On Monday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a sweeping school choice package into law in the Sunshine State. The GOP legislative majorities in Tallahassee passed the legislation in recent days, then the governor implemented the new policy at a celebratory ceremony, with a stroke of the pen. The law expands eligibility for school choice scholarships. "The scholarships previously had income caps, but priority will still be given to students who are low-income. Students whose household incomes are less than 185 percent of the federal poverty level, or roughly $51,000 for a family of four, will be taken care of first," National Review reports. "The funds can be used by parents for an array of education-related expenses in addition to tuition." In case you missed it, here are the governor's full remarks at the bill signing event in Miami:
Teachers union bosses like the slow-witted and dishonest Randi Weingarten, who inadvertently quasi-endorsed school choice earlier this month, had been on the warpath for weeks trying to demagogue this bill. They failed. School choice proponents are applauding a string of major policy wins across the country. The momentum is real:
Florida will become the 6th state to enact universal school choice in just two years once Governor Ron DeSantis signs this bill into law.
— Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) March 23, 2023
1. West Virginia
2. Arizona
3. Iowa
4. Utah
5. Arkansas
6. Florida
The dominoes are falling.
A school choice revolution has ignited.
Other states are actively considering a new paradigm in which students, rather than systems, are funded. One such debate is happening in Georgia, where a Democratic legislator recently stated the quiet part out loud, demeaning less-educated parents as too stupid to understand the interests of their own children:
Here is GA Rep. Lydia Glaize (D) claiming parents are too stupid to make decisions about their children's education as public schools force woke propaganda on students.
— Brian Kilmeade (@kilmeade) March 21, 2023
Guess who sent her kids to private school? (Hint: She did) pic.twitter.com/OjQQbiZ1no
According to her hypocritical, elitist thinking, parents who lack certain diplomas should be regarded as morons who can't be trusted to decide if their kids deserve options other than failing or under-performing government schools. The option for private education is wide open for affluent people, of course, but many Democrats adamantly believe less fortunate people's children should have no recourse beyond the union-dominated monopoly they defend for political reasons. Ironically, many of the people responsible for locking kids out of schools for more than a year during COVID (based on tribal superstition masquerading as "Science") are the same people who want to lock disadvantaged kids in poor-performing schools. A harmful lose-lose. But it's all for progress, you see. Thankfully, it's not always a partisan issue. Civil rights shouldn't be partisan, as this flashback clip powerfully demonstrates:
"The only people who are opposing school choice today are the same people who have choice."
— Media Research Center (@theMRC) May 2, 2021
Democrat state Senator @JustinTWayne of Nebraska gives a MUST SEE speech in support of school choice. pic.twitter.com/pT1OhpwPWL
The powerful and wealthy people who oppose school choice on cynical political grounds aren't opposed to choice for their own children, of course. Just other people's. That's how the racket works. That profound unfairness -- might we also call it a problematic lack of 'equity'? -- is now getting mitigated and rectified across the country. In Georgia, where Ms. Glaize is busy looking down her nose at the poors, conservatives were waiting on an indication from GOP Gov. Brian Kemp about where he stands on a bill under consideration. He gave that indication on the same day DeSantis signed the school choice expansion to his south:
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Just in: @GovKemp backs a measure to fund a $6,500 per student yearly voucher for private school tuition or expenses. He tells @EWErickson the measure the Senate passed is a “good bill” and urged the House to approve. “I’m hopeful we can get this over the finish line.” #gapol
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) March 27, 2023
That was news. Momentum is building. The Overton Window on this issue set has well and truly shifted. School choice may also be coming to Texas soon, with Gov. Greg Abbott's blessing. Coming full circle, I'll leave you with this education policy update out of Florida:
In just 3 months, the Florida Seal of Excellence Endorsement program already has more than 34,000 teachers signed up to learn how they can equip the next generation of leaders to be better citizens with a comprehensive understanding of the foundations of the American republic. pic.twitter.com/yM4ELsFRM4
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 26, 2023
