“Vulnerable children” on one side. “Union bosses” on the other.
Florida’s incoming Senate president, Sen. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, drew that sharp distinction in an op-ed Friday that blasted the Florida teachers union for filing suit last week against SB 850, the bill that created the Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts for students with significant disabilities, including autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy.
“These children and their families may not be a union priority, but they are my priority,” Gardiner wrote in the Tampa Tribune.
Gardiner. who has a son with Down syndrome, led the charge for creation of PLSAs. He noted that the personal connection made the bill a priority for him, then called it “deeply regrettable” that the teachers union would try to stop it.
It was not long ago when many students with disabilities were set aside in public education because it was assumed they could not learn or could not share classrooms with other students. It was the advocacy of parents that ended these discriminatory and damaging policies.
For this reason, I think it is deeply regrettable that before the first parent could even submit an application for a PLSA, the Florida Education Association – our statewide teachers union – filed a lawsuit to block it.
The union bosses can spin the lawsuit however they want. But the bottom line is this: They view every opportunity that gives parents freedom to make education choices as a threat to their power. They are advocates for the union, not your children.
Signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott, SB 850 also modestly expanded the tax credit scholarship program for low-income students. (Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog, is authorized to administer both parental choice programs.) Gardner pointed to the lawsuit’s potential impact on both groups of children, and vowed to defend them.
“The good news for Florida families is that we will not turn our backs on these children. As long as I am in the process, the Senate will work to empower parents, particularly the parents of our most vulnerable children. We will not be deterred by union bosses, union politics or union lawyers.”
More right wing attacks on “teacher unions” which had become a right wing epithet for teachers in general. After all, who makes up the teacher unions? Teachers!
Maybe if he and is ilk didn’t have to resort to sneaky political machinations to pass their bad bill there wouldn’t be a lawsuit. He better watch what he says because teachers are ready to file a suit against all vouchers of any sort and shut the entire concept down!
The dirty way the expansion was added totally screwed the kids who needed the most relief… Matrix 4 & 5 students… Maybe you can now bus Matrix 4 & 5 students to Tallahassee…
[…] President of the Florida Education Association Joanne McCall provides an effective response to Andy Gardiner’s shrill attack on the teacher’s she represents for their lawsuit against SB 850. With two days left in this […]
To the well respected and learned Senator, I have to remind you of the rules of the game. You are not allowed to piggyback failed bills onto bills that would or could possibly succeed just to pass the bills that did not pass originally…I’m sure you would agree that the rules of order in the Legislature should be preserved and applied consistently…and I do hope that you will be reminded that we, the voters, are watching and will not allow the rules to be flaunted…and for the record, I AM a union member, local President, and a Republican. I place my party affiliation last because of the actions of the Republicans in our House and our Senate often shame me as a life-long member of the Grand Old Party.
I wouldn’t call that backdoor. Both bills were debated at considerable length over the course of the session.
[…] President of the Florida Education Association Joanne McCall provides an effective response to Andy Gardiner’s shrill attack on the teacher’s she represents for their lawsuit against SB 850. With two days left in this […]