Let's get some democracy for the people. Amend the U.S. Constitution to state that corporations do not have the same constitutional rights as people and that money is not a form of protected free speech. Manasota Move To Amend is working on this in Sarasota and Manatee Counties.
POPS (Protect Our Public Schools) spoke in front of the Sarasota County Legislative Delegation, requesting that they actively work to rescind HB 7069. There were many school privatization provisions stuffed into this bill. For example, the Schools of Hope provision steers $140 million in education funding to charter school companies that agree to turn around low-performing schools. Charter companies agreeing to take on these schools do not have to serve all students and will receive more money than public schools. They may also hire teachers who lack state certification. The irony of this provision is that many charter schools, themselves, fail to perform well. For example, in 2016, 71 charter schools in Florida received a grade of D or below. Giving charter schools more power and funding than locally elected school boards smacks of corporate power and lends itself to the abuse of such power.
