|

Education Crisis in Florida? “Our system of education is being overwhelmed…”

ByAccountabaloney

SB7070, the Senate Education Committee’s first train bill of the session, passed through their committee along a party line vote. Voting on a train bill on day 2 of the Legislative session might be a new record.

The bill contains more than a dozen components (in 5 basic categories). The most controversial component is the creation of a new voucher program, the Family Empowerment Scholarship, designed to “eliminate the waitlist” for the current Florida Tax Credit Scholarship/voucher. Like the tax credit scholarship (FTCS), this new voucher will fund lower income families but, in contrast to the FTCS, local property tax dollars will be required to directly fund these vouchers to private, mostly religious schools. Such a funding scheme was successfully challenged in court in 2006 (Bush v Holmes) and was overwhelmingly rejected by voters on the 2012 ballot.  We will be writing more as the train moves through committee stop but, for now, you can read about the bill and its discussion in front of the Senate Education Committee here, here and here.

What caught our attention, yesterday, was something that Chair Manny Diaz, Jr. said in his opening remarks (watch at 23:35):

Obviously, our system of education is being overwhelmed, as we speak,  by the number of people that come to the state every day… within ten years, I believe that our entire public education system will not be able to keep up with the number of people that keep moving to Florida. While this is very positive and it’s a sign we are doing so many great things in this state and we have so much to offer, there are some challenges that we are going to have to meet.

Is Florida’s population growing so quickly that our public education system won’t be able to keep up? If this is true, what is Florida’s legislature doing to divert this crisis? Will this Legislature allow the lack of adequate public schools deter our state’s future economic growth?

Senator Perry (watch at 1:25:00) uses a few “quick numbers” to remind us that vouchers save the state money. Voucher schools (which are private, mostly religious, schools) do not receive capital funding (for new school construction) and voucher students are funded below the cost spent on the average public school student in Florida. The newly proposed Empowerment Scholarship/voucher would pay 95% of their district’s average per pupil calculation (the FTCS program pays 88, 92 or 96%, depending on the student’s grade level) or the amount of the private school’s tuition and fees, whichever is less. Perry supports expanding vouchers as a way of “saving money for the education system for Florida.” This idea that “voucher programs are “good” because they allow states to spend LESS money on poor children’s education” is not new. 

Is the solution to Senator Diaz’ impending population crisis to divert children to cheaper options? Is that the goal? Does that fulfill the Legislature’s paramount constitutional duty “to make adequate provision for the education of all children residing within its borders?” Just how cheap can one go and still be considered “adequate?”

Also, if we are expecting a crisis within 10 years, why are we continuing to restrict future tax revenue? On Tuesday, March 5th, the Senate Community Affairs Committee took steps to create a new education property tax exemption for some of our state’s senior citizens. SJR344 and SB562 are companion bills designed to create a ballot proposal that would limit eliminate or freeze education property taxes for certain individuals over the age of 65. Both bills are sponsored by Education Chair, Senator Diaz, who says he wants to ease the tax burden on certain homeowners without significantly hurting schools. The bill was voted favorably despite having no fiscal impact statement, with no idea how many homeowners would be affected, how much tax revenue would be lost or what the impact would be on local education funding. If passed to the Senate Floor, it will require a supermajority vote (in the Senate and the House) before being placed on the ballot for a statewide vote.

Moving forward, if the goal is to collect and spend as few tax dollars as possible, in the face of rapid population growth, how will the Legislature fulfill their paramount duty “to make adequate provision for the education of all children residing within its borders?”

This may be the real impending crisis facing our public schools.

Similar Posts

68 Comments

  16. Zum einen, dass das eingezahlte Guthaben wortwörtlich https://cupraforum.nl/d/3326-casino-bezahlen-mit-sofort-ablauf-kosten-sicherheit verfügbar ist. Die Registrierung sollte ziemlich einfach sein, Sie müssen jedoch persönliche Dokumente für die Verifizierung schicken. Suchen Sie sich zuerst einmal ein Online Casino mit Sofortüberweisung aus, in dem Sie gerne spielen möchten. So finden Sie genau das Online Casino, welches am besten zu Ihren Bedürfnissen passt. Genau wie bei Trustly benutzen Sie hier Ihr Online-Banking Konto Ihrer Bank. Die Schnelligkeit ist natürlich einer der großen Vorteile von Sofortüberweisung Casinos.

