Critics say voucher law will hurt public schools — yet 3 School Board members at signing
When Gov. Ron DeSantis’ took the stage at a Catholic all-boys private school in Miami to sign into law one of the largest private school voucher programs in the country, the Miami Dade School Board chairwoman and two board members were in attendance.
Mari Tere Rojas, the chairwoman, and board members Roberto Alonso and Mary Blanco took photos with the governor, shortly after DeSantis touted the new law, HB 1, which will soon make every school-aged child in Florida eligible for vouchers regardless of the family’s income levels.
Public school advocates say the law, which goes into effect July 1, will hurt the state’s public education system, but in an Instagram post featuring his photo with the governor, Alonso praised the law: “The morning started with a historic moment as our Governor signed the ‘School Choice Bill,’ which removes income eligibility requirements and empowers parents to take an active role in their child’s education. It’s a major win for our community and our children.”
READ MORE: DeSantis signs school voucher expansion into law — what it will mean to families, schools
Attending events alongside elected officials is nothing new for school board members, but their support of a voucher expansion program that public school advocates say could shift district money to private schools is at odds with the board’s own legislative priorities for the year.
In November, the board voted unanimously to “oppose any further expansion of the Family Empowerment Scholarship (FES) or similar voucher programs.” The board also supported capping the annual voucher increase.
Although the exact impact of the school voucher expansion remains unknown, the law — and board members’ attendance at the bill signing — has raised concerns from some who worry about the district’s future financial stability amid overall declining student enrollment and the phasing out of COVID-19 stimulus funds.
Rojas’ support for a bill “that would likely divert dollars from public schools to private institutions demonstrates she no longer has the interest of Miami-Dade public school children,” said Mina Hosseini, executive director of P.S. 305, a nonprofit organization that engages families with the school district.
Her attendance suggests she’s “advancing an agenda that is in direct contradiction to her commitment as a public school servant, and her values as a lifelong public schools educator and advocate,” Hosseini added.
Rojas, in an email to the Herald, said she attends many events, including the Youth Mental Health Summit with Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava last month, and added that she does “everything possible to be able to be present” at events when invited by an elected official and “has nothing to do with any motivation of political agenda.”
She did not respond to a question asking if she still agreed with the board’s legislative program she approved in November, but instead said that “these are the board’s priorities, they are not an individual’s priorities.” Rojas also said “it is important to report some of the benefits of HB1, signed by the governor, some of which are priorities of the board.”
Alonso and Blanco were not on the board when it voted in favor of the year’s legislative priorities. Blanco, whom DeSantis appointed in January, did not respond to phone calls seeking comment. She’s a guidance counselor at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, an all-girls Catholic high school in southwest Miami-Dade.
When asked about the apparent disconnect between the board’s position and their attendance, Alonso, whom DeSantis endorsed in the August primary, said he represents all students, teachers and parents. Parents in his district want choice and want him to support the measure, noting he campaigned on a parents’ right to chose what’s best for their children, he said.
READ MORE: Mental health curriculum is the latest target in Miami-Dade schools
Budget concerns are separate issue
The signing of the bill, which public school advocates say will hurt an already underfunded public education system, came just two days before the Miami-Dade School Board’s first budget hearing for the 2023-24 school year. At that meeting, the district’s Chief Financial Officer Ron Steiger foreshadowed significant financial challenges if no changes were made.
The district in recent years has seen an overall decrease in student enrollment and fewer state dollars. (During the pandemic, from 2019-20 to 2020-21, the district’s enrollment fell from more than 347,000 to 334,400 students, a reduction of nearly 12,700 students.) Moreover, federal stimulus dollars are set to expire. The district received about $1.2 billion in stimulus funds; its current budget is $7 billion.
According to Steiger, the financial impacts of HB1 and the district’s overall budget are still two separate issues, although how the law is implemented, “matters a lot,” he said.
Since House Speaker Paul Renner introduced the voucher bill in January, public school advocates have argued the initiative will divert money from public schools without having many of the accountability requirements that traditional schools must meet.
Following DeSantis’ bill signing, Florida Education Association (FEA) President Andrew Spar said in a statement the now-law “will siphon billions away from the schools [...and] will leave children with fewer resources in their already underfunded classrooms and fewer teachers and staff to meet their needs.”
At a hearing about the bill in Tallahassee before it passed, Janielle Murphy, P.S. 305 board member who also sits on a district budget subcommittee, said the bill will “defund our public schools.” She told lawmakers she was “afraid for the shell of the public schools that will be remaining. Who will be left to educate my son?”
Others argue the bill will benefit affluent families already attending private schools. At Christopher Columbus, where the bill was signed, tuition is $15,400.
Karla Hernandez, Miami-Dade teachers union president, in a statement last month said the bill “amounts to welfare for many wealthy parents who spend tens of thousands of dollars a year on private education and will now use this to subsidize that education.”
It is unclear how much the law is going to cost and how much money could be diverted from public school funding.
The budget proposals for the Senate and the House differ, with the Senate budgeting $2.2 billion. The House is projecting it will cost about $1.87 billion, though a final amount is unknown because it is calculating the expansion as a per student amount, and it’s unknown how many students will take advantage of the program.
