FOLIO
The Florida Senate voted along party lines to allow teachers to carry guns into the classrooms. Then they voted to give extra funding to charter schools whose administrators opt to allow guns in their classrooms. SB 7030 is on the Florida Senate calendar for April 24th. This is the third reading so this is the LAST chance to get this bill amended before the GOP dominated Florida Senate passes this bill.
Please ask your Florida Senator to amend SB 7030 so that the taxpayers are NOT giving the charter schools extra taxpayer money to arm their teachers. And please make sure the taxpayers will not be liable for accidents if a charter school decides to arm their teachers. SB 7030 gives the charter schools the option of arming their teachers BUT the taxpayer should not be forced to fund that decision.
Funding for school safety should not be limited to armed personnel. The school district should have more flexibility in deciding how to use funds to secure their schools. Please advocate for amending SB 7030 to allow the school districts to spend the money however they choose to reduce risks.
The GOP dominated legislature wants the school districts to have the option of letting teachers bring guns into their classrooms. Most school districts are going to choose NOT to let teachers carry guns while they are teaching. Please ask your legislator to advocate for amending SB 7030 to delete the language that says that the appropriated funding must be used exclusively for weapons to be brought into the classroom.
Panic buttons or metal detectors might be a better use of the funds. Please let each school district decide how to use the money.
On another note, the per student funding that the legislators are giving to charter schools and private schools should not be more than 70% of what the neighborhood schools get. Neighborhood schools act as hurricane shelters, adult schools, parks for the neighborhood, etc. Don’t most parents want their kids to go to a school close to their home?. Please ask our legislators to make all the neighborhood schools GREAT before they subsidize the private schools with my taxpayer money. Also please ask our legislators to make all the anti-bullying and anti-discrimination rules that apply to the neighborhood schools also apply to the charter and private schools receiving voucher money. If a charter school or private school receiving public funds doesn’t keep the student the whole year, then they should refund the money they received. The taxpayers fund the neighborhood school system which needs to be ready to accept everyone and anyone. The charter schools and private schools are supplemental to the neighborhood school system. Please ask our legislators to make all the neighborhood schools GREAT before they subsidize the private schools with my taxpayer money.
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