Excerpts:
As Moms for Liberty grew, it expanded to pursue advocacy for “school choice.” DeVos has worked to recast education as a “private good” rather than a “public good” … While these free-market champions want government out of education, they still want government to pay for it. Education funding is a zero-sum game; government funds for private education come at the expense of public schools. Charter and other for-profit schools including religious schools compete aggressively for these government funds … State funds for private school tuition and charter school support rarely come from increased taxes. Instead, they are diverted from the funding allocated for public schools. Read the whole article HERE.
Excerpts:
Charters and private schools are siphoning millions away from the Duval County school district … the limited available data show many charters are using their share of the sales surtax to make rent payments. That means the substantial millions that would otherwise be put to use upgrading Duval’s public schools are instead being pocketed by landlords who sometimes have affiliations with the charters themselves. Read the whole column HERE
If you agree that diverting funds from our public schools is a bad idea, please consider sending an email to the state legislators in the Jacksonville area. Maybe send something like this message:
To: Angie Nixon <angie.nixon@myfloridahouse.gov>, Wyman Duggan <wyman.duggan@myfloridahouse.gov>, Sam Garrison <Sam.Garrison@myfloridahouse.gov>, Tracie Davis <davis.tracie@flsenate.gov>, Bobby Payne <Bobby.Payne@myfloridahouse.gov>, Clay Yarborough <yarborough.clay@flsenate.gov>, Dean Black <dean.black@myfloridahouse.gov>, Jennifer Bradley <Bradley.Jennifer.Web@flsenate.gov>, Jessica Baker <jessica.baker@myfloridahouse.gov>, Kimberly Daniels <kimberly.daniels@myfloridahouse.gov>, Kiyan Michael <kiyan.michael@myfloridahouse.gov>,
Duval Delegation,
There are so many obvious reasons to save Seabreeze, San Pablo, Fishweir, Stockton, and all our beloved neighborhood public schools.
We must make moves together as a community to stand up for public education. I believe if we truly put children and education first, we can do this thoughtfully by working across party lines.
What we know: School Choice as it exists today is broken. Charter schools have not swooped in and saved us from “failing public schools” which was their PR campaign. They have instead been able to operate under different rules than our district-run real public schools and they have used lobbyists to get more government funding. They are jeopardizing our small neighborhood public schools, including neighborhood public schools that have received A grades in the high stakes grading system.
There might be a place for charters in the public school ecosystem. However, it’s absurd that Charter Schools can open wherever they please, even across the street from A rated neighborhood public schools. Our DCPS School Board is apparently powerless to find out how charter schools are spending the capital outlay funds given to them. The citizen oversight committee chair resigned in frustration. The overreaching state laws that prioritize charter schools over our public schools have left the school board unable to hold anyone accountable for millions of our taxpayer dollars.
Please advocate for this list of changes in the next legislative session:
1. Charter schools should only receive capital outlay funding from our local half-cent tax referendum like public school based on need.
2. Charter Schools should not be able to escape the two year waiting period. This would require that they have substantial financial backing before opening and that they have a two year probation before collecting capital outlay funding such as PECO funding.
3. Limit where future Charter Schools open by requiring a zoning change so the community can have input.
4. When a Charter School closes, DCPS should be able to obtain ownership of the property that was purchased using taxpayer dollars. That was the intent of f.s. 1013.62(5) but charter schools have created a loop hole by leasing.
5. Require that the Florida DOE enforce the part of HB 1259 that was passed in 2023 that said charter schools can’t receive capital outlay funding if they have leases with certain related parties.
Pass a law that a charter school must demonstrate to the Florida DOE that all leases are at fair market value or forfeit capital outlay funding.
If charter school operators really cared about education, they would not want our entire district to suffer because of their existence. Everyone should be in favor of working together as a community to save our beloved neighborhood schools.
Thanks,
