English or science. It will fund fundamentalist Christian schools that use the Bible as a science textbook. It will fund madrassas. You can’t fund one religion without funding all.

Pandora’s Box is about to be opened.

Categories Education Reform, Religion, Separation of church and state, Vouchers

News from the Pastors for Texas Children

By dianeravitch
June 17, 2019 //
2

 

Our allies the Pastors for Texas Children have repeatedly blocked vouchers in Texas, and they are now celebrating a significant boost in state funding for public schools. They have helped to start similar organizations in other states to protect the separation between church and state.
Dear Friend,

Our nation is wracked by a politics of division, where special interests and big donors set the political agenda for both sides of the aisle. State budgets, which should be reflections of our shared character and moral values, too often reflect the lie of scarcity, promoting an agenda of runaway privatization that harms God’s common good.

More often than not, this agenda involves slashing crucial funding for public education, cutting services to the most vulnerable among us: Texas’ children. 

But Pastors for Texas Children won’t give in to this agenda for one simple reason: we’re a Spirit-driven, people-powered organization, not beholden to any political party or special interest group. During this year’s legislative session, we successfully lobbied for legislative action on the pro-public education priorities that Texans and our legislators hold dear.

We still have a long way to go until we fully recognize robustly funded public schools as the cornerstone of our shared life together, but this was truly a transformative legislative session and a major step on our journey. And we couldn’t do it without you. 

Scripture reminds us that communities flourish when good stewards of God’s grace serve each other with the gifts we have received (1 Peter 4:10). And you have been a steward of PTC’s work and mission in the world. Please consider more ways to steward our work as our legislative witness winds down and our year-round work continues:

  1. Pray for us.Without your prayers and support, we could not do what we do in Texas and around the nation.
  2. Give a gift to sustain our work. A recurring gift of just $5/month helps us sustain our work and our witness.
  3. If you’re part of an organization, business, or church that would be interested in attending next week’s PTC Benefit Luncheon (6/18) at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, email Brandon Grebe today about reserving a spot.

May God bless you, friend.
-Pastors for Texas Children
Copyright © 2019 Pastors for Texas Children, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you have signed up as a partner on our website.Our mailing address is:

Pastors for Texas Children

PO Box 100502

Fort Worth, Tx 76185

Categories Education Reform, Funding, Separation of church and state, Texas

Pennsylvania: Governor Wolf Should Veto Expansion of Voucher Program!

By dianeravitch
June 12, 2019 //
8

Lawrence A. Feinberg leads a valuable organization called the Keystone State Education Coalition, which reports on education issues in Pennsylvania.

The big issue today is whether Democratic Governor Tom Wolf will veto a bill to expand the state’s voucher program by $100 million, a bill passed almost entirely by Republicans in the Legislature. He certainly should veto the measure because it will drain resources from the state’s public schools and send students to religious schools whose teachers and curriculum are not as good as those of the public schools.

HB800: Bill that nearly doubles size of tax credit program for private school scholarships heading to Wolf’s desk

PA Capital Star By  Elizabeth Hardison June 11, 2019

Legislation that would nearly double the size of an educational tax credit program that funds private and religious school scholarships was approved Tuesday by Senate Republicans, whose unanimous support for the proposal overpowered the negative consensus among Democrats.

The bill to expand the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program now goes to Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk for final approval. House lawmakers approved the legislation 111-85 in May. Wolf, a Democrat, has not said whether or not he will veto the expansion, which was sponsored by House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny. He told reporters Tuesday he doesn’t understand how the expansion will be paid for. “I’m trying to fund public education,” Wolf told reporters. “I’m trying to make sure that we have an accountable system in place that I think is underfunded. I have done everything in my power, and I’ve worked across the aisle to get more money for public education. This seems to me  — again, I’ll take a look at it — this seems to me to be at odds with that need of a government and a democracy like ours to support broad-based, accessible public education.”

https://www.penncapital-star.com/education/bill-that-nearly-doubles-size-of-tax-credit-program-for-private-school-scholarships-heading-to-wolfs-desk/

 

Pennsylvania budget season fight opens over $100 million increase in taxpayer support for private schools

