Here's Why I Disagree With Expending $21,766 of Taxpayer Dollars for Dues

Although I appreciate the coverage this issue received in today’s Pensacola News Journal, there are numerous, important reasons why I do not want to be associated with the FSBA anymore.  There are numerous reasons why this year we need to wait before sending $21,766.00 in dues payments to FSBA ---via a simple “majority rules” vote---- three and on-half months early.

But first let’s start with my continuing dissatisfaction with FSBA.

Early on in my school board tenure, I attended most of their functions.  Problem for me was, the events were out of town, expensive, and frankly not really beneficial.  Nevertheless, I continued to participate in FSBA functions such as platform development and as the legislative liaison for Escambia County for two years.

Problem was, none of the fiscally conservative, pro-student, pro-school choice, pro-parent positions many board members put forth (myself included) ever made it on to FSBA’s platform.

Minority voices within FSBA (Conservatives) were not being heard, they were being drowned out.

FSBA’s platform essentially mirrored the platform positions of the entrenched special interests, unions, and the “Educrats”—aka the guardians of the status quo.

So I stopped attending the high-priced junkets to Orlando and Tampa to save taxpayer dollars.  I started doing my own research, independently working directly with legislators---because as an individual board member representing and elected by a conservative single member district, I felt this was my duty to my constituency.

But in order to be congenial with the other board members and at their request—I attended the FSBA Master Board training in 2009-2010, at a cost of thousands of dollars, and became “Master Board Trained.”

But I felt the lion’s share of the training was weak, and most of what they imparted was common-sense, garden variety information most of us already knew.

Fast Forward to 2012:  I’m the vice chairman of the Escambia County School Board, and I am with then Board Chair Patty Hightower in the office of one of the most powerful and well-respected members of the Florida Senate, discussing pending education legislation.  “Of all the groups that come here to Tallahassee to lobby us, out of all of these groups, I can think of none that is more ineffective than FSBA” stated this leader.   And the conversation devolved from there…but in a nutshell….his issue was my issue.  FSBA was taking adversarial stances against the legislators and 

Why Are We Being Asked to Pay FSBA Dues ($21,766 Yearly) Four Months Before they are Due?

It is a very simple question that will be asked at this Friday morning's special workshop.

My AAA membership runs through July 1st, I pay the renewal at the end of June.

My wife's magazine subscription expires at the end of may, so I pay the renewal in early to mid May?

Who in the heck pays a yearly membership renewal four months early?  Why are we being asked to pay FSBA's exorbitant invoice four months early this year??

I have a sneaking suspicion it is because there is a bill that has already passed overwhelmingly in the House and is on the Special Order Calendar for coming Tuesday in the Senate which would overhaul the way FSBA collects dues statewide.

SB 1426 (HB1155) -- Sponsored in the House by Eric Eisnaugle, Sponsored in the Senate by Kelli Stargel and Co-Sponsored in the Senate by our own Sen. Don Gaetz--will take effect upon becoming law and it will allow individual board members the option to "opt-out" of paying their individual portion of dues to membership organizations such as FSBA.

I have passionately championed the concept of this bill over the last two years in Tallahassee, locally, and statewide because business as usual and the status-quo must be challenged here!  FSBA joined the unions and other special interests recently, suing the state, the Governor and the Legislature challenging duly enacted legislation that benefitted 70,000 poor, primarily minority students.  They were using taxpayer money to fight Tallahassee leadership over OUR TAXPAYER MONEY. It is ridiculous!

Not only this, but FSBA has been unresponsive to conservative ideas put forth by conservative board members like me for a decade---and they charge a literal fortune for dues, collecting more than $1.2 Million in Taxpayer money yearly just for base level dues membership from School Boards around Florida.

Then, to add injury to insult, every other training and professional development conference they offer comes at an additional charge to taxpayers.  Gravy over the top, at your expense, Mr. Taxpayer.

Enough!

Some training (yearly ethics training) is offered for free by other School Board associations in Florida--yet the FSBA continues to charge their MEMBERS $155.00 each to receive their

Surrender: FSBA Votes to #Drop the Suit!

In a stunning reversal from just less than one year ago, the Florida School Boards Association's board of directors has voted 21-9 to drop out of the lawsuit challenging Florida's tax credit scholarship program that benefits nearly 70,000 poor, mostly minority students.

A few weeks back a circuit court judge in Tallahassee threw the case out, and the odds were long that an appeal would be successful.

Yesterday's action leaves just the FEA labor union and the NAACP as the two entities still involved in this suit.

