Yesterday, while most middle class Floridians remained firmly focused on meeting another week’s worth of work and family obligations, Republicans in the State House of Representatives were busy passing two bills that would make those efforts a lot harder.
House Bill 867 is the “parent trigger” bill, a reference to the supposed power to “pull the trigger” on bad public schools that the law would give parents. The range of “trigger” options initiated by parental petition drives would include turning a failing school over to a private company to run; closing it down and letting a private company reopen it as a charter; or forcing the school district to come up with an effective turnaround plan.
Pretty much the same bill was passed by the Republican-dominated House last year, then defeated in the Senate after facing stiff opposition from the Florida PTA, public education advocates, community organizations, parents’ groups, and teachers’ organizations. Opposition is based on the belief that what’s being sold by the Republican Party as a new way for parents to have a “seat at the table”, is in reality a new way for corporate cronies of the party to swoop in, take over and run our schools for a profit.
If you’re a hard-working, middle class Florida parent with young kids who depend on public schools, the Republican sales pitch might sound good. But what you need to know is, this is the same Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) that has de-funded and destabilized our public schools for going on two decades. As Democratic State Representative Mark Pafford put it to the RPOF on the House floor yesterday:
“For 16 years, this has been your gig, this is your party and this is your failure. You’ve let the public education system slide away.”
When you look at the RPOF culture of corruption over those 16 years, and its connections to private, for-profit charter school companies, you get the idea that these “parent trigger” bills are smokescreens; part of a long-term strategy to achieve for-profit privatization of our public education system. Drain funding and resources so that things fall apart, attack the state of disrepair you’ve created…and then offer “private sector” solutions disguised as “parent empowerment”. Bing, Bang, Boom.
And so, if you’re in any way dependent on or supportive of a properly re-funded, rebuilt and effectively managed public school system in Florida, you’ll want to call your state senator and demand a NO vote on Senate Bill 862.
While you’re at it, tell them to kill Senate Bill 726 too. That’s the companion to House Bill 655 passed yesterday; passed like a dagger waiting to be dug deep in the backs of working class Floridians. These bills would stop local governments from passing laws that try to help struggling families survive by requiring area employers to pay a minimum “living wage” that’s a little higher than the state’s unlivable $7.79 minimum.
In the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)-inspired bill passed by Florida House Republicans yesterday, municipalities would also be blocked from passing local laws against wage theft, or requiring that workers get at least some paid sick days, family leave days, and very basic medical benefits.
Once again, if you’re a hard-working, middle class Floridian, it may sound good when Republicans claim they’re just trying to keep budgets down and help small business owners. But what you need to know is that it’s the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the very biggest businesses in the state, like Disney, that are pushing for these bills.
What you need to know is that it’s all us middle class taxpayers who will pay far more in the long run, if our working poor neighbors end up in public hospital emergency rooms and homeless shelters. Beyond meeting a basic moral standard of compassion for our less fortunate fellow Floridians, the approach of spending some on the front end rather than a ton on the back end - that just makes bottom-line, good, common sense.
Then again, compassion and good sense are anything but common in the ranks of the Republican Party of Florida these days.
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