Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

Florida high court to consider constitutionality of vouchers

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » Latest Breaking News Donate to DU
 
Judi Lynn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jun-05-05 12:51 PM
Original message
Florida high court to consider constitutionality of vouchers
Posted on Sun, Jun. 05, 2005


ZIP code where you park at night.
Florida high court to consider constitutionality of vouchers

JACKIE HALLIFAX
Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Gov. Jeb Bush has been in office for 6 1/2 years, and a lawsuit over the school vouchers that he has championed has been in the courts nearly as long.

After bouncing from trial to appellate courts, the legal challenge to the only statewide voucher program operating nationally reaches the Florida Supreme Court this week. Attorneys will argue two constitutional issues in a packed courtroom as voucher supporters rally across the street.

"I would have thought it would be resolved by now, but I'm happy," Bush told reporters last week. "There have been children given this opportunity to go to a school that their parents believe is better for them."

The 1999 law has been found unconstitutional four times. Only one decision has favored the law. With the constitutionality of the law in the air, judges have allowed the state to give private school vouchers to students at public schools that have earned more than one failing grade from the state.
(snip/...)

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/11822181.htm

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
napi21 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jun-05-05 12:55 PM
Response to Original message
1. I don't understand this at all!
"judges have allowed the state to give private school vouchers to students at public schools that have earned more than one failing grade from the state."

To me, this sounds like, if a kid wants to go to a different school, no matter what the reason, all they have to do is fail a class????
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
tkmorris Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jun-05-05 01:10 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. No
They are talking about the SCHOOL receiving a failing grade, not the students. Every school here in Florida receives a grade based upon a number of factors. Schools that are deemed to be "failing" have to pass the next year or face budget cuts and other consequences, such as their best students getting vouchers to go elsewhere.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
proud2BlibKansan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jun-05-05 07:48 PM
Response to Reply #3
11. So they are using tax dollars for vouchers to send kids
to failing schools?

What would be the point, other than to take tax dollars away from public schools??

BINGO!!!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
whistle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jun-05-05 01:04 PM
Response to Original message
2. I wonder how many Jeb Bush appointees are on the Florida...
...Supreme Court? It looks like perhaps two of the seven:

<snip>
THE JOB

Supreme Court justices sit on Florida's highest court and rule on appeals from lower courts, death penalty cases, the validity of state statutes or constitutional provisions and other matters. Justices are appointed by the governor for six-year terms. Each justice makes $155,150 a year.

75. CHARLES T. WELLS* 1994-present; Merit retention vote 2008
76. HARRY LEE ANSTEAD* 1994-present; Mandatory retirement 2009
77. BARBARA J. PARIENTE* 1997-present; Merit retention vote 2006
78. R. FRED LEWIS 1999-present; Merit retention vote 2006
79. PEGGY A. QUINCE 1999-present; Merit retention vote 2006
80. RAOUL G. CANTERO, III 2002-present; Merit retention vote 2010
81. KENNETH B. BELL 2003-present; Merit retention vote 2010

<more>
<link> http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/justices/index.shtml

My own opinion is that school vouchers are an abomination, have been promoted under the veil of giving parents and and students a choice for better schools, but in reality are a way for the wealthy to withdraw their tax money from public schools and practice closet racism.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Judi Lynn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jun-05-05 01:22 PM
Response to Reply #2
4. You're basically right. The profile for Peggy A. Quince says
Edited on Sun Jun-05-05 01:24 PM by Judi Lynn
she was appointed by Lawton Chiles and Governor-elect Jeb Bush, so that could be 2 1/2, maybe.

Raoul Cantero is quite the achievement for Jeb Bush, his being the raised-in-Spain near his exiled U.S. puppet, brutal deposed dictator Fulgencio Batista's home, and his NEVER having served as a judge prior to his appointment to the Florida Supreme Court, and whose great career triumph was being the legal representative for Orlando Bosch, the hideous Cuban "exile" career bomber/murderer/terrorist.


Fulgencio Batista, grandson Supreme Court Justice Cantero with Bush, and Cantero's client, terrorist Bosch.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
flordehinojos Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jun-05-05 03:48 PM
Response to Reply #4
5. at the time that jeb bush appointed raul cantero to the fla. supreme court
Edited on Sun Jun-05-05 03:51 PM by flordehinojos
i wrote an opinion piece which i sent to the Tallahassee Democrat.

