JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Education Association is suing the state’s Department of Education.
The teachers’ union is joined by a group of parents, school board members and civil rights organizations. They all allege a disparity between traditional public schools and private schools getting taxpayer vouchers. And that disparity, they claim, violates Florida’s constitution.
The state constitution says, “Adequate provision shall be made by law for a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools.”
But in the lawsuit, the FEA argues that “the State has built a system where publicly funded schools operate under very different rules... As a result, students are not being served equally.”
The vouchers in question allow parents to use taxpayer funds to send their children to private schools.
The lawsuit also alleges that the state “...directs approximately $4.9 billion each year in public education funds to private schools and certain charter schools that are not required to follow the same rules as public schools.”
“The lawsuit is really taking aim at the fact that there’s just a bunch of different systems in Florida providing education,” said Andrew Spar, President of the Florida Education Association. “They are not uniform. They are not equal.”
The Florida Education Association is the state’s largest teachers’ union. Spar says the lawsuit is meant to demand accountability.
“If they’re getting public dollars, there should be minimal expectations that are put in place. And then second of all, we want to make sure that public schools have the resources they need to meet and support every student in our schools,” Spar said.
Education commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas spoke about the School Choice program during a recent news conference with the Governor.
“Florida’s a state that has over 2.8 million students. About 1.4 million of those students are participating in the Choice option because families are now empowered to choose the educational option that best meets their child’s individualized needs,” Kamoutsas said. “We will stand unapologetically convicted on that principle.”
The Governor also posted on X Thursday in response to the lawsuit, saying in part, “We will stand up for the parents and students and defend these programs.”
You can read the full x post below:
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