STUDIES SHOW SCHOOL CHOICE VOUCHERS BENEFIT PRIVATE & PUBLIC SCHOOLS... A WIN-WIN FOR BOTH.

[J.R.]

Empirical studies show that school choice vouchers produce a win-win situation for both private and public schools, for they provide competition and incentive for both to strive for excellence in education in order to attract students. Historically, public education has had a monopoly that they have jealously guarded to prevent competition from the private sector and also to prevent home schooling. Deviation from that has been fought by both federal and state governments. At the federal level, they want to control education provided in the states. They do this through grants and programs that have financial strings attached. The states take the bait and accept the federal monies that come with strings. The strings are often like bitter pills, but the states swallow the pills to get the money. It's the students' education and minds that suffer. Those strings often include programs that are designed to operate as social experiments that negatively indoctrinate students, and usurp parental authority and traditional roles with regard to their own children's private lives and education.

States receive a certain amount of money for every public school student in attendance on every day of the school year and now operate as a daycare program after school in the primary grades. Public education has, for many years, operated as an almost totally closed shop. And, of course, labor unions have, in my opinion, operated in public schools in a negative way that has undermined the quality of education by keeping low-performing teachers in their jobs at the expense of students' learning.

A socialist state has immense control over the minds of children, based on their knowledge that if you give them control of the nation's children, from pre-kindergarten years through secondary education, they can mold students in the way they want them to become as adults.

School choice, through the use of vouchers, would take back parental choice as to how and where parents choose to have their children educated and to have them educated in conformance with the founding principles of this country and our historic traditions, mores, and beliefs. If we want to take our country back, we need to take back control of how education is provided in this country.

The public education system in this country was not founded to be a social experiment to provide for indoctrination of American students to be anti-religious, immoral, or to become "world citizens." The United States of America is a sovereign constitutional republic, not a socialist state. We must keep it that way, and a critical place to start is with preventing the negative and undermining control by progressives in the U.S. Dept. of Education and state departments of education, who have voracious appetites and motives for that control.

Link to article: http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index,php?/Article_ID=20501&um_sour...

[J.R.]

Interesting point, Rick.  Look how many failing schools there are right here in Duval County.  Currently, Republicans in the Florida Legislature have two pending bills, one in the House and one in the Senate, both of which are related to education issue and will be voted on before the end of this legislative session. This session will end the first week in June. I posted links to the Florida Legislature, in one of my blog posts below, along with the name and number of each bill and name of the sponsors of the bills.  I've found that they really do like to hear from constituents, so don't hesitate to call, write, e-mail them and let them know your position on legislation they will be considering and voting on.  Or issues that are not on their agenda this session that you would like to have considered in the next session. 

In addition to the education bills that need to be passed, one to provide vouchers that can be used for private or religious schools, I believe there needs to be an Amendment added to the Florida Constitution to claim the State's sovereign right to allow parents, whose taxes pay for public schools, to decide to use their portion of that tax money to send their children to the schools they believe will provide the best education and educational environment.  To deny this right to parents, would be tantamount to disenfranchising them and discriminating against them, when all they want is a safe, and moral school environment and excellent instruction for their children.

As I've written before, there is nothing in the U.S. Constitution that gives the federal government any control whatsoever of education in the sovereign states. They have usurped the states' rights and control of the educational process within state borders, by using federal grants with strings attached to keep states dependent and provide the federal government more and more controls. It's a carrot and stick approach, but when the carrots are all gone, the big federal stick is still there.

The states did a far better job running public schools on their own and they actually provided the students with a quality education and an appropriate environment in which to learn.   

[Joe Story]

Given the majority opinion that the state free education is the only education, the state should require that every child eligible to attend a public school register for state sponsored school. It is the only way to assure that "the intent of the law is meet". Now I think that would create a lot of problems which somone must address the system would be overwhelmed and fail under its own weight.

The court should have said that the state must provide and equal amount of money for each child no matter where they attend school.

 

The federal government should not be involved in any way nor should the state of Florida dictate where a child must attend school.

[J.R.]

Many thanks, Tamara.  This information is very helpful.  None of us are experts.  That's why we work hard to make sure we are providing factual information members can rely on.  I've learned a lot from information provided by others on this website.

[J.R.]

