NSBA to FSBA: Keep up the good fight

The National School Boards Association has given its Florida counterpart the thumbs up in its battle to keep Amendments 7 and 9 off the November ballot.

The group does not plan to file an amicus brief in the case, which goes before the state Supreme Court for a hearing on Sept. 8, because of the expedited filing schedule. But it is publicly endorsing the effort to stop the referendums, which opponents have argued mislead the public as to their true intent.

"If such proposals are brought before the electorate, the measures should clearly state their purpose and effect in plain language that allows the citizens to make informed choices about the future education of their community's children," NSBA executive director Anne L. Bryant wrote in a letter to the FSBA.

The organization's general counsel, Francisco M. Negron Jr., agreed in a news release statement:  "Although the merits of the ballot initiatives themselves are not before the court, we urge the Florida Supreme Court to consider the huge impact these measures could have on public education in the state and whether TBRC's proposals are the appropriate way to bring such fundamental change."

Comments

The question that the Court should consider is that why is it that two amendments that have nothing to do but to allow school vouchers say nothing about school vouchers at all in the language of the amendment or the ballot summary. Is it because the voters would vote against them if the politicians admitted that the amendments were to allow vouchers? Yes. So, hiding the ball with the 65% Solution and claims that somehow Baptist Hospitals won't be able to get Medicaid money anymore is a total sham.

The amendments should come off the ballot. If the proponents want vouchers, they should put a Utah style amendment on the ballot that says that they want vouchers and suffer a similar fate when well over 50% of Florida's citizens reject them.