Teacher Salary Allocation Heist in SB48

Senate Bill 48 is a 158 page voucher expansion bill designed to combine Florida’s five current vouchers into two, directly tax-payer funded, Education Savings Accounts or ESAs, providing qualified students with publicly funded edu-debit cards, which can be spent on an array of education services, including (but not restricted to) private school tuition. The edu-debit cards would be funded, with your tax dollars, at 97.5% of a public school student’s per pupil funding. Parents who apply for a Family Empowerment Scholarship are solely responsible for determining the appropriate placement or the services that best meet the needs of his or her child – no required standards, no test based accountability. ESA recipients may choose tuition or other services requiring a teacher, but that would be completely optional.

ESA aficionados call this the ultimate in customizable education. We call it another attack on public schools. It is designed to further disrupt and dismantle Florida’s public schools.

The final line of Senate Bill 48 is a “strike through” that deletes the 2020 language which prohibited including the newly created Teacher Salary Allocation Increase categorical when calculating the scholarship amount.

The result of the strike through? The Teacher Salary Increase Allocation, meant to increase minimum teacher salary in Florida’s public (district managed and charter) schools, will be shared with those under no obligation to use the services of teachers at all. Splitting the allocation between public schools and edu-debit cards lowers the amount available for teacher salary increases, the express purpose of the allocation.

That is ridiculous. Today would be a good day to call the Senate Education Committee and express your concerns:

• Chair: Senator Joe Gruters (R) (850) 487-5023
• Vice Chair: Senator Shevrin D. “Shev” Jones (D) (850) 487-5035
• Senator Lori Berman (D) (850) 487-5031
• Senator Jennifer Bradley (R) (850) 487-5005
• Senator Doug Broxson (R) (850) 487-5001
• Senator Manny Diaz, Jr. (R) – bill sponsor (850) 487-5036
• Senator Travis Hutson (R) (850) 487-5007
• Senator Kathleen Passidomo (R) (850) 487-5028
• Senator Tina Scott Polsky (D) (850) 487-5029
• Senator Perry E. Thurston, Jr. (D) (850) 487-5033

SB48 is outrageous. What are you waiting for? Call today.