Excitement is building for some in Tallahassee for The Foundation for Floridas Futures educational summit tomorrow, but not everyone is happy about the future direction of Floridas education system.
Nonprofit social justice advocacy group Progress Florida held a tele-town hall conference call Monday evening to hit back at the foundations event which will heavily focus on pushing the past successes of Floridas education system and on legislation to further accountability in the states schools.
Progress Florida criticized Bush and state legislators as being for profit versus putting children first in the states education system.
Parents participating in the call also expressed concerns over voucher schools taking funding away from public schools.
Interestingly enough, much of what theyre going to be discussing at that summit tomorrow [in Tallahassee] is actually up for a hearing in court today** regarding the constitutional challenge of [the scholarship program,] said Progress Floridas political director Damien Filer.
Sen. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, called the voucher program unregulated.
Thats been the most serious atrocity ... is that we have been finding, study after study ... that a number of these schools ... that are being funded by these vouchers are losing accreditation, are not providing substantial education for these students and really leaving a number of students ... in a serious state of flux, he said.
It shows us what a mess our childrens everyday lives and their education becomes when their educational decisions are made by political ideology, said Colleen Wood, the founder of the nonpartisan organization 50th No More, which fights against budget cuts to public schools.
Parents also said they were upset over overtesting in Floridas schools.
Seventh-grade language arts teacher and parent Heather Felton expressed concerns over whether statewide assessment tests were truly meaningful or not.
Half the tests theyre taking dont even count for anything, she said. Were testing them just to see how they test. How am I supposed to, as a teacher ... convey to them that this is important when I think its rubbish?
Bullard agreed, saying he didnt understand why it was necessary to continue administering tests that were arbitrary.
You want to follow the money, said Bullard. Like anything in politics, theres always going to be a dollar attached to it. Unfortunately there are things at play, and politics at play that are really putting our children at risk for the financial gain and benefit of a very few.
Participants in the town hall meeting answered poll questions throughout the call, honing in on a variety of issues, from the most important facing Floridas education system to how to best strengthen state education.
The town hall meeting is a stark contrast to Tuesdays summit -- and it shows education is still and will continue to be a hotly-contested issue in the Sunshine State.
If we are going to ensure the state meets its constitutional duty to provide a uniform, safe, secure, efficient, and high-quality system of education, we need to push back against these deeply entrenched interests, wrote Filer.
The foundations summit will be held from 2-5 p.m. at The Alumni Center in Tallahassee.
Reach Tampa-based reporter Allison Nielsen at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen
**The result of that hearing can be read elsewhere on this page shortly in The News Service story, "State Asks Judge to Throw Out Scholarship Lawsuit."
