Amendments 7 and 9 on Florida November ballots are blatant attempts to mislead.

[madfloridian]

It amazes me how hard Florida Republicans are pushing ahead with their attempts to weaken the public school system here. There is little in the papers about it, very little on the news that really tells the truth about what these amendments will do.

When we post here about it here, there is some consternation. But it is short-lived until we post again. There has been some work done on this by the DU poster called Seafan.

This article does a good job of explaining Amendments 7 and 9 as they relate to allowing public tax money to be turned over to private religious schools.

A blatant attempt to mislead the voters

Troxler points out there are 9 amendments on the fall ballot.

Floridians will have a lot of voting to do this fall. Besides choosing our politicians, we'll also have to decide nine proposed amendments to our state Constitution. Nine! That is a lot of constitution writing. We will hear about them all in time, but today let's focus on a couple that present some interesting questions on the front end.

Maybe you think expanding school vouchers is a fine idea. Lots of people do. Maybe you think it is a terrible idea. But before we even get to that debate, the first point is … Shouldn't the ballot actually SAY this is what we're voting on?

Yes, it should.

He explains Amendments 7 and 9 and talks about the misleading way they are being presented to voters.

Amendment 7 would repeal the "Blaine amendment," an old part of the Constitution that prohibits the use of tax dollars in support of religious institutions.

Amendment 9 would reverse a court ruling saying that Florida has an "exclusive" duty to run public schools. That would seem to mean that the state could use vouchers to educate kids, too.

Allowing public tax money to go to religious schools? If it were made clear to voters, I doubt very many would really want that. But there is no real discussion on the news about it...mostly just the info news kind of thing.

And...reverse a court ruling that says Florida has the "exclusive" duty to run public schools?? That leaves the door wide open for every possible group to start getting tax money.

Here is more on the topic. There needs to be much more media attention to this.

Radical voucher initiative on Florida's ballot will allow public school money to private schools

But there's more to the story than the headline and the voucher initiative - much, much more. The voucher and another proposal would, if approved by voters: Eliminate a wise, time-honored clause in the Florida Constitution that prevents government revenue from being "taken from the public treasury … in aid of any church, sect or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution."

Undermine the constitutional requirement that the state fulfill its "paramount duty" to provide all children residing in Florida with the opportunity to obtain a high-quality education in public schools.

These proposed changes to the state constitution are as radical as they are unwise.

I wish the Florida Democrats would spend as much time fighting back against initiatives like this as they do attacking the national party. What a lovely picture that would be.

[SoFlaJet]

1. we took our kids OUT of the Public School system

as soon as Jeb showed us how badly he was going to fuck it up MadFlo...Homeschooling is the way to go if possible down here

[madfloridian]

2. I taught over 30 years.

We used to have good schools here in Florida. Then the right wing started trying to turn the public schools over to private businesses...and it all changed.

[SoFlaJet]

4. all downhill after Lawton Chiles MadFlo

he was great...

[madfloridian]

5. Agreed. Did you know it is his niece running against Dole in NC?

Can't think of her name right now...she's the daughter of Joe Ruthven I think.

[SoFlaJet]

6. good bloodline there

Liddy Dole is friggin HORRIBLE-she needs to go

[madfloridian]

9. Yes, nice family.

And good Democrats.

[seafan]

11. Kay Hagan has a good chance of beating Liddy Dole, too.

Kay Hagan, Lawton Chiles' Niece, Runs for U.S. Senate

[madfloridian]

12. That Jeannette was Lawton's sister, wasn't she?

I think.

[seafan]

13. I think that's correct.

Hagan, 54, is the daughter of Joe Ruthven and the late Jeannette Chiles Ruthven.

(from my link)

[HockeyMom]

3. Given it is Florida, being run by Republicans

I had planned to vote NO straight down.

[madfloridian]

7. That's the safest way.

But the Democrats in the legislature and other Florida leaders are not speaking up publicly like they should.

[madfloridian]

8. More on the 65% solution...which is really phony. FL is being snookered.

http://www.miamiherald.com/516/story/557241.html

Known as the ''65 percent solution,'' the measure is so popular that 63 percent of voters would approve the constitutional amendment if the election were held today, according to the new poll from Quinnipiac University.

But if vouchers stood alone on the ballot, only 38 percent of voters would favor it, with 56 percent opposed, the poll found.

''The incredible power of the 65 percent solution is that people will vote for something they don't much like to get it,'' said Peter Brown, the Connecticut-based university poll director who regularly surveys the largest swing state in the nation.

The findings encouraged voucher supporters, bothered the state teachers' union and presaged a potentially tough campaign during a presidential election year in which former Gov. Jeb Bush could play a side role.

Squaring off in the election battle: the ''school-choice'' movement and the teachers' union. They'll flyspeck school-board budgets, debate the meaning of ''classroom instruction'' and rail over whether the amendment is a bait-and-switch in a year when the Republican-led Legislature cut $891 million from K-12 classrooms.

It's a big phony, and Blue Oregon has a good post up about it. It was used in TX as well to snooker them. Don't know the outcome. I used to have a picture cartoonish version, but lost it somewhere.

This is from 2006...they never give up.

http://www.blueoregon.com/2006/10/education_spend.html

Education "65% Solution" Spending Plan is 100 Percent Phony
Chuck Sheketoff
An initiative has been filed for the November 2008 election that would require school districts to spend 65% of their funds on "classroom instruction expenditures." Some candidates for the Oregon Legislature have embraced the plan and are using the proposal in their campaign literature (PDF).

The Oregon Center for Public Policy studied the plan and concluded it is 100 Percent Phony: The “65 percent solution” is a political gimmick that will do nothing to improve student performance in Oregon.

Read OCPP's news release and the report's executive summary, both of which have links to the full report, 100 Percent Phony: The “65 percent solution” is a political gimmick that will do nothing to improve student performance in Oregon

Here is more. Looks like Floridians are being fooled again.

http://www.ocpp.org/cgi-bin/display.cgi?page=es061031phony

The 65 percent rule takes away the autonomy of individual schools that have legitimate reasons to direct resources differently than the formula prescribes.

Schools can meet the rule’s requirements without improving student performance at all, or meet the requirements even as student performance declines.

[madfloridian]

10. Storm clouds over the Sunshine State...Americans United website

http://www.au.org/site/News2?abbr=cs_&page=NewsArticle&id=9858

"Jeb Bush And His Cronies Have Provoked A Church-State Showdown In Florida With National Ramifications
By Joseph L. Conn

Dade County, Fla., is home to almost 200 religious schools.

According to the Florida Department of Education’s data from the 2006-2007 school year, an array of denominations and faith perspectives is represented. Forty-five schools are affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, but many other spiritual traditions answered the state roll call.

All Angels Academy is Episcopalian, Christ Fellowship Academy is Baptist, Clara Mohammed School of Miami is Islamic, Greater Miami Hebrew Academy is Jewish, World Mission of Jesus Christ Christian is non-denominational, New Testament Church of Transfiguration School is Pentecostal and Glory of God Christian School is affiliated with the Assemblies of God.

Some are well-established and fully accredited with a qualified teaching staff and a tradition of educational excellence. Others are small, poorly equipped and devoted to religious indoctrination, not academic accomplishment.

If former Gov. Jeb Bush and his allies have their way, however, all of these schools – and private academies like them around the state – will soon be eligible for massive new streams of public funding, courtesy of the state’s taxpayers."