Regarding the proposed education law related to establishing Education Savings Accounts, in the current legislative session of the Florida Legislature, Senate Bill 1550 is sponsored by Senator Negron and House Bill 1225 is sponsored by Representative Brandes. It is important that explicit wording be included to clearly reflect "School Choice" in the final version that we hope will be passed and signed into law by Governor Rick Scott. 

For information and expression of your opinions and requests related to these two bills and passage of them, you can use the links in the post below this one to obtain contact information for telephone calls, e-mails, letters and faxes. Also, to obtain free copies of the two bills, both of which have an identifying number that I provided above for both the Senate Bill and House Bill.  Those are the numbers you will need for your search for the proposed bills. It is important that we all support this important education reform.  That would leave only one education reform bill remaining to be passed during this legislative session, Senate Bill 1620, sponsored by Senator Flores, to Expand the Virtual School Program.

[tamara stephenson]

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15662710605299895526&am...

 

this is the link to the opinion.  I just skimmed it, so i won't claim to be a scholar on the in's and out's of the legislation or the ruling.

 

[J.R.]

Thanks, Tamara.  I'll research that case and find out what was deemed unconstitutional about it. I do know Jeb Bush is still a strong supporter of school choice and is mentioned in the analysis, for which a link is provided in the fourth post below this one. 

Frankly, I believe that ruling would be unconstitutional, since there is nothing in the U.S. Constitution mandating creation of or control over education by either the federal government or state governments. State governments and private (including religious) schools were the traditional providers of education in this country. I also believe that to deny use of taxpayers' money for attendance in private or religious schools, when it is allowed to be used for attendance in public schools, would constitute both religious discrimination and a violation of the First Amendment, as well as a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment equal protection clause. Plus, it seems to me to be a states' rights issue. The federal government had no control over education within the sovereign states until it began awarding grants to states and/or school districts in states---grants that came with strings attached in order to get the money.  That metasticized into the federal education controls that exist now.

[J.R.]

Likewise, Bill.  Thank you for your information and for posting the link for all of us. 

There is also an education bill that will be considered and voted on in this 60 day session of the Florida Legislature that began on March 8, 2011. It is for Education Savings Accounts.  I have a copy of the Senate Bill and it states "... providing that a parent may direct a financial institution trustee of his or her child's account to use the funds for specified costs of attending a private school..." So, school choice appears to be a primary objective, even though I don't see the words "school choice" in the Senate bill yet. That could be added by amendment, if need be, for clarification. The two bills are: Senate Bill 1550 and House Bill 1225. Below are some links for the Florida Legislature, where you should be able to search for the actual bills and read them and also contact the sponsoring legislator(s), and other legislators, to express your wishes regarding school choice:

http://www.flsenate.gov

http://www.leg.state.fl.us 

[tamara stephenson]

One of the reasons Scott may not be pushing hard for it is because Jeb Bush (via legislature) enacted a school voucher program which was deemed unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court (Bush v. Holmes) in 2006.  I would assume the legislation would have to written differently to pass state constitutional muster.

[J.R.]

Bill, I haven't heard anything about a change in Gov. Scott's position on school vouchers, but will try to find out exactly what his current position is.  I'm posting below, a link to a lengthy analysis on this subject by the National Center for Policy Analysis.  It includes information about what the Florida law allows. I am totally for school choice and believe public (taxpayers') money should follow the child and what parents believe is best for their own child's education.

 EDUCATION:

"Parents Deserve Voice in Child's Education"

from the National Center for Policy Analysis http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=20505&utm_sour...

[J.R.]

Rick, I absolutely agree.  In fact, I just posted a comment on my earlier blog post "OBAMA'S ATTACK ON LIBYA REPORTED TO BE BASED ON GLOBAL GOVERNANCE M...," advocating for elimination of the U.S. Dept. of Education.

Like you, I am concerned for the future of the children of this country and concerned about the destructive path we're on. I blame our leaders and ourselves for our prior complacency and laziness in allowing the debasing of our society, the encouraged dependency on government, the attack on our Christian faith, and the reckless fiscal policies to go unchallenged on our watch.  We all must be vigilant and actively involved in turning this country and its people back in the right direction, before we wake up and find our freedoms, liberties, and government have been taken away from us.