Morning Call By MARC LEVY | ASSOCIATED PRESS | JUN 11, 2019 | 6:16 PM

Legislation to substantially expand taxpayer support for private and religious schools in Pennsylvania won passage Tuesday in the Republican-controlled Legislature, although Gov. Tom Wolf is signaling that he will block it. The public dust-up ramps up a fight between supporters of public and private schools in the thick of negotiations between Republican lawmakers and the Democratic governor over a roughly $34 billion budget package. The bill passed the state Senate on a party-line basis Tuesday, a month after it passed the Republican-controlled House on near-party lines. Wolf said he would look at the legislation, but not whether he will veto it. “What I’ve heard doesn’t sound real good,” Wolf told reporters after an unrelated news conference in his Capitol offices. Republicans, Wolf said, haven’t explained how they would finance the $100 million cost of the bill, and he criticized tax credits programs as lacking control or accountability. Wolf, who campaigned for office on raising support for public schools, said he is still working to increase aid for a public education system in Pennsylvania he called underfunded. “It seems to me to be at odds with that need of a government in a democracy like ours to support broad-based, accessible public education,” Wolf said. The bill is sponsored by House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny.

https://www.mcall.com/news/pennsylvania/mc-nws-pa-budget-school-funding-20190611-3leerzwtpncqjjfgktygrradpm-story.html

 

Republicans look to boost private school tax credit. Wolf says he doesn’t get it.

WITF Written by Katie Meyer, Capitol Bureau Chief | Jun 11, 2019 7:35 PM

 (Harrisburg) — Lawmakers have approved a bill that would nearly double a tax break for people and businesses who contribute to private school scholarships and similar public school alternatives. They did so with almost no support from Democrats. And now, Democratic Governor Tom Wolf is saying he doesn’t understand why the expansion is necessary. Republicans argue the Educational Improvement Tax Credit helps low-income students who are stuck in bad public schools. Many Democrats say it unfairly routes money away from those struggling schools. The EITC program has grown incrementally and substantially since it started in 2001–often with bipartisan support. But even the Democrats who generally favor the credit say this particular increase is too high. Along with almost doubling it, the bill–sponsored by GOP House Speaker Mike Turzai–adds an automatic 10 percent escalation every year, as long as the credit stays popular. And it raises the income cap for eligible families from $85,000 to $95,000.

https://www.witf.org/state-house-sound-bites/2019/06/republicans-look-to-boost-private-school-tax-credit-wolf-says-he-doesnt-get-it.php

If you want to stay informed about Pennsylvania education issues, sign up for the regular news blasts.

These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org

Visit us on Facebook at KeystoneStateEducationCoalition

Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

Categories Pennsylvania, Separation of church and state, Vouchers

News from Pastors for Texas Children

By dianeravitch
June 5, 2019 //
1

There is no more effective advocate for Texas children and public schools than Pastors for Texas Children. Through their dedication and hard work, they have played an important role in blocking vouchers and encouraging the passage of a new state budget that adds billions of dollars for public schools.

 

Dear Friend of Pastors for Texas Children,

My name is John Noble. I’m currently a ministerial student at Brite Divinity School at TCU in Fort Worth, and I serve as the ministry intern for PTC. In this role, I work to connect our network of faith leaders, educators, and community partners to our sacred work: ministry to and advocacy for Texas’ public school system.

This ministry has been one of my life’s greatest blessings. Through this work, I’ve had the opportunity to see the community gather at our many Celebrations for Public Education, where we come together to celebrate the common blessing of Texas public schools. I’ve rallied at the Capitol with pastors, teachers, parents, and community leaders advocating a pro-public education budget, and I’ve met with legislators to discuss the moral urgency of fairly funding our schools through a clean HB3.

I love PTC because we minister to the needs of to all Texas children and educators in our work. But this ministry is only possible with community support. 

As a PTC partner, you are part of a network of 2000 faith leaders across the state that makes our work possible. You are part of a bipartisan consensus in Texas, declaring that public education is a sacred good and a constitutional right. Acting together, unified across lines of difference, our pastors, faith leaders, educators, and community partners have laid the groundwork for a Texas that puts the needs of our kids first.

Another reason I’m proud to work with PTC? We’re 100% independent. We’re not beholden to any political or special interest group. Our faith-driven mission is guided by one question: what’s best for the children of our state and nation? That independence also means we depend on the generous financial support of our network. Right now, there are two ways that you can continue to support PTC in our pro-public education ministry:

  1. Be a part of our Benefit Luncheon. On Tuesday, June 18, we’re hosting our annual fundraiser luncheon, honoring rural education hero Dr. Don Rogers. If you’re a part of an organization that supports our ministry, consider sponsoring a table at the event. Registration closes next Monday, June 10, so check out our website and contact Brandon Grebe to make your reservation today!
  2. Give a Gift to PTC: Want to support PTC as an individual? Sustain our work with a financial contribution on our website. Grassroots donors are the backbone of our organization (our average online donation is $46).

