Editor’s note: Legislation to expand and strengthen the Florida tax credit scholarship program, and to create education savings accounts for special-needs students, cleared the Senate Friday on a 29-11 vote and is now headed to Gov. Rick Scott. Three Senate Democrats voted yes for parental choice, despite tremendous pressure this year to tow the party line: Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate; Sen. Gwen Margolis, D-Miami; and Sen. Darren Soto, D-Kissimmee. In his remarks on the Senate floor, Ring noted the pressure but said he was proud and thrilled to support the bill. Here are his remarks in full. (The scholarship program is administered by Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog.)
Sen. Ring
So I’m going to take this a little bit out of Republican versus Democrat discussion, and talk a little bit about generational issues. Some of us in this room are at that age where we have young children. And we’re seeing an epidemic that I think hasn’t been addressed on the cure and why, that some of us older probably couldn’t imagine what our world can be like today. Some of you have grandkids and you can understand it from that standpoint. But as parents today, young children, their life is very different. Fifteen, 20 years ago, autism in this country was 1 in 15,000. For whatever reason, and this is not part of the debate, today it’s down to 1 in 50 on the spectrum. That doesn’t include kids with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy … ADHD, and any other development disorder that has become prevalent and epidemic in our society.
We’re at a point where things change. And the word voucher is such an ugly word but it doesn’t need to be. Because it’s not about that. It really isn’t. It’s about where we are in our world today, or what we as parents of young children have to face every single day. You know, to me, progressive means we change with the times. And changing with the times is being realistic of what we as parents have to face daily with our kids and these sorts of challenges.
I can’t, no matter what the political ramifications may be, the thought of going home and voting against a bill that puts these children on a path for equalization, for normalization, to get a degree – no matter what the political ramification is, to me this is where policy outstrips politics every single time. You know, my first year here I voted against a corporate income tax (scholarship program). And I got home, and I was invited by a number of the schools to come visit. Come see. Not spend a lot of time like you do in the public schools, but come visit our school.
And I went to visit a lot of schools. And I saw a lot of these kids. Many of them had, you know, profound developmental disabilities. Many of them came from, weren’t developmentally disabled, but they came from terribly impoverished backgrounds. And all of these kids were at one point in the public school system. And as far as I could see, every kid I saw was thriving.
I came back after that, and vowed I’d never vote against the corporate income tax (scholarship program) again. And I haven’t. And I’ve had a couple elections since then. It’s not been an issue. Hasn’t been an issue one bit for me. (more…)
Editor's note: Another year, another legislative session, another stack of school-choice bills in Florida. Here's a roundup of choice legislation that lawmakers will consider in the annual session that begins today.
Career Academies:
SB 1076 by Sen. John Legg, R-Lutz. Expands the "Career and Professional Education Act (CAPE)," revising requirements for high school graduation and accelerated high school graduation, and allowing students to earn and substitute certain industry certifications for certain course credits. Also requires districts to make digital materials available to students and to use the Postsecondary Industry Certification Funding List in determining annual performance funding distributions to school districts and Florida College System institutions, etc.
Charter Schools:
HB 373 by Rep. Joe Saunders, D-Orlando. Provides that a contract for a charter school employee or service provider may not extend beyond the school’s charter contract, and that the employee or service provider is not entitled to compensation after the school’s closure. (Identical to SB 780 by Sen. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando.)
HB 453 by Rep. Victor Torres, D-Orlando. Requires the compensation and salary schedules for charter school employees to be based on school district schedules. (Identical to SB 784- Charter Schools by Sen. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando.)
SB 744 by Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs. Requires charter school applications to demonstrate the applicant is financially qualified to open and maintain a high-quality charter school, requires the charter to set forth detailed reporting of the financial operations of the school to ensure employees are not paid unreasonable compensation, and requires that the term of the charter must provide for cancellation of the charter if the school becomes insolvent, fails to provide a quality education, or does not comply with applicable law. The bill also clarifies that a charter school system shall be designated a LEA solely for the purpose of receiving federal funds if certain criteria are met.
SB 828 by Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah. Grants school districts the ad valorem tax exemption given to charter schools, and restricts the use of capital outlay funds for property improvements if the property is exempt from ad valorem taxes. It restricts charter schools or technical career centers having financial problems from certain activities, and grants flexibility to high-performing school choice districts.
HB 1001 by Rep. Karen Castor Dentel, D-Maitland. Prohibits charter schools from requiring, soliciting, or accepting certain student information before student's enrollment or attendance. Also requires charter schools to submit attendance plans to the school district for students enrolled in school; provide funding to the school district in event of student transfers; and report to the school district certain student enrollment and wait-list information.
SB 1092 by Sen. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando. Requires charter school to submit attendance information for each student to the school district, and requires the charter school to provide a prorated portion of per-student funding to the school district if a student transfers to another public school in the school district before the last day of the school year.
SB 1164 by Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland. Revises the eligibility criteria for extracurricular activities to include students in charter schools, and revises the criteria for bylaws, policies, or guidelines adopted by the Florida High School Athletic Association. (Compare to HB 1279 by Rep. Larry Metz, R-Groveland.) (more…)
