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Blaine Amendment: The Constitution Revision Commission's Declaration of Rights Committee approves a proposal to put repeal of the Blaine Amendment before voters in 2018. The amendment prohibits the use of tax money “directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect or religious denomination." In 2006, the Florida Supreme Court cited the amendment when it ruled that a state violated the law with its scholarship program for students to attend private schools. House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, has long called for a repeal of the amendment. The proposal now goes to the full commission, where 22 of the 37 members would have to approve it to put it on the November 2018 ballot. Sixty percent of voters would then have to approve the repeal to put it into effect. Tallahassee Democrat. News Service of Florida.

Education spending: Gov. Rick Scott continues a state tour to promote his education budget, which he says will boost spending on K-12 education to a record $21.4 billion. “We’re going to have historic funding for the sixth year in a row,” says Scott about his proposal to increase per-student spending from $7,297 to $7,497. But an analysis in Folio Weekly magazine questions that statement. Using the Consumer Price Index calculator, the magazine says it would take $8,377.89 per student today to match the $7,126 per student from then-Gov. Charlie Crist's 2007, pre-recession budget. Florida Politics. WJCT. Florida and 28 other states are spending less on education now than they were before the 2008 recession after an adjustment for inflation, according to a study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. And Florida and six other states each spent at least 15 percent less per-student in 2015 than in 2008. The 74.

Superintendent honored: Pinellas County School Superintendent Mike Grego is named Florida superintendent of the year for his work to close the achievement gap between black and nonblack students. Grego, 60, has been superintendent in Pinellas for just over five years. He now represents Florida at the national competition in Nashville in February. Gradebook. WUSF.

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The historic march at Selma in 1965 and the current battle over school choice in Florida have a lot in common, writes Florida civil rights icon H.K. Matthews in an op-ed in today’s Fort Myers News Press.

Matthews participated in the Selma march, which is again the focus of national discussion thanks to a powerful new movie. He also helped lead the 2010 march on Tallahassee that drew nearly 6,000 people in support of tax credit scholarships for low-income children.

Watching the movie revived painful memories, Matthews writes. But it wasn’t the first time he had flashbacks to that pivotal moment in the civil rights movement, pointing specifically to the 2010 rally in Florida.

“Incredibly, nearly 6,000 people showed up — that's roughly 10 times the number who marched across that Selma bridge,” he writes. “Over 1,000 people slept on buses overnight to be there. They came to celebrate their own empowerment — the ability to choose the best school for their children.”

The 2010 march preceded passage of a bill, later signed by then Gov. Charlie Crist, that expanded the scholarship program. Last August, the Florida teachers union, Florida School Boards Association and other groups filed suit to end the program, which is administered by nonprofits such as Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog. A key hearing in the case is set for Feb. 9.

“When I heard about the lawsuit, I had another flashback to the old movement,” Matthews writes in the op-ed. “The parallels were striking to me. Here were citizens demanding empowerment. A march symbolized that demand. And here were powerful groups trying to deny it.

“I suppose that this lawsuit will eventually end up in the Florida Supreme Court. One thing I'm fairly sure of: If nearly 6,000 people showed up just to demonstrate that they supported the program, how many will come if the most important thing to them — their right to choose the best school for their children — is threatened to be taken away?”

Read the full op-ed here.

Charter schools. Struggling charter schools present improvement plans to the Hillsborough County School Board to comply with a new requirement in state law. Tampa Tribune. Tampa Bay Times. An effort to create a new charter school for the City of West Palm Beach may be on hold, as a deadline passes. Palm Beach Post. Two new charters are proposed for Pasco. Gradebook. A group of Walton charter school students win an international award. Walton Sun.

Lawsuits. An ad aired during Florida's gubernatorial debate opposes the lawsuit challenging Florida's tax credit scholarship program. Saint Petersblog. redefinED.

Digital learning. It matters how teachers go about teaching courses, especially in areas like math and science. Bridge to Tomorrow. Treasure Cost districts ease their mobile device policies. Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. Devices are becoming more common in Hillsborough schools. Tampa Bay Times.

Campaigns. PolitiFact checks a claim that 3,000 teachers lost their jobs when Charlie Crist was governor. The Tampa Bay Times profiles a Pinellas school board race.

