A group of community, faith and parental choice leaders is targeting the groups challenging the largest private school choice program in the nation with a simple message: Drop the lawsuit.
The Save Our Scholarships Coalition announced its campaign Wednesday with a full-page ad in the Tallahassee Democrat. It opposes the lawsuit that the Florida School Boards Association, the Florida Education Association and other groups filed Aug. 28 in an effort to end Florida’s 13-year-old tax credit scholarship program.
On a conference call for reporters Wednesday, Rev. H.K. Matthews, a civil rights leader from Pensacola, pointed out that the majority of the 69,000 low-income students participating in the scholarship program are minorities.
“I cannot for the life of me fathom why these education professionals are willing to jeopardize the well-being of the state’s poorest students,” he said. “The truth is that wealthy children have always had choices.”
Matthews is among 60 African-American ministers supporting the coalition, which also includes other faith groups, Hispanic educators, Florida parents and two national parental choice groups – the Black Alliance for Educational Options and the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options. The scholarship program is administered by nonprofit scholarship funding organizations like Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog.
The lawsuit argues the program should be shut down because it creates a “parallel” education system that competes with public schools, in violation of the state constitution.
“What is at risk is far too precious for me to just stand by,” said Faith Manuel, a mother of three from Ormond Beach who participated in the conference call.
One of Manuel’s children attends Calvary Christian Academy Academy with the help of a scholarship. Another attends a public school. Her oldest son, Davion, also attended Calvary on a tax credit scholarship and now is excelling at Florida State College in Jacksonville.
Like other backers of the campaign, she said she supports the public school system.
“For us, it’s all about having educational options – having a school environment that works best for each child,” she said.
