The Miami-Dade County School Board avoided a showdown over of the nation’s largest private school choice program Wednesday, tabling a resolution opposing a lawsuit challenging the program before the issue could be discussed.
Hundreds of supporters and opponents showed up, setting the stage for a pitched debate that never happened.
More than 100 students from private schools that accept Florida tax credit scholarships, along with parents and local clergy, came to support a resolution by school board member Carlos Curbelo expressing opposition the lawsuit filed earlier this year by the statewide teachers union, the Florida School Boards Association and other groups.
On the other side, United Teachers of Dade had planned a show of force joined by other groups supporting the lawsuit, including the Florida PTA.
Neither side had a chance to state its case before the board voted 7-2 to table the measure, with Curbelo and another member, Martin Karp, voting to have the discussion.
School board attorney Walter Harvey told them taking up the resolution would have violated policies requiring the board to get his approval before weighing in on pending lawsuits, an issue he outlined in a Monday memo to board members.
Ana Benitez of Hialeah said she is a mother of two children attending Horeb Christian School with the help of the scholarships, which are administered by Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog.
She said she wanted the lawsuit dropped, and was disappointed that parents didn’t have a chance to weigh in on the issue before the board set the resolution aside.
“We’re here to defend what is good for our kids and to support our kids and to be their voices,” she said. “They should have let us talk for our children.”
This is not the first time a school board member has proposed a resolution opposing the lawsuit. The Duval School Board voted down a similar resolution in October.
This was the last school board meeting for Curbelo, who was elected to Congress last month. In a document explaining his resolution, he wrote that the lawsuit threatened to “aggrieve thousands of low-income families in Miami-Dade County,” which is home to more scholarship students than any other in the state.
The lawsuit was file din August, and will be heard by a Tallahassee judge in February. Last week, a judge supported a request from parents hoping to help defend the program in court.
Note: This post has been updated to include a link to Harvey’s memo, and to reflect the fact that the board voted 7-2.
why would you take MCkay and step-up and put us to a public thats not good kids from my school that left a public school and said are school is better private schools are better relax and not problem.