About that Nephrologist on DeSantis’ Education Transition Team…

The final DeSantis Transition Advisory Committee on Education & Workforce Development Teleconference Call will be held Friday, December 28th, beginning at 1 p.m. If you want to listen in, a conference call number is provided at www.DeSantisTransition.com.

When Governor-elect DeSantis announced his Transition Advisory Committee on Education and Workforce Development, the membership read like a Who’s Who of Education Reformers and privatizers: corporate charter chain owners like Fernando Zuleta (Academica) and Jonathan Hage (Charter Schools USA), former legislators like Senator Don Gaetz and Representative Bob Cortez, State Board of Education members Marva Johnson and Andy Tuck, and John Kirtley, billionaire founder of Florida’s Voucher program, Step Up for Students, and Florida Federation for Children.

One name was unfamiliar to us and, initially, seemed out of place:

• Dr. ALLAN I. JACOB; Chairman & Chief Medical Officer, Physicians Dialysis

According to his bio, “In his role as Chairman and Chief Medical Officer of Physicians Dialysis, Dr. Jacob uses his medical knowledge and business experience to deliver high-quality dialysis care at substantial savings.” What role would a nephrologist play on this Transition Advisory Committee?

SPOILER ALERT: It has nothing to do with kidneys and everything to do with vouchers to private religious schools.

It turns out, Dr. Jacob is also the President and Director of Jewish Leadership Coalition, Inc. (JLC), a group that appears to lobby for vouchers and security funding for private Jewish day schools. Guess who is also part of the Jewish Leadership Coalition management team? Fellow Transition Advisory team member: Step Up For Students’ Founder, John Kirtley.

In partnership with the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, the JLC reports securing $22 million dollars for Jewish day schools in Florida in 2018. Both groups have been actively engaged in grassroots efforts to “educate Jewish voters about the impact of school choice legislation.”

Such advocacy efforts certainly captured Governor-elect DeSantis’ attention. You may recall, his first official visit to South Florida after winning the election recount, was to Brauser Maimonides Academy, a Jewish day school in Ft. Lauderdale. While there, he met with TEACH Florida, which describes itself as “the state’s largest Jewish advocacy group and voting bloc for safe, affordable schools.” They actively support the expansion of scholarship and school choice programs. Mimi Jankovits, the Executive Director of Teach Florida, is ALSO on DeSantis’ Education Transition Advisory Committee.

Additionally, Dr. Jacob’s Physicians Dialysis company has financially supported other pro-voucher, pro school choice candidates, such as Senate Education Chair, Manny Diaz, Jr, and House Education Committees pro-voucher democrats Kim Daniels and James Bush III.

Just how committed is Dr. Jacob to Step Up for Student vouchers and School Choice? This tweet speaks volumes:

We are assuming “per capital” is a typo. He must mean per pupil (per capita) spending… He isn’t asking for counties to contribute capital funds, via vouchers, to these private schools, is he?

A simple answer to his question would be: Step Up vouchers are funded by the diversion of taxes to private schools. The diverted taxes never make it to the General Fund. In order to receive federal and county contributions, the vouchers would have to be directly funded, something that might be problematic with Jewish day schools, given that whole “wall between church and state” thing. Of course, Dr. Jacob knows this.

Clearly, the DeSantis Transition Advisory Committee is stacked with voucher supporters. Dr. Jacobs not only supports Florida’s tax diverted vouchers but he believes they should be fully funded with federal and county funds, as well. We shudder to think what sort of “advice” he is giving to our newly elected governor…