Ex-student praises school Trump will visit

Private institution to host roundtable with president

When Marcus Millien was in eighth grade, surgery to mend a soccer injury sidelined him from the classroom for at least two weeks.

Classmates from St. Andrew Catholic School in Pine Hills sent get-well cards and teachers visited his home to bring class work.

Marcus, now 16, said he’s hoping to convey how meaningful it was for him to attend a small, faith-based school when he meets President Donald Trump during his visit to the school today.

“I think a Catholic school gives us a sense of unity and community,” he said.

Marcus is one of a few former St. Andrew students selected to meet Trump. School leaders told

Marcus he’ll have 90 seconds to speak in a roundtable session that will include Trump, at least one other former St. Andrew student, school employees and others.

The school also asked Marcus’ mother, Myrna Saint-Juste, to speak. She declined, saying she’s uncomfortable with Trump’s positions on some issues. Born in Haiti, Saint-Juste moved to the United States in 1988, and she said she doesn’t feel the president appreciates the role of America’s immigrants.

“We contribute a lot in this society,” she said. “We are paying taxes, and we want our kids to have a better education.”

Trump’s visit, billed as a “listening session on school choice,” has drawn criticism from local public education leaders, who say the president should also visit a public school.

Wendy Doromal, president of Orange’s teachers union, said she plans to gather with other public school supporters outside the school today as a show of “resistance.”

“We really think of the DeVos-Trump team as a wrecking ball for public education,” Doromal said.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is a proponent of programs like the Florida Tax Credit scholarship, which is awarded to students from low-income families. About 300 St. Andrew students receive the scholarship, though Marcus does not.

The Florida Tax Credit scholarship is likely the focus of Friday’s visit, said Jon East, a spokesman for Step Up For Students, a nonprofit organization that administers the program. Across the state, 97,926 students attend private schools using taxcredit scholarships, which provide up to $5,886 per student annually.

Proponents say Florida’s programs and vouchers, which allow students to use public dollars to attend private schools, afford students opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have. DeVos has deep ties to Florida’s school choice efforts, including the tax-credit program.

Started in 2002, the taxcredit program has allowed businesses to bypass state coffers and funnel the tax money they owe to private schools, including many religious ones. But critics say these types of programs drain resources from already under-funded public schools.

“It’s always concerning if you diminish the amount of funds that are going to the public schools that are much needed to put those funds into a program that has no accountability,” Orange County school board member Daryl Flynn said.

Reviews on vouchers are mixed. A Stanford University report released last month found that vouchers don’t increase test scores and, at best, have a modest affect on high school graduation rates.

An employee at St. Andrew referred a reporter to the Diocese of Orlando, which did not respond Thursday to requests for more information about the school and Trump’s visit. Several Orange County deputies were gathered in the school’s parking lot on Thursday morning.

A 2011 report from St. Andrew details some of the school’s history: During the 1990s, it fell into decline, as much of the surrounding homes became rundown and government-subsidized, increasing the crime rate. The Pine Hills neighborhood is one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the Orlando area, and that’s reflected in the school, according to the report. The school is majority black.

The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote in a statement that it was encouraged to see the Trump administration values education and the role of parents in school choice, saying the president’s visit was “a great opportunity to recognize parents as the primary educators of their children.”

“The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program helps to give students from lowincome families hope and opportunity,” the statement read. “It should thus be considered as a model for the nation as state and federal policy discussions are held.”

For many families, the benefits of private education are clear. Marcus, now a junior at Bishop Moore Catholic High School, is thriving. He’s a straight-A student who plays three sports and is hoping for a college basketball scholarship. He wants to study sports medicine.

“I plan to tell the president St. Andrew has helped develop me into the person I am today,” he said.

Saint-Juste, who said she made too much money to qualify for the incomebased scholarship, paid tuition by working two jobs at times and receiving assistance from the school. However, she said she likes the idea of helping poor families afford private schools.

“That program is a really good program, especially for people who believe in education, who want a better life for their children,” SaintJuste said.

But 90 percent of American students still attend public schools. Board member Kat Gordon, who represents part of Pine Hills, said she wishes Trump would appreciate their efforts.

“I hope President Trump would come and take a good look at our private schools, as well as our public schools, and see how well Orange County has progressed in their building programs, in their academic programs and really take a look at what we have done,” Gordon said.

Visiting a private school first, Flynn said, “might say that he’s not looking at the public schools system as a priority.”