COME CHECK OUT The Best Private School in Broward County
It"s crunch time at the University of Florida as white nationalist Richard Spencer shows up to deliver his spiel. And President Donald Trump is dealing with the fallout from CallGate. We"ll get into all of that, but first, let"s talk about Florida"s private school voucher system, which could maybe use a little work.
Is anybody keeping track of anything? The Orlando Sentinel is out with a major investigation into private schools that accept state money in the form of vouchers, both to take in needy children and those with special needs. These schools have taken in almost $1 billion in state money with almost no oversight from the state. That has led to some severe consequences. One school that repeatedly violated what few rules there are in place for schools that take this money nevertheless received $5.6 million from the state. And the investigation found widespread problems in schools that take state money to accept children with special needs.
That was pretty familiar to me. Back in 2014, I called all 138 private schools in Broward County that accepted McKay Scholarships, the state"s voucher program that allows private schools to take state money for tuition of children with special needs. I found that 83 of them did not have a full-time special education teacher on staff, much less the security measures and other factors necessary to provide a safe and educational space for special needs children.
Nor do they have to -- these are private schools, free from state oversight, despite the fact that Florida keeps shoveling money at them. The Orlando Sentinel has found it is a problem now. The Sun Sentinel found it was a problem three years ago. We can assume it"s been a problem pretty much since day one.
After my story came out, I asked then-Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, about it. He"s term-limited out now, but back then, you couldn"t find a bigger advocate for special needs kids in the Legislature. Gardiner has a son with Down syndrome, and he made it his top priority in the Senate for the state to do more for special needs children. But when I asked him about the lack of oversight, he simply said that families of kids with special needs are very active in their children"s education, and if one school doesn"t cut it, they"ll know and will move them on. No state oversight necessary, apparently.
Point being, if things weren"t going to change with Gardiner in charge of the Florida Senate, I"m pessimistic that they"ll change now. We"ll just keep shoveling money at private schools that are totally ill-equipped to handle children with special needs because, hey, school choice.
White glower: White nationalist Richard Spencer is speaking at the University of Florida today, the Orlando Sentinel"s Jeff Weiner reports. Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency, the whole campus is on alert, and there are competing Facebook groups organizing counter protest by declaring this"Ignore Richard Spencer Day" or"No Nazis at UF" day. The pull between either ignoring or protesting Spencer is at the heart of these pages, but no matter how many choose to ignore the man, enough will actively protest to turn this into just the sort of circus that Spencer is likely hoping for.
CRC not what it"s cracked up to be: The Constitution Revision Commission meets every 20 years to propose changes to the state constitution. It just so happens to be meeting this year. The commission is one of just a few ways, along with a petition drive and an act of the Legislature, to get proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot, where they can be enshrined in the constitution by a vote of 60 percent of Floridians.
But the News Service of Florida"s Lloyd Dunkelberger reports that, despite receiving some 2,000 proposals from the public, commissioners have approved just six of them to be heard by the full commission, where a vote of 22 out of 37 members will send them to the ballot. Critics such as the ACLU and the League of Women Voters have blasted the commission for ignoring public proposals, but there"s a little more going on than that. As Dunkelberger reports, many of the public proposals overlap. Plus, if you look at the history of previous commissions, this year"s is about in line so far. The 1977-78 commission put eight proposed amendments on the ballot, while the 1997-98 commission included nine.
Doors staying shut at Hollywood Hills: The state Agency for Health Care Administration has moved to permanently close the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, the Sun Sentinel"s Megan O"Matz reports. Fourteen people died after the nursing home lost power due to Hurricane Irma, and the resulting loss of air conditioning turned the nursing home into a death trap. Meanwhile, the nursing home billed one of the deceased on what would have been her 100th birthday, the Sun Sentinel"s Erika Pesantes reports, because sometimes life is just cruel.
