Gov. Rick Scott today will sign a fiercely controversial education bill at a ceremony at an Orlando Catholic school, his office announced this morning.
Essentially, the bill allocates almost $200 million in taxpayer handouts to private, out-of-state charter companies, rather than funding Florida public schools, which desperately need this money.
For instance, it includes a $30 million expansion of the Gardiner Scholarship program for students with disabilities and mandates a daily recess for all public elementary schools.
The bill's approval is widely believed to be in return for House Speaker Richard Corcoran's support of Scott's priorities, including full funding of Visit Florida and money for an economic development fund, passed in the recent Special Session.
Gov. Rick Scott dropped by the South Florida Water Management District in West Palm Beach on Tuesday for the second stop in a five-city victory tour that took him from Miami to Jacksonville Beach. Last week, Corcoran gave in to restoring funding for those agencies and now he will have the governor's signature on one of his top priority pieces of legislation.
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Later, he was straightforward and serious: "We were heartbroken last year, but this year was our turn". Golden State in 2015, the Cavaliers past year , the Warriors again this time.
A group of teachers and parents plan a rally this afternoon outside the Orange County school district's headquarters to urge Scott to veto the measure. They also slammed the last-minute appearance of the legislation, which folded together a slate of education bills that had been debated separately.
One aspect of the legislation that has drawn a great deal of criticism is a program called "schools of hope".
Superintendents say the legislation will be harmful to traditional public schools as some provisions require districts to share local tax dollars with charter schools.
Many school boards already have begun revising their codes of conduct and student progression plans to include such things as the recess requirement and the testing changes. "These men and women, along with our courageous law enforcement officers across Florida, are most deserving of our gratitude and appreciation and I'm proud that we're granting them compensation for their success". He said lawmakers could revive the higher-education issues next year.
"While there are small pockets of good policy hidden within this bill, it is a monstrosity when coupled with the multitude of bad policies that have been included", Farmer wrote in his letter to the governor. Initially, the state Senate had more than $100 million in its budget for the program, but then agreed to lower it during budget negotiations.
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