Teachers Union Challenges Bill Expanding School Vouchers

July 20, 2014

The state’s largest teachers union filed a legal challenge  contesting how lawmakers “log rolled” a series of education issues — including an expansion of a controversial school vouchers program — into a single bill that passed in the waning hours of the 2014 legislative session.

The Florida Education Association, a longtime opponent of voucher programs, filed a complaint in the 2nd Judicial Circuit in Leon County that challenges the constitutionality of how legislators patched together legislation into a wide-ranging education bill (SB 850). The voucher expansion had appeared dead in the Senate until getting approved in the broader bill.

“This was a sneaky way for the legislative leaders to enact measures that had already failed,” said union Vice President Joanne McCall. “It’s an outrage that the corporate voucher expansion was tacked on to an unrelated bill and slipped into law on the session’s final day.”

The lawsuit, which is filed under the name of East Lee County High School social studies teacher Tom Faasse, was quickly criticized as “shameful” and a “new low” by the Foundation for Excellence in Education, which was founded by former Gov. Jeb Bush.

“As a society, we must work to unlock education opportunities for students who need them the most. Senate Bill 850 will help children with Down’s syndrome, autism and other developmental disabilities have greater choices and the critical support necessary for successful education outcomes,” foundation Chief Executive Officer Patricia Levesque said in a prepared statement. “There are those who believe families should have options and trust parents in those decisions for their kids. And sadly there are those who find educational choices threatening to their political power.”

Incoming Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, also criticized the lawsuit in a separate statement, saying, “It is unfortunate the hard-earned money our teachers contribute to the FEA is now being spent to fund litigation designed to limit educational opportunities for children across our state.”

McCall said after a news conference that the union had been working towards the lawsuit since the bill was approved May 2 by the Legislature. She added that the lawsuit is unrelated to the union’s endorsement of former Gov. Charlie Crist in this year’s gubernatorial race.

Republican Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill into law June 20. Among other things, the law makes changes in middle-school and career education, along with continuing efforts to reduce hazing and prevent dropouts.

The House initially approved the bill 115-1 on April 30. But lawmakers broke along mostly party lines in the House and Senate as a 140-page amendment was approved on the final day of session.

The amendment included changes to the Tax Credit Scholarship vouchers program and created “personal learning scholarship accounts” that are aimed at helping parents of students with disabilities pay for educational services.

The Florida Education Association is seeking a quick decision in the lawsuit as the “personal learning scholarship accounts” are being introduced this week.

Union attorney Ron Meyer said lawmakers “log rolled” several pieces of unrelated legislation, loosely tied to education, into a single package, which is prohibited the Florida Constitution. The constitution requires each law to embrace a single subject that is “briefly expressed” in the title.

“Log rolling has always happened, and I guess unless someone says you have to follow the constitution, people will continue to go forward not following the constitution,” Meyer said.

The Tax Credit Scholarship Program provides tax credits to companies that donate money to nonprofit entities that then pay for children to go to private schools. Changes to the program were a major priority for House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel.

Under the new law, a family of four earning up to $62,010 a year will be eligible for at least a partial scholarship, a nearly $20,000 boost from the current $43,568 annual income limit. The value of each individual scholarship also will rise.

by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

Comments

5 Responses to “Teachers Union Challenges Bill Expanding School Vouchers”

  1. Taxpayer on July 21st, 2014 10:31 am

    Vote them “all” out this next election!!!! clean house…yes Ole Jeb wants to shut down the Public School System!! more profit……it’s all about the money no the students!!!!! there are no leaders, only special interest groups with their hand out!!!

  2. MelodyY on July 21st, 2014 6:19 am

    The point is that the 140 pages added on the last day were HIDDEN from public view. They had already failed on another bill the day before. I am glad that that are people watching for this kind of shenanigans. There are a lot of secret government doings that are not in the sunshine.

  3. Elijah Bell on July 20th, 2014 3:37 pm

    This expansion of the voucher program is another in a long line of our legislators trying to privitize and end public school as they have been in the past. Public money to private schools is not written in our constitution but it seem to make no difference to our legislators and governor. If they would go about the business to fund education in a fair manner and treat teachers with the respect they deserve the system would improve. I am not a union man and I don’t believe they are the problem. Unions have their place and the system can be great along side a union. What I don’t think our education system is going to survive is the reformer movement that makes a mess of the greatest system in the world.

  4. BPD on July 20th, 2014 2:54 pm

    Competition is good for everyone. If you are loosing to the competition, improve your product.

  5. Bob C on July 20th, 2014 10:32 am

    Um, does anyone else get the feeling that Jeb Bush and his Foundation for Excellence would like most to see public schools closed, boarded up, shut down and have all of the education for children to be handled by the parents at home or in some sort of private schooling with taxpayer funding?

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News