I know that the church, in its social witness and diverse denominations, is called first and foremost to serve the poor and the vulnerable, especially poor and vulnerable children. I don’t know anyone living that mission and doing that work better than Texas public educators. Your gift to PTC helps us serve them.

In Christ,
John Noble
Copyright © 2019 Pastors for Texas Children, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you have signed up as a partner on our website.Our mailing address is:

Pastors for Texas Children

PO Box 100502

Fort Worth, Tx 76185

Categories Accountability, Education Industry, Education Reform, Funding, Privatization, Separation of church and state, Supporting public schools, Texas, Vouchers

Edd Doerr Responds to George Will: Americans Don’t Want Their Tax $$$ to Subsidize K-12 Tuition

By dianeravitch
May 19, 2019 //
49

George Will is under the misapprehension that separation of Church and State was imposed after the Civil War by James G. Blaine, thus explaining why state constitutions have “Blaine amendments” forbidding the use of public dollars for religious schools. It is true that there was a wave of anti-Catholic bigotry before and after the Civil War, but support for separation of church and state long predates the adoption of Blaine amendments.

What Will doesn’t understand is that Americans have been asked again and again whether they want public funds to pay for religious school tuition, and they always vote no. They don’t want their taxes to pay for yeshivas where children don’t learn English; they don’t want their taxes to subsidize fundamentalist Christian schools that teach racism, homophobia, and creationism; they don’t want to pay for madrassas, or any of the dozens of other religious schools.

Americans want their tax money to pay for public schools, not religious schools.

Edd Doerr, a scholar of religious liberty, wrote in response to George Will’s column in the Washington Post:

George Will (“Children are paying for 19th century bigotry,” May 19) overlooks the fact that Jefferson and Madison installed the principle of religious liberty, church-state separation and no tax aid for religious institutions in Virginia law well before James Blaine was born. Will also fails to note that in 30 state referenda from coast to coast between 1966 and 2018 voters rejected all plans for direct or indirect tax aid to private schools by an average of 2 to 1.

Yes, there was anti-Catholic sentiment in our early history, a legacy of many years of religious wars and persecution in Europe. This was augmented by Pope Pius’s 1854 Syllabus of Errors and his 1857 public complicity in the kidnapping and forced conversion of a six year old Jewish child, Edgardo Mortara. Most Catholics today support church-state separation and public education, thanks in part to the Supreme Court’s 1962 ending of the last vestiges of Protestantism in our public schools.

Edd Doerr

Silver Spring, MD 20906

Categories Privatization, Religion, Separation of church and state, Vouchers

Gainesville Sun Slams Florida Voucher Plan to Steal Money from Public Schools for Religious Schools

By dianeravitch
May 6, 2019 //
4

 

The Gainesville Sun published an editorial denouncing the newRepublican voucher program, which diverts money from public schools to unaccountable private and religious schools.

“Last week, Florida lawmakers voted to raid taxpayer money meant for public education to pay for middle-income families to send their children to private schools.

“They passed the measure despite these largely religious schools lacking the standards and other requirements that the state has piled on public schools. They passed the legislation despite the Florida Supreme Court rejecting a similar measure as unconstitutional in 2006.

“They even included $250,000 in the state budget for an expected legal fight but are surely expecting a positive outcome this time around before a state Supreme Court that had three new conservative members appointed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“After all, DeSantis has declared that “if the taxpayer is paying for education, it’s public education.″ He appears unconcerned with the consequences of continuing to divert money meant for traditional public schools to private and charter schools, while saddling traditional public schools with mandates that make it harder for educators to do their jobs and students to succeed.

“The newly passed legislation creates 18,000 vouchers at an initial cost of around $130 million, with the numbers rising in subsequent years. Families making up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, or $77,250 a year for a family of four, would be eligible for the new vouchers.

“Unlike previous private school “scholarships” provided to lower-income families, the funding for these vouchers would come directly out of the pot of money intended for public schools. Yet the Republican-controlled Legislature rejected amendments proposed by Democrats to increase accountability for these schools to anywhere near the level of their public counterparts…

“Florida has repeatedly ranked near the bottom of the country in teacher pay and per-pupil funding, and the voucher plan in the long term will only make things worse.

“The vouchers will accelerate a two decade-long trend of the state shifting money to private and charter schools at the expense of traditional public schools, creating parallel education systems held to different standards. The trend started under Gov. Jeb Bush, who was in the House chambers last week to celebrate the bill’s passage.”

Categories Accountability, Budget Cuts, Bush, Jeb, Charter Schools, Florida, Funding, Privatization, Religion, Separation of church and state, Shame
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »