Great news! Thanks to everyone who contacted the members of the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission to defeat this harmful attempt to obliterate church and state separation in our state constitution.
We did it.
Plan to allow public money to go to private education falls one vote shyBy Linda Kleindienst | Tallahassee Bureau Chief
April 4, 2008
TALLAHASSEE - A move to permanently enshrine Florida's controversial private school voucher program in the state constitution failed Friday to win support of the state's powerful tax commission.
The plan, which would have allowed the state to spend public money on private education programs, fell one-vote shy of getting on the November ballot.
It takes 17 votes from the 25-member commission to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot. The measure fell one vote short.
The primary proponents, who worked in the administration of former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, argued that parents deserve the right to have a choice in how their students are educated.
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Florida's landmark voucher program – the only statewide voucher program in the country - was a cornerstone of Bush's education reforms. It allowed students to attend private school with public dollars if their public school received an F grade twice in a four-year period. But it was declared unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court, which ruled that the state constitution prohibits using public funds for private programs.
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Added former Senate President John McKay of Bradenton: "We should be talking about tax and budget issues, not re-inventing the education system in Florida. Be cautious before you open the coffers of state government."
Voting against the plan were Jade Moore, John McKay, Bob McKee, Randy Miller, Martha Barnett, Jacinta Mathis, Darryl Rouson, Talbot “Sandy” d’Alemeberte and Les Miller.
“We are … setting up the situation where there is going to be a claim on the public coffers to fund private, religious education,” said Barnett in opposing the plan. “I think that runs afoul of one of the basic, underlying premises of our republic.”
This is a good day for public education in Florida.