Democrats call for executive order from Bush on vouchers

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Fri, Jun. 04, 2004

Democrats call for executive order from Bush on vouchers

Associated Press


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Four Democratic state lawmakers Friday said Gov. Jeb Bush should issue an executive order tightening oversight of Florida's two largest voucher programs.

The programs that began three years ago "have morphed into a taxpayer-funded free-for-all for unscrupulous individuals that will continue to thrive so long as the system goes unchecked," said Sen. Ron Klein of Boca Raton, minority leader in the upper chamber.

The programs are supposed to help children with disabilities and children from poor families. In the last year, they've been plagued by questions and concerns about misuse of the voucher funds and the quality of staff.
(snip)

Without an executive order, it will be "yet another year for millions of tax dollars going out the door into private hands without proper accountability measures in place," Sen. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, told reporters.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/8841676.htm
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[teryang]

1. More Bushco fraud

When the repuke leadership admit's there's a problem, there's a problem.

Improve education my ass. This is the payoff for the phony education entities profiting off this ideological legislation.

[R Hickey]

2. Bush's cronys are lining their pockets with money meant for schools.

Public schools are just another cash cow for Bush's crew of thieves to rob.

"Like taking candy from a baby," these Enron-carpet-baggers laugh.

The only thing Bush's crime family will ever actually build, are prisons, to hold the increasing numbers of Bush's enemies.

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. Jeb's got a high incentive to drag his feet on this one.

I always believed that the voucher system was just a rebate to Republican campaign donors. I've seen it before at a local level. A private business in the city gets a $500.00 donation from the city for no real governmental purpose. Then you look back at the campaign donations and notice that he and his Rotary Club neighbors, who are connected to a certain candidate, donated in that exact amount. Pretty surly.

[soup]

4. Florida's Kill the Public School Programs

roll on.

The Palm Beach Post has a series of articles investigating the voucher shenanigans dating from April of last year.

As far as I'm concerned, they could have started in 2000, when John Kirtley made the Florida Republican top donors list with $105,000.00 -and an agenda- that's turned into an $88,000,000.00 a year pocket-lining fiasco with very little oversight.

It's difficult for me to have a rational, calm discussion about the voucher programs in Florida and the way they're run because what appears to me to be the systematic dismantling of public education in Florida just makes me livid.

The good news is, this Senator Ron Klein is fighting the insanity every step of the way. Seems like whenever there's another scandal or question, his name pops up as one of the good guys.

Voucher News Archive:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/vouchers/archive.html

A People for the American Way search for 'Florida vouchers' brings up 132 matches:
http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=2939

I'll admit the National School Boards Association is not exactly the least biased organization in the world, but there are some good studies and articles in this list found at their site.