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Where does Charlie Crist, the now-Democratic candidate for governor of Florida, now stand on tax credit scholarships for low-income students?

As governor, Crist signed the largest expansion of the scholarships into law, but as a candidate he has mostly avoided the subject. A few weeks ago, when asked by a Miami Herald reporter, he refused to condemn the lawsuit that the Florida teachers union, Florida School Boards Association and other groups filed Aug. 28 to end the program. On Sunday, on a Miami TV program, he acknowledged he has changed his views on the scholarship.

Below is a transcript of the exchange (at roughly the 5 minute mark) between Crist and the Channel 10 anchors.

Channel 10: “In 2010, when you were governor, you signed an expansion of the private school tax vouchers. That was something you were very supportive of. Now that’s in litigation with the Florida Education Association, with the union. And now you have said you are against those private school tuition vouchers. What was that change?”

Crist: “Yeah. Of course. It changed because of Rick Scott. As I said before, when he decided to cut $1.3 billion – actually it was worse, he tried to cut almost $4 billion out of education – but he actually cut $1.3 billion out of it. We can’t talk about vouchers, we can’t talk about charters, we can’t talk about diverting money from education, public education, until we get those cuts restored. That’s why I oppose it. I think it’s so important that we get focused, laser focused, on making sure we restore the cuts that, you know, had to have teachers be fired, laid off, after school programs cut. I mean, I talk to teachers every single day. I’m sure you do, too. We have a lot to do to get education back to where it needs to be.”

Channel 10: “So it’s a financial issue. And if the money is there, you would favor tuition vouchers, if the money for public schools is put back?”

Crist: “I’m not even going there now. What I’m saying is we have to get focused on restoring the cuts. And getting education back to where it had been when I was governor. And had the highest per pupil spending, even in the Great Recession. That’s what teachers deserve. That’s what our students deserve. If they’re going to be able to get good jobs when they get out of school, we have to give them a great education while they’re in school.”

Channel 10: “Charlie, you have sided with the Florida Education Association in this voucher fight. But there are a lot of African-American families, and especially clergy, in the state who believe that school vouchers have been a very good thing for black kids. Because it’s given them school choice. They’re allowed to go to a charter school, even a religious school. And there could be some blow back for you from black voters who say you’re wrong on this issue. What do you say to that?”

Crist: “That’s always possible. I don’t think you’re going to see that, though. Not in this race. Because what Rick Scott has done in the African American community and in the Hispanic community, in particular, especially when you look at Bright Futures scholarships. He has cut 50,000 of them out of the program. 50,000 scholarships gone. That’s like wiping out the University of Florida and it’s been most damaging in the African-American and the Hispanic communities in the state. Because they need the help the most to get a higher education.”

Editor's note: Florida's tax credit scholarship program is administered by nonprofits like Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog.

From the News Service of Florida:

In a move that highlights the political crosscurrents confronting Democrats on education issues, a coalition emphasizing the benefits of state-approved vouchers for low-income students called Wednesday for the Florida Education Association to drop a lawsuit challenging the program.

The Save Our Scholarships Coalition, which held a conference call with reporters to draw attention to the request, consists largely of African-American, Hispanic and Jewish leaders --- some of whom have constituents who are parts of key Democratic voting blocs in Florida. But the coalition is at odds with the state's largest teachers union, which often provides resources and organizational muscle for Democratic candidates.

The coalition's leaders are not exclusively Democrats by any means. For example, Julio Fuentes, head of the Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options, often supports Republican causes and candidates.

But in remarks on the conference call Wednesday, he underscored the demographics of those who receive the 68,000 awards from the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, as the voucher system is formally known,

"Many of these children are minorities and come from economically disadvantaged families," Fuentes said. "We have an army of motivated educators who are willing to roll up their sleeves and be part of the solution."

H.K. Matthews, a civil-rights leader, also joined the call to question the motives of Florida Education Association leaders fighting to undermine the program.

"I cannot for the life of me fathom why these educators are willing to jeopardize the well-being of the state's poorest students," Matthews said.

At the same time, the lawsuit filed in August to challenge the voucher program is supported by the Florida NAACP and a Jewish rabbi --- highlighting the complicated fissures within Democratic voting blocs over the tax-credit system.

