2020 FL Senate Candidates: Friend or Foe of Public Ed?
Help us advocate for a safe, efficient, high quality system of public education that works for the success of every Florida child.
ADVOCACY
Your voice has power. Learn the facts about education reform policy and share your knowledge with others. Florida’s public school children need an army of advocates who value high quality learning. Together we can share our vision, speak up for our children and make dedication to public education a litmus test for elected office.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Fund Education Now’s Annual Education Report Card gives voters a non-partisan, comprehensive assessment of whether or not the Governor and legislators support and pass policies that uphold their Constitutional duty to Florida’s public school children as stated in Article IX, section 1 of the state constitution.
KNOWLEDGE
Florida public education has been subjected hundreds of drastic policy changes over the past 15 years. Effective advocacy means understanding policies and historical context. Fund Education Now provides easy tools to help advocates develop expertise and confidence about the issues.
LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
Florida is ground zero for education reform legislation. Ideas that don’t pass one session are brought up again the following year. Issues such as high stakes testing, rigid teacher accountability measures, mandatory retention, unfunded mandates, diluting the authority of unions and school boards, expanding for-profit charter school chains and the promulgation of private school vouchers funded by diverted tax dollars are on-going efforts that are expanded by the Florida legislature each session.
Fund Education Now supports education policy legislation that does the following:
- What is Model legislation?
Model legislation is a template for a bill designed by education reformers, business leaders and lobbyists who work with state legislators to promote, sponsor and pass the bill.
- Why are Florida-style education reforms spreading across the states?
In order to maximize profits from reforming and privatizing public education, it’s essential that as many states as possible adopt reform legislation as quickly as possible. - Federal ESSA
Congress finally passed the ESSA, bringing the era of President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) to its much deserved close. - FERPA & Student Privacy
“Privacy is rarely lost in one fell swoop. It is usually eroded over time, little bits dissolving almost imperceptibly until we finally begin to notice how much is gone.”
NEWS, TWITTER & TAKE ACTION
Amazing Grace: She’s 14, autistic and ‘smarter than anyone knew’
It took a pandemic to make it happen, but parents and educators found a solution that has Grace Falleur thriving in school.
tampabay.com
National leaders have failed schools on COVID tests and opening safely. We're on our own.
Where are our fast and frequent tests? Where's the national data on what prevents transmission in schools? There's been a complete absence of support.
usatoday.com
DeSantis says no new lockdowns, mask mandates or any other anti-COVID-19 measure in Florida
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Florida schools will remain open to in-person learning for the spring while keeping online learning options available, while answering more questions about the coronavirus pandemic at his first press conference in nearly a month.
orlandosentinel.com
This student just became the first Latino DACA recipient to win the Rhodes Scholarship. He says it's all because of his elementary school teacher
In second grade, Santiago Potes walked into Marina Esteva's gifted and talented classroom at Sweetwater Elementary School in Miami, Florida, for the first time.
cnn.com
Florida governor extends order suspending COVID-19 related enforcement fines
On Sept. 25, DeSantis signed an executive order that prevented municipalities from fining people for violating a mask ordinance and has stated that he’s not going to have any more lockdowns.
wesh.com