In the piece that i submitted, i made the point that raul cantero's nomination to the florida supreme court, being that he was the grandson of the most murderous dictator cuba had had, was a slap in the face of the many cubans whose relatives, friends, and family members had been assassinated by the batista forces during the most brutal dictatorship cuba had known, beginning with the assassination of frank país in l957, a student leader who opposed the batista regime, and ending on december 31, l958 with the assassination of Nacho Marti, another young student who opposed the Batista regime, whose family expected his return to his home town after the fall of Batista on January 1, l959, only to find out that he had been assassinated hours earlier by the batista forces on some road out in the Pinar del Rio province.

i also added that had it not been for the murderous fulgencio batista y zaldívar's dictatorship, fidel castro would never have happened--since he, fidel castro and his revolution, only happened and took force as a response, a looking for a way out of the batista dictatorship
.

the co-editor at the Tallahassee Democrat who received my piece, stated that he could not publish it, because he had known other cubans who had told him just how murderous fulgencio batista's regime had been--thus, my opinion piece was telling him nothing that he did not already know.

and, he added, that he could not publish it because his own grandfather had been someone who had run into trouble with the law, and that he, the editor, had never been judged on the actions of his grandfather, and he, the editor, was not about to judge raul cantero on the actions of his own grandfather.



and as i write this today, i am saying to myself, "running in trouble with the law" and being a cold blooded murderer who kills hundreds of people -- perhaps thousands of people-- so he can stay in POWER -- is not on the same level in the scale of things as just running in trouble with the law.

Secondly, giving POWER to the grandson of a man who committed so many crimes against the Cuban people, is also, not the same as not being judged by the actions of a grandfather who might have ended up in some county jail for who knows what reason. and nominating the grandson of a murderous dictator to the florida supreme court, is a slap in the face of so many cubans who had to flee cuba back then because of batista's brutal repression against them, and a slap in the face of those families who'd wake up on any morning in that tropical island to find out that their father, mother, brother, sister, husband, son, daughter, uncle, aunt, friend, or neighbor had been assassinated by the batista forces.

Yes... there were and are many cubans who opposed batista and his brutal regime--even when, shockingly, it is the right wing batistianos who have managed to seat themselves in our house of representatives, i.e, ileana ros-lehtinen, mario diaz-balart and lincoln diaz-balart...rabid right wingers and batista supporters all or descendants or rabid batista supporters.

and now ... raul cantero will have to pay back to bush what he has received received from bush:power and elevation... unless he has really learned what democracy is about, unless he has become a balanced man who will not misuse the power he has been given and who can use his thinking to rule in favor of the law and not in favor of the powerful ... unless--but in this bush infested world, i really have no faith anymore.



Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Judi Lynn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jun-05-05 04:11 PM
Response to Reply #5
6. What a shame Bush controls the editorial tone at the Tallahassee Democrat
Looks like he's got them under his thumb. The reasoning the co-editor gave you was laughable.

It's so easy to see the influence of these arrogant scums from Cuba "exile" elite in South Florida's politics. Wildly crooked and dirty. After they grew to dominate Miami, they eased the town into becoming first, the "terror capital of the United States" according to the F.B.I., and then multiple winners of the "poorest city with population over 500,000" according to the United States Census Bureau. They completely screwed it up, while boasting that they took a "sleepy little fishing village and turned it into a world class city."

Cantero won't become moral at this late stage. He owes everything to the American right-wing.

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Chauga Donating Member (121 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jun-05-05 04:18 PM
Response to Original message
7. I'm suprised that the Pukes haven't....
....been pushing vouchers more strongly. The Supreme Court gave them the constitutional OK a full three years ago but since then the issue has almost fallen off the map. I wonder if that's about to change.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
HockeyMom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jun-05-05 04:57 PM
Response to Reply #7
8. voucher's won't even pay for parochial school, let alone privates
here in the NE. I live in NY. Catholic schools run from about $3,000 for elementary to around %6,000 for HS. Vouchers will pay for that? FORGET private schools. Girl across the street was going to a private Montessori type school. Can you say $20,000+? This was about 5 years ago. Hell, my older daughter went to a private Kindergarten in Queens, 20 years ago and we were paying close to $2,000 a year back then.

Vouchers? I don't think so.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
LiberalFighter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jun-05-05 05:25 PM
Response to Original message
9. Florida Constitution
SECTION 3. Religious freedom.--There shall be no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting or penalizing the free exercise thereof. Religious freedom shall not justify practices inconsistent with public morals, peace or safety. No revenue of the state or any political subdivision or agency thereof shall ever be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
rainbow4321 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jun-05-05 05:40 PM
Response to Original message
10. Study: Charter schools not cheaper
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/stories/060305dnmetchartermoney.10cb1aba3.html


Charter school advocates for years have said their schools survive on less money per student than regular public schools. Charter leaders have proclaimed the funding gap for so long that it is accepted as fact among educators.

But it's not true, according to a new report commissioned by the Texas Education Agency.

Charter schools receive more money – not less – than traditional public schools on a per-student basis, according to the Texas Center for Educational Research, a nonprofit group that recently released its seventh evaluation of Texas charter schools.

The figures strike to the heart of the charter movement, which has presented itself to lawmakers as a cost-effective alternative to traditional public schools. Some charter advocates immediately questioned the legitimacy of the study.

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
proud2BlibKansan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jun-05-05 07:50 PM
Response to Reply #10
12. And the teachers are paid less n/t
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view 
this author's profile Click to add 
this author to your buddy list Click to add 
this author to your Ignore list Thu Apr 25th 2024, 12:49 PM
Response to Original message
Advertisements [?]
 Top

Home » Discuss » Latest Breaking News Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC