Public Schools Represent Our Glory Days
Sarasota will not allow Florida's voucher / "scholarship" programs to rob children
John still talks about the days back in high school when the womens’ synchonized swimming team was down one woman. Known as an ace swimmer, he was asked to fill in.
Brenda relays back to the days when she was a popular cheerleader, but she was being bullied relentlessly by a student who was jealous over a boy. She said her humanities instructor saved her when the teacher noticed the depressed teenager and stepped in.
Former public school students talk about their successes, failures, nerdiness, grades, first loves and more with a sense of poignancy. Their education and experiences in the classroom shaped them into the people they are today. Most wouldn’t trade it.
When presented with hard facts, the doom and gloom projected towards Florida’s public school system today appears to be truth. In reality, the state’s public schools are very successful, but they have a gun being held to their head via a failing universal voucher system.
Still, there is hope in public schools thriving despite this, because no one wants to see the heart and soul of every community destroyed. We’re talking about people who were football players on their winning varsity team. There are the former students who went on to fame and fortune, who say they couldn’t have done it without their drama / art / music teacher.
Throughout the United States, this administration’s popularity tanks when there is talk about dismantling public education. Powerful lobbyists and deep-pocketed political PACS can’t sway the vast majority of Americans that it’s a-ok to dispose of the fabric that binds together our hometowns. Public schools defined who we were from young child to adolescent to young adult.
Americans want that same opportunity for their children and grandchildren. They want all students to receive the highest level of education; and for them to create their own precious memories that will linger long after graduation.
This has nothing to do with politics, but a shared appreciation for the education that was afforded to all of us. We gotta wonder: Why in the world are Florida public schools under attack by our legislators? Why are they posturing (gaslighting?) that they are giving more funding to the public schools?
Their numbers don’t keep up with inflation and the fact is that more funding is going into vouchers for charter and private schools than public schools.
Even with teacher pay among the lowest in the U.S., it is the instructor’s love and passion for their profession that makes them among the best in the nation. Charter Schools have no accountability. Most of those schools aren’t accredited. The standards for hiring teachers fall behind those of a public school.
Charter / Private / home-schooled students actually partake in public school’s curricular activities that aren’t offered to them at their own schools. Yet these institutions (some for-profit) are siphoning funds from the public schools.
“They say $9 million is coming back into Sarasota County, but when you look at the actual proposal, it’s not $9 million into our public schools. The vast majority of those funds are going into taxpayer-funded vouchers. . .”
It gets so confusing and convoluted, but educational institutions today are being robbed of funding due to the Florida School Choice system that is in place.
Awareness is key to popping this balloon of disingenuous information that spreads like wildfire. The balloon is full of hot air that glosses concepts like School Choice. It sounds good, after all, right?
We’re going to hardly ever hear the word ‘voucher’ anymore because it is getting a deserved bad rap. In reality, practically no one even knows what these words mean, so let’s define them:
School Choice:
The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) states the following: The mission of the Office of K-12 School Choice is to support quality public and private educational choice programs by providing information and assistance to promote successful outcomes for students, families, institutions and communities.
Yet, the FDOE website is mostly about the schools that direct taxpayer money away from the public schools to private, home-school and charter schools. They are now marketing a more enticing word, like “scholarships” instead of “vouchers”.
What I found on their website ironically under Public School Choice Options were the following:
Advanced Placement (AP) Programs- These programs that offer over 30 college-level courses taught in participating high schools where college credit is awarded for qualifying scores on nationally standardized AP examinations.
Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) Program- In this Pre-college curriculum program, high school students can earn an AICE High School Diploma and also earn college credit after passing the examination for AICE courses.
Career Academies- Career Academies are small, personalized learning communities within a high school that prepare students for a career path based on their interests, including education opportunities beyond high school.
Dual Enrollment- Dual enrollment allows Florida public high school students to earn credit toward both high school graduation and a college degree or career certificate by taking dual enrollment courses.
International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program- IB is a rigorous pre-university course of study for high school students. Students who successfully complete IB courses and exams are eligible for both high school and college credit.
Why is this ironic? Because incredibly, these programs are at risk of being shut down because Florida House Bill 5101 proposes a 50% reduction in funding for these programs.
One public school Mom said: "I’m sitting at volleyball with educated & informed moms who had NO idea that AICE, IB, etc was under attack. They were shocked."
School board member Liz Barker explained what this means at the April 15 school board meeting:
Just to be very clear so that our community knows what is at stake. We are looking at a $6.6 million dollar cut should this funding go by 50%. The model that’s being proposed returns about $1.7 million which leaves a net shortfall of $4.9 million. That’s a problem.
When I have reached out to our locally elected officials, they have been willing to engage with me and I appreciate it, but there’s a misunderstanding. They say, ‘Well, we’re putting in an unprecedented amount of money into education.
They say $9 million is coming back into Sarasota County, but when you look at the actual proposal, it’s not $9 million into our public schools. The vast majority of those funds are going into taxpayer-funded vouchers. . .
Three-quarters choose public schools in Sarasota, so I would say our elected officials have a responsibility to respect that choice and fund it accordingly. . .
