Efforts to defend Florida’s tax credit scholarship program, the largest private school choice program in the country, have gained a powerful new ally: Miami Bishop Victor T. Curry. One of Florida’s most influential ministers, Curry used his radio program Nov. 11 to rally supporters against the lawsuit filed in August by the Florida teachers unions, Florida School Boards Association and other groups. You can read excerpts below.
Until the suit was filed, Curry had been a quiet supporter of the 13-year-old scholarship program; the school he heads, Dr. John A McKinney Christian Academy, serves about 120 scholarship students. But it’s clear from the remarks he made during the radio program that he is now all in.
It’s also clear the lawsuit is getting more attention in the press and beyond. A number of media outlets have noted exit polls that show Republican Gov. Rick Scott gained ground among reliably Democratic black voters (see here, here and here). The latest: This Nov. 22 op-ed in the Miami Herald by Christopher Norwood, a member of the Democratic Black Caucus of Florida. Scott’s gains among black voters, he wrote, are “remarkable for a candidate who had no urban agenda, except for corporate scholarships for low-income students, an issue that’s overlooked by Democratic strategists … ”
Curry’s comments have been edited slightly for length and clarity. (You can hear some of them by clicking on the audio box below.) As always, we note the scholarship program is administered by nonprofits such as Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog.
We can’t keep talking out of both sides of our mouths. Some of the very people that vote against this, and those who are a part of this lawsuit, parade themselves in our churches and in our communities and they tout that they want the best of education for our children. Well, we have to be holistic in our approach. We never said that private is the only tool. Or public is the only tool. For some children, private is the best fit. I am hoping and praying that there will be a change of minds and a change of hearts and hoping that someone will have the sense to just drop this suit …
I believe, fervently, in public education. I was just given a major award (by the Florida Education Association) … I have always supported United Teachers of Dade and I’ve always supported the Broward Teachers Union. Listen, I worked as a teacher’s assistant at South Area Alternative School right across from Hallandale High. I was a teacher’s assistant at MacArthur Senior High School. Yes I was. And I also spent a few years in Miami-Dade County in a classroom at Civil Bluff Elementary and part of a year at Madison Middle School.
I am not, and I will never, ever be, anti-public education. I am able to walk and chew gum at the same time. … These scholarships that we’ve been talking about are very much a part of our collective moral commitment to provide equal educational opportunities for our children. They strengthen public education, not diminish it.
We named (the Dr. John A. McKinney Christian Academy) after a man who spent 35 years in public education. Dr. John A. McKinney was the first principal who opened Turner Tech. His wife spent over 25 years in public education as a principal, as a school teacher. Ronda C. McKinney. Our whole education wing is the Dr. John and Ronda McKinney Educational Wing.
So we support public education but at the same time there has always been private education as well as public education. This is not a competition. It is not about public or private. It is about matching each child with a school that works best for him or her. It’s about giving children, and their parents, options so they can find the one that works best for them.
I have a question. Why would the school boards association wait 13 years to file a lawsuit against this program? If it claims the constitution restricts children to attending only schools that are operated by the district, why not challenge the charter schools, or McKay scholarships for disabled students, or vouchers for 4-year-olds. Why single out poor children?
These school board members are elected to serve all children in our community. Please tell me: What value is gained by trying to pull over 69,000 impoverished students out of schools, across this state, that are working for them? How does that help us end the cycle of generational poverty?
You heard testimonials. Not just from JAMCA, but from other schools as well, that it is working for them. It is working well, but it may not work for every student. Every student can’t operate, or excel, in a public setting, while others can and others do. While others need a smaller, more intimate environment.
I think I would have gotten lost if I had to go to the University of Florida, or if I had to go to Florida State where you have one class with 300 people in it. Well at Florida Memorial, it was a little more intimate, ok, and that suited me better. I think I would have gotten lost in that larger environment. Nothing wrong with UF. Nothing wrong with Florida State. But everybody doesn’t function well in certain environments. … Florida Memorial University suited me better. It was more intimate. It still had a university setting. There were no shortcuts and we had to do our work. But because there weren’t 300 to 400 people in one class, I could raise my hand and … if I was struggling in statistics or struggling in sociology, or whatever the class I was taking, (the teachers were) were able to (help).
I really hate to say this but, different strokes for different folks. You have to find out where you best fit in educationally or whatever. Some people are not comfortable in a large church. It’s not that they don’t like that ministry. It’s just too big. Some people are just more comfortable in a smaller, intimate setting. Nothing is wrong with that. Nothing. That is the way some of our children learn.
I don’t think any of (the private schools with representatives on the radio program) have any middle school and high school students, which means after sixth grade, these children will be returning to our public education. So now they come back to public education. A lot of these kids are labeled “at-risk,” that’s what they call them. And then by the help of the Lord, and their teachers, and parents and everybody involved, the children are turning around academically. They are turning around socially. They are turning around behavioral-wise. They are turning around.
So now when they go back to public school you got a kid now who can adjust (and) continue to excel. In my opinion, it’s a win-win situation. I’m confused as to why people would attack this.
You know me, I’m a win-win kind of person. I talk to politicians about win-win. Why can’t you win and the community wins? Why does it have to be that somebody wins and somebody loses? Why can’t it be a win-win situation? That is how I looked at the bond issue for Miami-Dade public schools and Broward County. I looked at both of them.
See, I’m one who can walk and chew gum at the same time. I can support Step Up for Students with these scholarships and I can also support public education. Because guess what ladies and gentlemen? Even without Step Up, we are still going to have private and public school. But it’s not about competition. It could be the best of both worlds.
