Marie-Claire Leman: Testimony Against Florida’s SB48
In Florida, SB 48 marks a move by the legislature to move vouchers to the next level by, among other things, turning the traditional voucher programs into education savings accounts. It seems unlikely that anything is going to stop this train, but parent and Fund Education Now associate Marie-Claire Leman testified against the bill anyway. Her remarks are short and to the point, addressing two major concerns with the new bill.
1) The first is fiscal responsibility. I would disagree with Senator Diaz: the financial burden will not be the same. With this bill, we are increasing access to vouchers and ESAs to new students, students who were not already in public schools. And the number of vouchers and ESAs being increased means that new money is going to fund some of these vouchers. In a year where we have heard that cuts will need to be made across the board and to expect them in education, it seems misguided to increase spending by expanding these vouchers.