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An Open Letter to the Senate Education PreK-12 Committee re. SB202

ByAccountabaloney

This Tuesday, February 21, 2023, at 9:30 am, the Senate Education PreK-12 committee will hear SB202, the Senate companion to HB1. Below is the letter I emailed to the committee members prior to the meeting.

Both SB202 and HB1 expand voucher eligibility to everyone, regardless of income, and convert them to ESAs (Education Savings Accounts which are the equivalent of a publicly funded edu-debit card, which families can use to piece together an education of their liking for their child, devoid of state standards or oversight).

Unlike HB1, SB202 requires the State Board of Education to review Florida education statutes with the intent of reducing regulations on public schools “so they can better compete with private schools that accept vouchers.” Bill sponsor and Chair of the Senate Education PreK-12, Senator Corey Simon, who sent his son to the elite Maclay School (with a tuition twice the value of the vouchers he is promoting) said he wanted “a fairer competition for students between private and public schools.”

The deregulation of Florida’s public schools has been needed for years yet every session sees a flood of new rules, regulations and compliance mandates. Despite the oppressive regulations, the crushing test-based Accountability system which falsely labels public schools as failing (and absolves private schools of any test-based accountability) and the recent culture war bills designed to blame teachers and label public schools as dangerous, Florida’s families continue to choose public school options over the low quality, strip mall private school who are free to discriminate against children and designed to profit off publicly funded vouchers (read all about them in the Orlando Sentinel’s brilliant “Schools Without Rules” series).

While the deregulating of public schools is definitely needed, the suggestion that public schools are unable to compete without it furthers denigrates our high quality public schools despite the FACT that they remain strongly supported by our communities and the primary choice of our Florida’s families.

Here is what I sent:

Dear Senators,

I am the mother of two and an advocate for public education.

I am opposed to the massive expansion of Florida’s voucher program in SB202 and HB1. Both bills will divert tax dollars away from public schools and fund barely regulated education options with little to no academic or fiscal oversight, while defunding the public school options chosen by the vast majority of Florida’s families.

Over the last 20 years, this legislature has focused on expanding choice options while increasingly micromanaging Florida’s public school districts. SB202 further expands public funding of private school choice options, to every child in Florida regardless of income or circumstance, and transforms what were tuition vouchers for low income children to Universal Education Savings Accounts, which have even less fiscal and academic oversight. This is not fiscal conservatism.

Despite 20 years of policies labeling public schools as failing and encouraging “escape” to private options, public schools remain the choice of the vast majority of Florida’s families – where families can choose from a broad array of public choice options: open enrollment, dual enrollment, career and technical classes and magnet schools, to name a few, many of which have waiting lists of children eager to enroll.  SB202 will defund these highly desired public options and open up hundreds of millions of dollars to families who have already opted out of the public school system by privately paying for elite private schools or homeschooling.

While I appreciate the Senate’s interest in deregulating our public schools, with SB202 requiring the State Board of Education to make recommendations for next session, you could show you were sincere by refusing to pass bills that further regulate our classrooms and school this session. There will be bills filed that micromanage our classrooms and libraries, change the way we elect our school boards, mandate school start times, force participation in the Guardian program and more. You could start the deregulating process NOW, by refusing to pass more regulations targeting public schools.

Finally, I reject the idea that public schools need a “leveled playing field” to compete with these voucher schools. Have you visited these schools? They are often unaccredited, their teachers are uncertified, they are in basements and strip malls. 61% of voucher recipients return to public school within 2 years. Public schools need to be deregulated so they can innovate and best serve the 2.9 million students who attend them. They need funding which, at a minimum, keeps up with inflation. And we need a legislature who will embrace their paramount duty, provide adequate provisions and recognize our public school system for what it is – the first and best choice for Florida’s families.

To paraphrase the late Ruth Bader Ginsberg,  “I ask no favor for my public schools … All I ask of our legislature is that they take their feet off our necks.”

Please vote no on SB202 and vote no on any education bill imposing regulations specifically on public schools.

Thank you,

You can find contact information for the Senate Education PreK-12 committee here.

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