Strike two: The Broward Legislative Delegation met Wednesday to approve local bills to be heard in Tallahassee. The news to come out of there that will actually affect Browidians (Browardites? Browardese?) is a bill that will allow the Broward County Children"s Services Council to raise taxes by half a percent. Some residents could also see a lot more names on their ballots with the move to make water control district members elected positions. All of that and more is in my story.
But the reason I"m calling this section"Strike Two" is because the delegation also shot down a proposed annexation of part of Southwest Ranches by Pembroke Pines, the latest in a long war between the two cities that currently involves three active lawsuits. And that failed annexation followed a failed annexation local bill at the Palm Beach Legislative Delegation, which took place Tuesday.
The lesson appears to be that if you want to annex or de-annex, you"d better have all parties on board before going to the delegation.
CallGate: So, President Donald Trump, after receiving criticism for not contacting families of dead soldiers, responded that he always does so, and will do so for the families of four soldiers killed in Niger two weeks ago. He then supposedly called up the family of the late Sgt. La David Johnson of South Florida and told Johnson"s pregnant widow that the sergeant"knew what he signed up for."
That"s according to U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, who was with the widow at the time.
Trump said that he never said those words, and that he had proof of it. (That proof is still forthcoming.) The woman who raised Johnson said that, yes, Trump disrespected her son. Trump is now pushing back against Wilson and the dead soldier"s mother"s claims on all fronts, the Associated Press"s Jonathan Lemire and Jennifer Kay report.
But other problems with Trump"s treatment of the families of soldiers killed in the line of duty have started to surface. First, Trump"s claim that he always contacts such families is simply not true, the Associated Press"s Calvin Woodward and Tom Davies report. They have multiple families to confirm this.
And of those who were contacted, one father says Trump promised him $25,000, which, per the Washington Post, had not yet arrived.
DMZ-you later: The Washington Post"s David Nakamura reports that the South Korean government and the U.S. State Department is advising the Trump administration to steer the president away from the Demilitarized Zone when he makes a planned Asian trip next month. A trip to the DMZ has been a regular feature of almost every administration since Ronald Reagan, but tensions are particularly high right now, and South Korea and State worry that such a trip would not end well.
Remember this guy? There"s ol" Barack Obama, back to political life. The Associated Press"s Jesse Holland reports that Obama will make stops in New Jersey and Virginia to campaign for Democratic gubernatorial candidates. Polling has the Democrat with a comfortable lead in New Jersey, and an uncomfortable lead in Virginia.
Looking for a promotion: Republican Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie is in the race to replace Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams, the Sun Sentinel"s Aric Chokey reports. Abrams is himself a former mayor of Boca Raton. The Boca Mayor to County Commissioner of District 4 pipeline isn"t too surprising, given that the overwhelming bulk of voters in the district are in Boca. The district also includes Highland Beach, Golf, Gulf Stream, Briny Breezes and Ocean Ridge, which have a combined population of about 7,400 people.
Going green: Boynton Beach has taken the first step toward allowing medical marijuana dispensaries in city limits, the Sun Sentinel"s Brooke Baitinger reports. If approved, the city would join Lake Worth and unincorporated Palm Beach County in allowing dispensaries. Delray Beach has banned them, and Boca Raton is still mulling over what to do.
Speaking of Delray Beach: With the news that Mayor Cary Glickstein won"t serve a third term in office, the Sun Sentinel"s Ryan Van Velzer reports that the race to succeed Glickstein is wide open.
Sorry about the victim blaming. Our bad: After the Sun Sentinel"s Scott Travis reported that the Palm Beach County School District had defended several abuse claims by partially blaming the abused children, the Palm Beach County School Board has apologized and told outside counsel that such a defense would no longer be allowed. Board members said they were unaware that such a defense had been attempted in these cases.
Drill, baby, drill! An administrative law judge has overturned the Department of Environmental Protection"s rejection of a plan to drill for oil in the Everglades, the Sun Sentinel"s David Fleshler reports. There are still many legal hurdles to jump, but the ruling is a big step toward Kanter Real Estate LLC being allowed to drill at a site about six miles west of Miramar.
Steven Cavan
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