Education Glossary - Fund Education Now

Education Terms

Public Schools: operate publicly, obligated to educate all children who enroll, funded through taxes.

Private Schools: operate privately, funded by private money through tuition and donations, not required to follow same accountability measures as traditional public schools and may discriminate based on race, ethnicity, academic performance and religion.

Attorney General Opinion: Formal or informal responses of the state attorney general to legal questions. Such opinions are not binding on the courts but can be persuasive.

Blaine Amendment: Since the mid-1800s, 39 states have adopted similar language, commonly called Blaine Amendments. Florida’s Blaine Amendment/No-Aid Provision in Article I, section 3 of the Florida Constitution reads:

“No revenue of the state or any political subdivision or agency thereof shall ever be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution.”

This language was adopted to prevent public funds from being diverted to churches, church-run schools or sectarian institutions. Florida politicians want to eliminate Blaine so they can open up taxpayer money to be used to advance religious schooling further defunding free public education. In 2011, Florida lawmakers voted to place “Religious Freedom” amendment on the ballot, asking voters to remove the 125-year-old ban in the use of public funds for religious institutions (the separation of church and state). The language is deceptive, since it is purported to “prohibit religious discrimination.” Religious discrimination is already prohibited under the Florida and U.S. Constitutions and state and federal law.

A lawsuit was filed and the court is currently weighing whether overturning Blaine is unconstitutional given the “Paramount Duty” clause found in Article IX, section 1 of the Florida Constitution which mandates a free, high-quality system of public education.

Charter School: Funded through public tax dollars from money meant for traditional public schools, operates in the private sector, may be managed by for-profit charter management organizations (CMO), and are not required to be transparent about how tax dollars are spent, free from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools. Deregulated separate system of public schools usually operated by a board of directors independent of any school district.

Compelled Support Clause: Any state constitutional provision that provides that no one shall be compelled to support a church or ministry without his consent.

Education Provisions: The provisions in all state constitutions establishing a public education system.

Equal Protection Clause: A clause found in the U.S. Constitution and many state constitutions assuring people “the equal protection of the laws,” usually understood to prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin and religion.

Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses: The religion clauses of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The U.S. Supreme Court made these clauses binding on state and local governments in the 1940s.

FAPE: Free and Appropriate Public Education, the basic service the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) creates for children requiring special education.

IDEA: Federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which provides special education funds to states who meet federal standards for services and procedures.

Open Enrollment: Allows parents to choose which district public school their child attends instead of being assigned to a specific school (provided the school has not reached maximum capacity number for students). Often parents must choose their top three picks and this takes on the appearance of a lottery. This is a method of offering choice within a school district.

Parallel Interpretation: Interpreting similar language in the federal and state constitution in a similar way to arrive at a similar result.

Parent Trigger Law: Passed into law in California in 2009, Florida has been eager to adopt its own Parent Trigger Law. Under the California law, if 51% of parents in a failing school sign a petition, they can trigger a forcible transformation of the school – either by inviting a charter operator to take over, by forcing certain administrative changes or by shutting it down outright. Schools are eligible for triggering if they have failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress as referenced in No Child Left Behind and designated in state standards for 4 years.

The California law, written by the Parent Revolution, a PAC, and sponsored by former state Senator Gloria Romero, strongly encourages takeover by for-profit charter operators and the law seeks to place the public schools, including the transfer of public property into the hands of these private for-profit operators.

Precedent: A legal concept referring to a case that has resolved a particular legal question that lower courts are bound to follow and that the deciding court will usually follow, absent a strong reason for concluding it is wrong or has become unworkable.

Public School Choice: Allows students to enroll in a school other than the one they are assigned to based on residence. Intra-district choice allows students to transfer to other schools within the same district, while inter-district choice permits transfers to schools in other districts. With the exception of space, receiving schools or districts cannot deny admittance to transfer students.

Public Schools: operate publicly, obligated to educate all children who enroll, funded through taxes.

Released-Time Programs: A Public school program that allows students to be released during school hours for the purpose of receiving religious instruction at off-campus private facilities.

School Choice: Political trend to use public taxpayer money to pay for the educational program parents to choose for their children. Schools might be traditional public schools, charters, vouchers, full-time on-line virtual, private or home-schooling. In Florida these schools are all held to different standards and accountability.

Supreme Court Advisory Opinions: Answers to legal questions posed to the court by governors or state legislatures. They do not constitute binding precedent because they are not rendered in an adversarial setting like a lawsuit, but, as the personal opinions of the sitting justices of the state Supreme Court, they can be persuasive.

Tax Credit: A state authorized tax relief program that permits parents to directly fund a private education for their children. Funds can also be solicited from taxpayers who are asked to contribute to charitable organizations who provide scholarships.

Voucher – Corporate Tax Credit: Is a “donation” tax credit given to businesses in Florida who donate to a non-profit organization like Step Up For Students in exchange for tax breaks and other considerations. In Florida, this money, minus the 5% “handling fee” paid to Step Up For Students, is given out as private school scholarships to low income families allowing them to make a “choice.” Voucher schools, which are primarily religious in nature, are yet another system of schools funded by public tax dollars diverted from public schools. In addition, they are not required to be accredited or meet any of the standards set for traditional public schools. They do not have to follow any particular curriculum, take the FCAT, have libraries in the school, have certified teachers, are exempt from class size requirements and can exist in a strip mall or any other facility, including rooms provided by churches or other sources.

Voucher – Universal: Is taxpayer dollars taken from funds for traditional public schools and given directly to parents for tuition at any private or religious school. These schools are not required to abide by the rules and standards imposed on traditional public schools.

Voucher: In the school choice context, a program that provides tuition funding to a family that allows them to choose a private school for their children—a publicly funded scholarship for K-12 students.