In a conversation with Superintendent Runcie a few weeks ago, he said Tallahassee is where the real action happens, not the federal level. He was right in the fact that the decisions made in our state capital are the ones that hit us hardest… and the latest one is a doozy!
A letter from the Superintendent hit every inbox I have subscribed to Broward Schools yesterday. It calls for our urgent action in asking Governor Rick Scott to veto HB 7069, which apparently snuck in the back door stealthily at the tail end of the legislative session and was hastily passed.
This bill had some good stuff on testing and virtual education. And, if the Governor does not veto the bill, charters will get $100M for capital outlay, shifted from traditional public schools. Great for charters; sad for traditional public schools.
As a parent, the most disturbing part is the major shell-games played here. Plenty of smoke and mirrors—kinda like when your mom disguises your nasty medicine in the ice cream. This was calculatingly executed. Why?
That makes me question the motives of the actors involved. Everyone loses in dirty politics, especially kids. I’ll be giving this one some serious side-eye for a while…
Superintendent Runcie starts out:
If a civics class student submitted a paper on the recent Florida legislative session, I would send it back for a rewrite. In my last Sun-Sentinel Op-Ed, I explained my concerns regarding cuts in educational funding, especially to the Base Student Allocation, which will create a budget deficit for Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) of nearly $7 million. We thought the budget cuts couldn’t get any worse.
To our surprise, it did.
Read the rest of his letter, and get more info from the HB 7069 Summary, Tampa Bay Times, and Florida Politics. Get informed!
