Families will benefit from more choice, flexibility in education

The earliest known nod to the idea that became “education savings accounts” surfaced in Berkeley, Calif., in the days of disco, from the equity-driven impulses of two liberal law professors.

In their 1978 book “Education by Choice,” Jack Coons and Stephen Sugarman envisioned low-income parents creating “personally tailored education” for their children, using “divisible educational experiences.” State-funded scholarships would pay for those options, be it in traditional schools or living rooms, “minischools” or “educational parks.”

Coons and Sugarman later pursued a ballot initiative that aimed to bring education choice to every family in the state. But for a tragic twist of fate, deep-blue California may have left Florida in the dust.

Empowering parents has never been a conservative plot. But in its latest editorial against choice [“Tallahassee readies new, bigger attack on public schools | Editorial,” Feb. 2], the Sun Sentinel rips a bill that would convert Florida’s school choice scholarships into education savings accounts, suggesting it’s all a shady scheme hatched by “privateers.”

I wish the Sun Sentinel could see what a rainbow coalition of choice supporters (including hundreds of thousands of Florida parents) sees: A lever to bring more equity to a system that sorts by race and class. A response to a pandemic that has left many families frustrated with their schools. A spark for innovation that would be a boon for educators.

I also wish the Sun Sentinel could get past the same, tired myths.

Right-wing roots? The editorial references Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist who was indeed a brilliant champion of choice. But in these days of division, the pantheon of choice champions stands out for its diversity. Why leave out Rosa Parks? Or Cesar Chavez? Or Barack Obama? All backed nondistrict options.

Siphoning money? The vast majority of choice scholarships are worth far less than the per-pupil average in district schools. In the case of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, it’s 60 cents on the dollar. That’s why a stack of independent analyses shows savings to taxpayers — and none shows otherwise.

Constitutional end-run? We call this the “time machine myth.” Yes, the Florida Supreme Court struck down Florida’s first K-12 voucher (on dubious grounds) in 2006. But the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship was created in 2001. So how, Sun Sentinel, could the Legislature get “creative” and create a means of “financing the program indirectly” through tax credits — after the 2006 ruling?

The myths rattle on.

Since the Family Empowerment Scholarship was created in 2018, choice opponents have repeated the lie that it’s the first “voucher” funded directly from the state treasury.

No. For years, the state has spent billions of dollars, through multiple programs, helping parents pay for tuition at private preschools, K-12 schools and colleges. How odd that all of these other programs have just been overlooked.

The Sun Sentinel also wants readers to believe there’s no evidence of scholarship outcomes. But we do have evidence — most recently, a 2019 Urban Institute study that found tax-credit scholarship students (all low-income) are up to 43% more likely than their public-school peers to enroll in four-year colleges, and up to 20% more likely to earn bachelor’s degrees.

No fair-minded critic would pretend this information doesn’t exist. Or take cheap shots at executive salaries (at Step Up, they’re far below comparable nonprofits). Or suggest Step Up is somehow profiting (over the years we’ve raised $20 million in private money to carry out our mission).

Even if we disagree on the best path forward, don’t we all want the same thing? For public education to live up to its promise?

There’s no doubt Coons and Sugarman, the Berkeley law professors, wanted that in California. Their effort fizzled when U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan, the popular Democrat they enlisted to lead the ballot initiative, was murdered in Guyana by thugs working for the Peoples Temple cult.

Today, another tragedy is reshaping the debate. The pandemic showed millions more parents, from all walks of life, what it’s like to have no good options. Giving them more options isn’t “an attack on public schools.”

In the short term, it’s a thoughtful bid to help them in their time of need.

In the long run, it will mean even more families can shape the educational approach they know is best for their children.

Ron Matus is director of policy and public affairs at Step Up For Students, which administers five state education choice programs, and a former state education reporter for the Tampa Bay Times.

Holocaust survivor sees past in Capitol assault

Jan. 27 was International Holocaust Remembrance Day to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. On Jan. 6, we saw what can happen when hate, prejudice and rage get out of hand. This was another Kristallnacht. One man even wore a sweatshirt with the words “Camp Auschwitz.” Where is the outrage against Cruz, Hawley, Blackburn and the other 42 senators who voted against the constitutionality of the articles of impeachment against Trump? We saw the affects of the big lie in the 1930s and 1940s.

People say let’s move on and forget what happened on Jan. 6, for the sake of peace and unity. That’s what they said about Hitler. Ignore him and his crowd. He’s just a minor person. It will go away. We saw different. The Holocaust didn’t begin with killing. It began with words.

I left France in June 1942. Four months later, the Germans came into the two concentrations camps where we had been and rounded up all the people and shipped them to Auschwitz, where 90% were gassed upon arrival. Wake up, America.

Boynton Beach

It should be harder to vote

A headline in this paper said the GOP is looking to make voting tougher. [“GOP looking to make voting tougher,” Feb. 1] Absolutely! Tougher to vote without proper I.D., tougher for ineligibles to cast a ballot, tougher for dead people to vote, tougher to cheat. What’s wrong with making our elections scam-proof and beyond reproach? “There was no fraud” said all the liberal media, despite Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court demanding three days of counting, usurping the authority of their state legislature. In their constitution as well as the U.S. constitution, it clearly states that only a state legislature can change election law. Sorry folks, that’s fraud. Yes, the left used the pandemic to a fare-thee-well, with mail in ballots being sent without request and laxity on signatures and postmarks. As for showing I.D., we do it in Florida and there’s nothing racist or discriminatory about it. Tightening up the rules on voting would reinstate confidence in our elections.

Boca Raton

Leave people’s amendmentmaking ability alone

The Florida Senate controlled by Republicans are doing their damnedest to take away the people’s voice by making it harder to put state constitutional amendments on the state ballot. This initiative is taking away the voice of the Republican voter as well as the Democratic. I suggest a constitutional amendment be put on the ballot banning all lobbyists on the local and state level. Why should lobbyists be able to give politicians thousands of dollars for their special interests when I’m limited to a few hundred? The job of a lobbyist is to pay for political favors for a special interest of someone else. Let’s face it, of all those lobbyists in Tallahassee, not one of them represents the people of Florida, whether they are Republican or Democratic. [ ed. note: Neat idea, but the state constitution cannot run afoul of the U.S. Constitution, which this almost certainly would.]

Hallandale Beach