  25. Klarna gehört zu den am häufigsten angebotenen Methoden bei GGL-lizenzierten Anbietern. In der folgenden Timeline zeigen wir dir die wichtigsten Entwicklungsschritte des Unternehmens auf. Bei Sofortüberweisung handelt es sich um einen Zahlungsmethode, mit dem innerhalb weniger Sekunden Geld vom Bankkonto auf das Spielerkonto im https://forum.asqatasun.org/t/sofortuberweisung-casino-ohne-anmeldung-was-ist-legal/1173 Casino eingezahlt werden kann.

  26. Die Top https://parenteducatorforum.com/parent-educator-forum-home/topic/trustly-casino-mit-ggl-lizenz-sicher-einzahlen/, bieten außerdem zahlreiche Spieloptionen, großzügige Boni und Werbeaktionen, schnelle Auszahlungen und einen fantastischen Kundendienst. Wer die Kombination aus sofortiger Guthaben-Verfügbarkeit, voller Bonusberechtigungund TÜV-zertifiziertem Datenschutz sucht, findet in lizenzierten Trustly Online Casinos eine erstklassigeLösung. Das DuxCasino gehört zu den beliebtesten Anbietern für schnelle Trustly-Transaktionen. Im Kassenbereichverarbeitet das Casino Trustly für gebührenfreie Guthabenaufladungen in Echtzeit.

  47. Contact the casino’s support team with your transaction reference number for assistance. Additionally, you can use your bank’s own spending alerts and transaction limits to control gambling expenditure. Bank https://theafricanbiomineralbalance.com/forum/topic/need-a-hand-with-online-casinos-accepting-direct-bank-transfer-australia/ offers higher consumer protection than crypto, zero fees (unlike some card methods), and wider acceptance than many niche payment options. APRA-regulated banks will not block legitimate gambling transactions, though some banks may require you to confirm the casino is licensed before processing. Most Australian casinos do not charge fees for bank transfer deposits or withdrawals.

  50. In this section, we will discuss the features found at https://forum.tinola.org/d/231-how-to-deposit-at-online-casinos-with-neosurf-or-payid-in-australia payment options. With controlled spending and the chance for sizeable payouts, they’re ideal if you want fast action without committing to long sessions. Platforms with reputable providers, high‑RTP options, and strong mobile performance receive higher ratings. Neosurf vouchers are accepted at most modern online casinos, generally don’t restrict your game selection or bonus eligibility, and keep your transactions completely private.

  52. Niemand kann mit Ihren Daten Schindluder treiben; werden Daten auf einer Webseite gestohlen, sind Ihre nicht dabei. Zahlen Sie in einem https://pentafrag.net/d/280-mobile-casino-trustly-zahlungen-sicherheit-tipps ein, gewinnen Sie weitere Sicherheit. Wir zeigen Ihnen hier kurz die wenigen Schritte, die Sie befolgen müssen, um Ihr Spielerkonto mit Guthaben aufzuladen oder direkt ohne Konto einzuzahlen. Sie können sich per BankID wieder einfach einloggen und weiterspielen. Sie tätigen Ihre Einzahlung einfach per BankID und Trustly gibt das Geld an das Casino weiter, aber keine persönlichen Daten.

  62. Rather than focusing only on the number of games a casino advertises, it is worth checking which established developers are actually represented in its lobby. Individual results can be significantly higher or lower. This is not a promise of receiving $96 from a $100 session. Return to Player (RTP) represents the theoretical percentage of wagers a game returns to players over a very large number of spins.

    References: https://forum.wire.foundation/d/1561-best-payid-pokies-australia-instant-deposits-fast-payouts-and-real-money-games

  63. Browse through the list of casinos displayed above, and choose the best online casino with PayID. Once you have created your PayID account, you can proceed to sign up for an account at your chosen best PayID casino. Likewise, check that the PayID casino in Australia is secure and available from your region. Usually, these sites let you play pokies with PayID deposit, as most sign up bonuses require a deposit to unlock the match deposit or free spins. Most PayID casino sites with bonuses usually offer sign up bonuses (also known as welcome offers). A welcome bonus is one of the most attractive promotions you can claim at a PayID online casino.

    References: https://osi-club.org/praktikaboerse/topic/six-essential-elements-for-best-instant-payid-pokies-australia-real-money/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *