Orlando Sentinel reporters looked into Florida’s unchecked voucher-school system to see how $1 billion worth of public money is being used.
What they were looking for was anything that may hinder the education or ability for students to enroll into a school of their choosing. What was found? More than 80 schools with policies that were blatant discrimination. Schools were found to have many of these awful policies online that stated the schools will deny admission to LGBT students, expel or discipline students who reveal they’re LGBT, refuse children that have LGBT parents, and will not accept some students with mild disabilities.
But Florida green-lights discrimination against LGBT citizens. In hiring. In housing. And yes, in schooling. – Orlando Sentinel
Not only did the Orlando Sentinel look at posted policies, they found specific cases where discrimination happened.One such example found a child of a lesbian couple (a firefighter married to U.S. Air Force veteran) was told they were unfit to be educated, because, well, lesbians were their parents, and the child would need to go elsewhere for an education. But if they were unfit, where would they go? And should that school still receive state scholarship money if they cannot educate a child of a lesbian? How would they feel if they lost those funds, of which they received $371,000 last year.
The Orlando Sentinel has been looking into the voucher system for years so finding atrocities like this is nothing new. They’ve been finding forged safety reports, incorrect curriculum, unqualified teachers,some who hadn’t even finished high school themselves, unpaid teachers, abusive teachers, and so on.
Not all Florida voucher schools are evil and discriminatory. Many, even Christian options, accept all students for it’s the right thing to do.
What does the governor of Florida say? Well, he sounds like we’re looking for a gay wedding cake. If they don’t want to make your cake, shop elsewhere. No, he didn’t say that but the Orlando Sentinel stated:
And Gov. Ron DeSantis and leaders in the Republican-controlled Legislature are fine with it.
They say the state doesn’t directly fund discrimination, since parents choose the schools. But the state chooses which schools are allowed to take the vouchers.
The politicians also say people of faith should be free to discriminate if that’s part of their belief system.
Discrimination is still the thing to do in The South!
In May of last year, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill creating a new voucher program for thousands of students to attend private and religious schools using taxpayer dollars traditionally spent on public schools. And we guess that’s an okay thing? With private and religious schools being able to “legally” discriminate, unlike public schools, yes, there will be problems.
The Orlando Sentinel is not letting this soap box mellow out and we are thankful for that. They wrote about the issue last year and “identified schools that refused to accept LGBT students, Step Up For Students — the nonprofit that made about $18 million administrating vouchers that year — went on the attack, claiming I was trying to hurt ‘disadvantaged children.’ The group’s president, Doug Tuthill, penned an op-ed that tried to downplay the issue, claiming Step Up found only 38 schools with anti-gay discrimination policies.”
Phew! Thank goodness, we thought it was a big issue. But 38 schools … that’s an acceptable number, right? WRONG!
For more on this topic, head over to the Orlando Sentinel for their private video detailing this discriminatory practice that seems to be sanctioned by the state involving public funds.
Source: orlandosentinel.com