Over the weekend we were reading the Sunday paper and ran across this article and just couldn’t believe what we saw. John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times wrote a piece about part of a new Bill that just passed our illustrious House of Representatives, called HB 1145.
This really struck a chord with my household as we just spent part of this Spring battling the catastrophic unintended consequences of School Choice in our county. Basically, if you do not like the school that is in the zone you live, you can choose to send your child elsewhere – sounds nice, right. That is until you actually move someplace and like the school associated with that address,….. oh, no, sorry, the school is filled with kids that live elsewhere. ‘But what about mine? I live here?’ Sorry, too bad,…..YOU have to send your child to the school that has seats left,….the one across town that nobody wants to go to. But don’t despair, we’ll be happy to bus your students. Doesn’t that make you happy? ‘ Um, no. This is what ‘School Choice’ brings to the table in reality. (Politicians don’t live in the real world though, too bad.)
This is what had happened in our household. Years ago, we moved to a lovely section of the county and there was a nice new school being built. Suddenly, it’s full of students from other parts of the County and there’s no room for my student, who currently attends the school. The School Board fully intended to re-district him to a school many miles away….this is School Choice in action. Instead of fixing the poorly performing schools – they just allow people to leave.
Here’s a link to the full article by Mr. Romano… it should be ‘required reading’.
It sounds like a lovely proposition for parents to battle it out with each other to fight for seats for their kids in the best schools while everybody else, who’s busy working and paying taxes gets left behind. So, that nightmare of student qualification is soon to be coming our way. Class warfare from the ground up.
Not to mention the bills. Yes, this is where you eventually get those government vouchers to spend on whatever school you like…publicly funded private schools. Public School System :exit stage left. No Child Left Behind – gone full tilt in the opposite direction, leaving everyone behind. That is, unless you’re wealthy, and then you just don’t care. You’re pretty happy getting a voucher to ease the bill to the private school you already love, right?…until you find out that your Davis Island taxes are funding teaching and wells as transporting students from Leto High (rated a 4) to Plant High (rated a 10). Oh, and when something happens to that private school (or your budget), there’s no room for you child at Plant High anymore – sorry.
Did anyone bother to run this past the Transportation Board? Oh, politicians don’t drive themselves,…. silly me. Think about the 2nd most expensive item in your budget, going up exponentially. (Politicians don’t see time as money either, I guess) Yes, all those roads, clogged overnight with parents and busses crisscrossing the state & counties. New pavement worn out way before expected, more FHP needed to write up all those additional traffic infractions – and yes, eventually with enough parents complaining about that, they’ll do a general bus route, or maybe a voucher for public transportation systems? Oh, we don’t have those in Florida (not to speak of) – so buckle up Mom and Dad, it’s looking like a bumping and expensive ride to your child’s future.
Thanks Chris Sprowls (R) Palm Harbor – (another clueless bureaucrat).
Contact your Senate Rep now – ours is Wilton Simpson, you’ll find him at http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s18
