Vouchers Go Down In Flames
The Republicans aren’t ready for prime time, they just can’t lead a government.
JEB Bush and the Republicans have been trying to dismantle the public schools in the state of Florida for years. JEB’s A+ Schools is designed to show how dysfunctional the school system is so that it can be crushed and public funding be given to private schools.
The voters in Florida keep passing constitutional amendments to stop him and improve the system.
The Miami Herald reports on the latest battle in the article: School vouchers killed by one vote; senate majority leader asked to resign. Robert at Interstate 4 Jamming covers the basics in his article on what happened, so I’ll provide some background.
Florida is one of the 39 states that has a Blaine Amendment, or the equivalent, in its constitution. While it looks like a restatement of the separation of church and state, its real purpose was to ensure that Catholics would receive no money for their schools. It was a direct anti-Catholic action built into the constitution. Remember, when these things were enacted, the concept was this would never affect the Protestant bias in public schools.
Of course, courts have to deal with the plain language of constitutions, so after law suits removed the religious trappings from public schools and required schools to be integrated, certain groups starting pushing for school vouchers.
The Florida Supreme Court just ruled a few months ago that the latest attempt at vouchers again violates the Blaine Amendment. So JEB was trying to get his latest voucher scam on the ballot as a constitutional amendment.
R. Neal at Facing South provides some background on why I consider this a scam. The same people who insist the public schools have to watched like a hawk and tested to death, don’t think that non-public schools that receive money from vouchers need any kind or type of oversight.
If you have an interest and a strong stomach you can listen to the hypocrisy on Capitol Report, May 2nd, 2006 Edition. The segment with Mark Pudlow of the Florida Education Association and Bob Sanchez, director of public policy for the James Madison Institute, shows the lack of logic on the side of vouchers. Mr. Sanchez is really hoping that people have OD’d on Koolaid and won’t notice the contradictions in his positions.
The short version: parents who want their children to go to private schools are the only oversight needed for those schools, but any parent stupid enough to let their child attend a public school is too much of a moron to be trusted about anything. He also believes that Florida courts should stop reading the laws and just do what he wants, which is the only correct opinion on anything.
4 comments
It is also interesting to note that charter schools in Florida must receive the same consideration when applying for grants — they’re counted as equals in the process — and that the public school districts are the conduits for grant funds from the federal and state governments. However, there is no oversight whatsoever of those funds once the charters get them; the districts basically act as money-launderers for the charters. When charter schools go belly-up or play fast and loose with the funds, there’s no way to audit them, at least in terms of what the district does. All we do is hand over the dough and hope that they do right by the kids.
I don’t like the government intervening, but, when tax dollars are involved there has to be oversight.
Nice, so the public schools have to do all of the accounting and the charter schools just get a bundle of cash. That increases the overhead for public schools and reduces it for charter schools. What a scam.
No reporting requirements and the ability to “cherry pick” students. Gee, I wonder if a public school could prosper under those rules, instead of the current regime?[/snark]
Well, you know – public schools have nothing else to do.
(/snark)
I’m old enough to remember when all teachers had to do was teach. They weren’t babysitters, probation officers, nurses, bureaucrats, or anything else, they just taught.
Of course, those were the days when you live on a minimum wage job.