The lawsuit says the $357.8 million program, which provides tax credits to companies that donate money to nonprofit entities that pay for children to go to private schools, violates constitutional limits on aid to religious institutions and the Legislature's responsibility to fund public education.

Without the scholarship program, the tax dollars businesses would otherwise owe the state could be used to help fund public education, voucher critics say.

Joanne McCall, vice president of the FEA, said Wednesday that her group didn't intend to back away from its lawsuit. She said lawmakers should instead provide the support necessary to build up the state's public schools.

"If they did all of those things, there would be no need to have any kind of scholarship programs," McCall said.

The dispute comes at an awkward time for Democrats, who are trying to beat incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Scott in next month's election. Scott wasted no time in flaying the FEA lawsuit when it was filed, but Democratic candidate Charlie Crist --- a former Republican governor who later became a Democrat --- has been more cautious about the program.

The section on Crist's website devoted to education policy doesn't address the voucher program beyond a promise that, if elected, Crist would "ensure that corporations receive the same tax incentives for investing in Florida's public schools as they do for investing in private schools." The Crist campaign did not respond to a question Wednesday about whether he believed the FEA should drop its lawsuit. (more…)

An especially notable voice has joined the chorus calling on the Florida teachers union and Florida School Boards Association to drop their lawsuit against the nation’s largest private school choice program: Bishop Victor T. Curry, one of Florida’s leading black ministers.

In an op-ed today for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Curry, who leads the New Birth Baptist Church in Miami, called it a “cruel irony” that the FEA and FSBA would file against the tax credit scholarship program on Aug. 28 – the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech on the Washington Mall. The 13-year-old scholarship program is serving nearly 69,000 low-income students this fall, about 70 percent of them black or Hispanic.

“I have the highest praise for our public school teachers and administrators. Their task is almost inconceivably difficult, and their results are truly heroic,” Curry wrote. “But here in Miami-Dade, we have a student population of incredible diversity — more than 100 languages are spoken in our public schools — and an economic diversity of staggering proportions. Expecting all children to thrive in a school assigned to them by their ZIP code is just not realistic, even with the best teachers.”

Curry mentioned the private school run by his ministry serves 120 children who use tax credit scholarships to cover the cost of tuition, books and supplies. “In turn,” he continued, “these scholarships allow our families to use their limited incomes to put food on the table and turn on the lights.”

The scholarship program is administered by nonprofit scholarship funding organizations like Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog.

Curry’s stand comes as drop-the-suit efforts continue to mount (see here, here, here, and here). This morning, a “save our scholarships” coalition of faith and community leaders is scheduled to announce a campaign urging FEA and FSBA to reconsider their position. Check the blog later for more info.

Charter schools. A proposed charter school at Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base is expected not to be considered Tuesday as originally planned. Tampa Bay Times. Tampa Tribune. Some Lee charter applicants have ties to schools that failed in the past. Naples Daily News. Lawmakers say changes to charter laws will be on the table in the spring legislative session. Daily News.

Campaigns. Education Week looks at the education policy implications of Florida's governor's race, including Charlie Crist's shifting position on tax credit scholarships. The Tampa Bay Times lambastes Gov. Rick Scott's education record in an editorial. Floridians, including teachers and students, receive official messages from the governor that are criticized as "politicking." Miami Herald.

Digital learning. It's on the rise in Flagler and Volusia. Daytona Beach News-Journal. A Catholic school switches to electronic textbooks. Ocala Star-Banner.

Lawsuits. FEA's legal setback prompts the Tampa Bay Times to dub the union "loser of the week" in Florida politics.

Special needs. When other methods fail, parents sometimes resort to social media to demand services for their special needs children. Tampa Bay Times. A Miami-Dade family sues in the wake of the death of a child with autism. Miami Herald. A student with Down Syndrome is crowned homecoming king. Palm Beach Post.

Testing. Political scientists offer differing views on what impact anti-testing fervor will have on policy. Florida Today. Senate Education Chairman John Legg says duplicative assessments should be "put out to pasture." Miami Herald. Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho talks testing on PBS Newshour.

School choice. Palm Beach school officials consider converting some campuses to K-8 to draw more students. Palm Beach Post.

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