I think we can and should do better. I think my children, your children, our community’s children deserve the opportunity. . .
Vouchers:
The program, funded by taxpayers, now provides scholarships (there’s that word), primarily through the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC) and Florida Empowerment Scholarship (FES), to eligible students to attend private schools. A key change in 2023 was the removal of income restrictions, making the vouchers accessible to nearly all families.
Let’s use Sarasota School Board Member Bridget Ziegler as an example. She has three children attending private school. If her school is getting an FES, which we don’t know, taxpayers are footing approximately $25,000.00 for her children to attend a private school.
Here’s how we get to that $24,000.00 number:
The average award amount for the Florida Tax Credit (FTC) Scholarship in Florida varies by grade level, ranging from $8,394 for Kindergarten through 4th grade, $7,756 for 5th through 8th grade, and $7,693 for 9th through 12th grade. The average scholarship amount for all grade levels is approximately $8,000.
FES vouchers average $8,833 per pupil based on 2023-24 costs.
In a Sarasota Herald-Tribune article, Support Our School’s Carol Lerner writes: “All of the students at The Classical Academy of Sarasota are now receiving vouchers. The school then turned around and raised its tuition by 50%.”
If charter or private schools try to worm their way into the hearts of the public by showing a diverse set of students, one has to ask: How do these children get to these schools? There certainly isn’t transportation from the poorest neighborhoods running to the more valuable real estate where the for-profit charter schools decide to plunk down their schools.
Due to the 500,000 students across the state who are presently using vouchers, the estimated total cost for Florida's private education vouchers for the 2024-25 school year is $3.9 billion.
Getting into the weeds, FES vouchers are projected to cost $2.8 billion, diverting 18% of state funds for public school districts, while FTC vouchers will add another $1.1 billion to state costs (based on 2023-24 costs).
Funds that are desperately needed by schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods are getting hit the hardest, with the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE).
Federal funds, including Title I, support various programs, such as those for low-income students, teacher training, English learners, and students with disabilities. Cuts could mean fewer resources for these programs and potentially impact the services provided to students.
This is going backwards in time.
In an editorial in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Superintendent Terry Connor states that in Sarasota, public schools still educate most students:
We serve roughly 74.5% of the "market" of school-aged children within Sarasota County. Meanwhile, charter schools serve about 13.5%, private schools about 7.5% and home schools about 4.5%.
Florida is stepping in the footprints of Arizona. As the first state to implement the universal voucher program, their numbers in comparison are: Approximately 74.8% of students attend traditional public schools. 10% of Arizona students are participating in a private school choice program.
This is wildly affecting Arizona’s overall budget. How could it not? Arizona is now picking up the bill for wealthy families to send their kids to private schools.
Lerner writes: “Let me say that Florida is heading to where Arizona is now--a state bankrupted by their universal voucher program.”
I find it curious that so many want to cut social programs for the poor and disadvantaged. Yet, these same people are happy for the taxpayer to pay for the wealthy.
I’ll be the bearer of one more piece of the puzzle. The Florida Legislature is voting to implement a new grading system for the public schools.
If it passes, the only A-rated school in Sarasota will be Pine View. The rest will get ‘F’s’. This is being done not to improve the schools’ performance, but to convince parents and citizens that they are better off taking their children out of “failing” public schools. The point is to undermine the public school system.
How can this be fixed? At a “Stop The Attack on Public Education” Forum held on April 26 in Sarasota, we learned from keynote speaker Jennifer Berkshire that history is repeating itself.
Public education was threatened between the years of 1960 - 1967, when legislators tried to convince parents that their children were being indoctrinated into communism. Books were being banned - not for DEI, CRT or SEL - but for words / sentences that could be interpreted as anti-American.
We learned how the balloon of misinformation could be popped - taking a lesson from the 1960’s. It starts with allies of the public school system.
That’s Laurie, one of the best golfers to come out of the Sarasota School system. It’s Suzie, who went on to become one of Pine View’s most beloved teachers. It’s Class President Monty, who went on to become a respected attorney at his own law firm. It’s shy Flody, who produced a Tony Award-winning Broadway show. It’s Clarke, who went on to become an Olympian in rowing.
The ally is you. The ally is me. Through it all - the good and the bad - we want the same opportunity of glory days for everyone’s child.
Email or call your state legislators:
“I am a product of the Sarasota public school system. (or) My child is a product of the Sarasota public school system. Three-quarters of your constituents choose public schools and funding needs to responsibly reflect this. Public schools are the heart and soul of a community. Do not divert funding to a proven failing voucher system, that only a minority use. This is a non-partisan issue. Save our public schools.”
Joe Gruters: (850) 487-5022; Email: gruters.joe.web@flsenate.gov
Fiona McFarland: (850) 717-5073; Email: fiona.mcfarland@flhouse.gov
Artwork by Marise
Another winner. Thanks once again. Loved the artwork. Question. I failed to see the distinction between AP and Dual Enrollment and between AICE and IB . Enlighten me me.
I’ve heard of several children being a grade level behind after returning from a charter school to “regular” public school. One charter school I visited had a playground that you’d expect in a ghetto. No need to worry about removing books from their library: they don’t have one. Sad on so many levels.