From the News Service of Florida:
THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, September 11, 2012..........A trial court will decide whether state lawmakers are adequately funding public education after the Florida Supreme Court turned aside a last-ditch effort by Senate President Mike Haridopolos to block the suit.
The Supreme Court's decision Tuesday largely hinged on a procedural issue. In November, the 1st District Court of Appeal issued a divided ruling, with eight judges voting to allow the case to go forward, though one of the judges differed with the other seven on the basis for that ruling. The other seven judges said the lawsuit should end.
Lawyers for Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, said the Supreme Court should immediately step in and declare that the issue wasn't one the trial court should take up.
"The Court should clarify that the adequacy of the public school system is a political question outside the courts’ subject matter jurisdiction," said a brief filed in the case.
But even lawyers for House Speaker Dean Cannon, a Winter Park Republican who is also a defendant in the suit, said that wasn't necessary.
"The issue will undoubtedly be resolved by this Court eventually, but at present, the case is not ripe for review because of the District Court of Appeal's failure to reach a majority decision," lawyers for Cannon argued. (more…)
Editor’s note: Today, we introduce a new feature (even if we’re not sure the name will last) - an occasional compilation of bite-sized nuggets about school choice and education reform that are worth noting but may not be worth a post by themselves.
More anti-Muslim bigotry in school choice debates
It’s nearly impossible to go a month without hearing another example of anti-Muslim bigotry in a school choice debate.
The latest example: Louisiana state Rep. Valarie Hodges, who now says she wishes she had not voted for Gov. Bobby Jindal’s voucher bill because she fears it will promote Islam. “There are a thousand Muslim schools that have sprung up recently,” she said. “I do not support using public funds for teaching Islam anywhere here in Louisiana.”
The lawmaker’s comments echo Muslim bashing in school choice debates in Kansas, Alabama, Tennessee and other places in the past few months alone. Sadly, religious bigotry has long been a part of the school choice narrative. To repeat what we wrote in April:
The courts have ruled that vouchers and tax credit scholarships are constitutional. We live in a religiously diverse society and this pluralism is a source of pride and strength. We can’t pick and choose which religions are acceptable and unacceptable for school choice. And we should not tarnish whole groups of people because of the horrible actions of a few individuals. In the end, expanded school choice will serve the public good. It will increase the likelihood that more kids, whatever their religion, become the productive citizens we all want them to be.
Jeb Bush endorses pro-choice school board candidate
Jeb Bush doesn’t endorse local candidates often. But last week, he decided to back a Tampa Bay-area school board member who openly supports expanded school choice, including vouchers and tax credit scholarships.
Glen Gilzean, 30, is running against four other candidates to keep the Pinellas County School Board seat that Gov. Rick Scott appointed him to in January. The district in play includes much of the city of St. Petersburg and has more black voters than any other.
I don’t know how much Bush’s endorsement will help Gilzean. He's a black Republican in a district that leans Democratic (even if school board races in Florida are officially nonpartisan). But I do know this: Black students in Pinellas struggle more than black students in every major urban school district in Florida, and frustrated black residents are increasingly open to school choice alternatives. (more…)
