Florida Legislature's Attack Against Low-Income Families

This is a two part series. The first post, this one, will focus on the stripping of funds away from low-income families. The second post will focus on the Florida Legislatures and their conflicts of interest with this bill.

HB 7096 bill outlines many changes to education in Florida. Some of the changes are good. This includes eliminating Algebra 2 as a graduation requirement. As the focus of this post, I want to draw attention to the $50 million for capital outlays for charters. There is $50 million for public schools as well. Combined, there is $100 million for capital expenditures for Florida's K-12 education system.

There are a few rules that a charter must abide by in order to receive monies. Most notably is that the charter must be one of the top charters in the state. The charters that do meet all of the qualifications will help expand the charter systems.

What is This Attack?
The Florida Legislature is not providing an equal education for all students. They are disproportionately transferring funds away from low-income families and into the middle-income families. There is nothing equal about what the Florida Legislature is creating. I call this a type of equity. A contorted version of equity that further demoralizes and discriminate our low-income families. Isn't this a 21st century version of segregation?

Equality For All Students?

An alternate way of thinking about this $100 million is that charters receive 50% and public schools receive 50%. It seems that the politicians are practicing equality. At least on a surface level....  HB 7096 is not equal in terms of number of students the money represents. Thus, I argue that the politicians are practicing what they this is equitable.

According to the FLDOE, during the 2014-15 school year there were 646 charters for 251,282 students in Florida. During the same school, there were more than 4,300 public schools for 2,757,000 in Florida. In this case, it is difficult to compare the number of students; but, percentages will compare them. As a percent of the whole, charters provide education for 8.4% of the entire student population and public schools provide education for 91.6% of the entire student population. 

The politicians are grossly failing at equality. Instead, they are practicing a contorted version of equity. Below is an explanation of the difference between equality and equity using a picture.

Equity involves providing people what they need. It "deals with difference and takes into consideration the fact that this society contains many groups that have not always been given equal treatment and/or have not had a level field on which to play. These groups have frequently been made to feel inferior to those in the mainstream...." (Shapiro & Stefkovich 2011, p 114) The $100 million needs to be used for schools that represent low-income families. Maybe it means charters should receive $8.4 million instead of $50 million. This would be a $41.6 million reduction.


21st Century Segregation 
As stated earlier, the main reason why charters are receiving more money by means of $50 million is to promote the expansion of their systems. They need more money and more buildings to attract more students from the public schools. They need more money to create more schools specifically created for our middle-income families. This is how our politicians are attacking our low-income families. It is the 21st century version of segregation.  (and let me say, I would love to educate all of them)

But, aren't there already schools? Aren't the schools fine? Low-income public schools do not have enough money maintain the buildings and/or construct new buildings. Let me tell you about some of my personal experiences at two schools.

*In all experiences I have done my best to educate all children and have enjoyed thoroughly doing so.*

Kathleen Middle School
1. There was mold growing in-between the floor tiles of my classroom. By the end of each school year, the mold had noticeably spread to cover more of the tiles. But hey, the families are low-income they won't complain. 

2. For two years, my classroom was on the second floor of a two story building. The first floor housed the main office that greeted all families. The floors were extremely thin. They were so thin that when the students would walk around the classroom normally, the people on the first floor described the sound they heard as bowling balls. But hey, the families are low-income they won't complain. 

Caldwell Elementary School
1. My portable is literally breaking in two. It reminds me of the San Andreas Fault (pictured right). When students come to my portable for small groups, the students jokingly say not to walk too hard because the portable might fall apart. But hey, the families are low-income they won't complain. 

2. Two classrooms each hold 25 students because there aren't classrooms in buildings. There is barely enough room in the portable for all of the student's desk and teacher's desks. But hey, the families are low-income they won't complain. 

3. Two classrooms hold ESE students because there isn't enough classrooms in campus buildings. The portables are small. There is no builtin storage. Instead, the teachers depend on 1960s era metal cabinets to store all of their materials. But hey, the families are low-income they won't complain. 


Fundraisers Donations Fundraisers

Now, you are probably thinking, "Why don't the low-income schools just raise money or get donations if the schools are in that bad of condition?" Well, all schools do. In fact, it happens all year long. Schools do this through a variety of events such as, sports, concessions, book fair, walk-a-thons,  dance, and candy etc. The families and extended families give as much as of their $20k as they can to these fundraisers and finally the school. Could more be done? Sure. Is it right? I can't ask families that are making $20k to donate more money.

This idea of raising funds for schools reminds me of a story in Bible. The story comes from Mark 12:41-44. Jesus is watching the crowds of people giving their money. But a poor woman comes up to give as much as she could. Jesus told his disciplines that what she did meant more than the rich people. To me, I see a connection. Let me know if you see a connection too.

Conclusion
In all, I am disgusted that the Florida politicians are stealing so much money away from our low-income families. Where is their heart? Where is their morality? Where is their sense of ethics?


Don't forget to call Gov. Rick Scott to veto this bill. 850-488-7146