Joe Henderson
If you have several hours, or days, with nothing to do, you might want to plow into HB 7055, the ever-expanding education bill that is steamrolling through the Florida House.
This is the latest Republican move to reform – Democrats would say ruin – public education in Florida. It is 198 pages of legalese, the kind of document that keeps lawyers and lobbyists employed, and it is 89 pages longer than it was before – but probably not as long as it eventually will be.
Opponents are combing through it for legal land mines as we speak. I am sure they will find many.
The bill hits the usual GOP talking points about public schools vs. charter schools, with a few novel ideas.
It would allow high-performing principals to serve multiple schools instead of just one, which proves the lawmaker who came up with this idea has never actually spent time in the front office of a public school.
Keeping one school running smoothly is a great accomplishment these days, what with screaming parents, lawyers at the ready, law enforcement on call, cranky teachers, idiotic demands from the downtown office and Tallahassee, and all the other daily joys associated with that job.
A measure like this proposal is the surest way to turn a high-performing leader into a burnt shell casing looking into alternative career options.
The bill would authorize $400 scholarships for third-graders struggling with reading, presumably to get additional help. That’s not a bad idea by itself, as long as there are sufficient safeguards for how the money is spent.
There also is an attempt to give victims of bullying more options.
Let’s just boil all this down, though.
Not content with the sweeping education changes jammed through the Legislature during the special session last year, Republicans are back for more.
We don’t even know the impact of all the stuff they did in 2017, and now there is this bill approaching War & Peace length that would further disrupt the way children in this state receive their education.
Well, we knew this was coming. Speaker Richard Corcoran promised he would be back for more this year after last year’s contentious battle, so HB 7055 is no surprise. And with a solid march-in-step Republican majority in both chambers, there is a strong likelihood that most, if not all, of these measures will get through.
Democrats have screamed – well, squeaked – their opposition, but there is nothing they can do about it.
Teachers unions will holler, educators will picket and protest, and so what? Until Democrats can figure out a way to bring balance to Tallahassee, they are a footwipe for an emboldened GOP determined to fundamentally change the way Florida taxes, spends, educates, and conducts daily life.
This further reminds everyone that Florida essentially is a one-party system right now, and that party is winning.
