FundEducationNow.org

FL: "parental rights" that aren't what they seem. #FloridaMan Flim-Flam underway. #FLPublicEdVoter

FL: Dear FL legislators, You might think you're #winning now, but in end your support of state-sanctioned discrimination will be judged in the harsh light of history. Bad look, guys. "Religious beliefs and religious liberty are no more under attack now than they were during other moments in U.S. history when critics of the status quo were seeking equality under the law. If anything’s under attack it’s the remnants of federal- and state-sanctioned inequality that allows private schools to legally discriminate." #FLPublicEdVoter

This is a hard no. This is the ultimate in state disrespect toward parents. No Baker Acting of kids without Parental consent/knowledge. We need a protocol. We need professionals in the schools who know these specific kids. We need something better than hauling of terrified elementary students to facilities where parents have no access to them for days and no say over treatment/medication. #FLPublicEdVoter

FL: The bravery of a mighty girl named Ingrid who opposed SB 1498/school privatization & spoke truth to power in the Senate Education Committee today. Read Ingrid's words - "I am a 5th grader at a school that would have suffered under the new rules you are trying to pass today.

Since I was in Kindergarten my school was a D school for two years, then a C, then a D again, and then a C last year. So even though my school improved to a C back when I was in 2nd grade, because it became a D again, these rules would have allowed the Commissioner of Education to recommend that my school be closed. My neighborhood would lose its school, I could no longer walk or bike to school, which I do every day, and the students would lose the support of the many neighbors that volunteer and mentor at my school.

The school grade doesn’t tell you the best parts about my school: steam club, art club, very successful chorus program, the hard working teachers, the beautiful gardens.

The school has done a lot for me personally. When I started Kindergarten I had to take a test. It was about my reading skills and it said I wasn’t ready for Kindergarten. During the next two years I started to love reading. In 3rd grade I got a 5 on the reading FSA.

My school has helped me grow as a student and a person. It might not have the best scores according to the test but I assure you, it is teaching students how to be respectful, kind, and hard working and it helps them improve in their academic subjects.

My parents’ choice is to send me to my neighborhood school. I often hear about the importance of school choice, but it is not a choice if we have to choose between nothing and something. Thank you for your time."
#FLPublicEdVoter

FL: Excellent piece from Patty Brigham, president of the League of Women Voters Florida. 20 yrs of single party rule & politicians think they have the right to rob us of our voice when we approve ballot initiatives. Direct Democracy will continue to be disgraced unless we send legislators like Sen. Jeff Brandes of St. Petersburg and Rep. James Grant of Tampa packing. They are doing their level best through House Bill 7037 to gut Florida’s citizen-initiative process to amend the state Constitution. This is is after they worked to implode our Amendment 4 vote to restore felon voting rights. Last year Brandes & Grant passed SB 7066 which was essentially an astronomical poll tax. Anyone had enough? Keep voting for these guys & you'll get more. Thank you, Patty for using your voice and fighting against this injustice. #FLPublicEdVoter

FL SB 1498 pushes privatization to new levels! It will be heard this Monday, 2.17.20 on presidents day - a Federal holiday. Click the link below and send a letter to every member of the Senate Ed Committee right now. Use your voice! #FLPublicEdVoter Direct link to take action: https://bit.ly/2SuG5vr

1 Throws a district school into instant turnaround status upon earning its first “D” or “F”
2. If a “D” or “F” turnaround school does not earn a “C” or better within a year, the Commissioner of Education may recommend closing the school, rep-purpose it as a charter or assign it to and external operation.
3. Bypasses school board authority by allowing external operators to be state universities or colleges
4. Makes no provision to restore “turnaround” schools to the district
5. Shortens the time allowed for school districts to help struggling schools
6. Significantly accelerates path to privatize or close low performing schools
7 Robs districts of their constitutional authority to oversee their own schools
8. Grants Commissioner of Education new powers to deny district requests to close schools