They can either continue to fight, which I'm certain their lawyers will want to do, or they can drop the suit as well.

If they stick with the lawsuit, they will have to win the appeal and then fork over more legal fees to keep the fight going even in the face of long odds.

In New Hampshire and Arizona, the same sort of tax-credit scholarship programs have successfully fended off challenges in court.

Florida's outcome will be no different, and the winners this time will be students and families and the losers will be FEA and NAACP.

FSBA, to their credit, obviously saw this "writing on the wall" and wisely extricated themselves from this badly flawed, destructive lawsuit.

Struggle over $21,000.00 Fee Highlights the Need For Individualized Board Member Dues Payments

The Volusia County School Board decided, by a 3-2 vote, to continue their board's membership with the Florida School Boards Association.  Along with that decision comes a $21,000.00. invoice payable for this one year membership for the board.  From the Daytona Beach News Journal:

"Political divisions between Volusia County School Board members underscored a debate Tuesday night about whether to renew the district’s membership with a statewide organization that provides training, lobbying and legal services.  The board ultimately voted 3-2 to remain part of the Florida School Boards Association, with board members John Hill and Melody Johnson casting the dissenting votes, during a regular meeting Tuesday night. Hill and Johnson balked at the $21,000 annual membership fee and the organization’s stance against a popular state program that diverts

FASA Drops out of FSBA, Union Lawsuit against School Choice.

This Fantastic news was reported late yesterday in numerous media outlets, and I think this is a good start.

The rest of the groups that are pushing this suit in court should re-evaluate their positions and consider following the lead of FASA.

If we truly care about EVERY child and want to speak with ONE voice, then we need to all be pulling from the same side of the rope, supporting ALL children, in public, private, virtual, and alternative learning environments--and we ought to support the choices parents make about what sort of learning environment is best for each child.

If we want to proclaim we are the voice of education since 1930 then we ought to join everyone here in the 21st century ---and read the polling data that clearly demonstrates that the majority of Floridians support school choice!

It should always be about students, parents, and  tax-payers FIRST--not adult economic interests!

From an article in yesterday's  RedefinED :

"One of the original groups that signed on to the lawsuit last August challenging Florida’s tax credit scholarship program has announced it will no longer be a party to the case.  The Florida Association of School Administrators announced its decision to withdraw in a statement posted on its website and first reported by the Gradebook.

'Having made our position clear with regards to tax credit scholarships through our participation in the lawsuit thus far, it is time to dedicate the resources of our 5,000 members on the priorities that are the heart of our organization.'

Reached by phone, the group’s executive director, Juhan Mixon, said the organization’s “core mission” is to provide professional development to school officials around the state, and that litigation is “not our thing.”  “Our main priorities are teaching and learning,” he said, and the organization’s board, which oversees training for thousands of principals and other school officials, as well as a major digital learning initiative, decided it would be best not “to take resources of our association away from our priority.”

$21,766.00

At this evening's meeting of the Escambia County School Board, an expenditure will be made totaling $21,766.00.  In the scheme of a District with a $600Million + yearly budget, this number does not seem, on its face, to be that significant.

But how many books would this buy for students?  How many field trips would this amount cover for students?  How many athletic fees would this cover for students that are impoverished?  I think this is a big number.

And this amount is significant because it represents almost 80% of the School Board's yearly office budget, with the remainder going to travel and a minimal portion going to office supplies.  This $21,766.00 expenditure is going to pay annual "dues" to the Florida School Boards Association.

I strongly believe, as do many others, that individual constitutional officers like school board members should be able to determine whether or not to send their portion, on a pro-rata basis, to an organization like FSBA.  I want to opt-out of this expenditure and return my portion to our district's general fund;  Sadly, the current system for funding advocacy groups with taxpayer money precludes individual choice in this for individual school board members.  Subsequently, organizations like FSBA conscript false legitimacy by claiming they represent all school board members when in reality those of us that choose to,  cannot opt out.  The legislature should fix this so that like all other constitutional officers (Sheriffs, School Superintendents, Supervisors of Elections, etc.) we can make an individual determination regarding the funding of "advocacy" groups.  This, in turn would force such groups (FSBA) to be more responsive to the minority views of their members, lest they lose the funding.  Such a change would also foster competition, which is always beneficial.

So here is the problem with this expenditure:

Over the last several years, the relationship the FSBA has had with our elected legislature and Governor has become strained (and that is using a polite adjective).  Three years ago, then President-elect of FSBA (and current President of the organization) Patty Hightower and I sat in the office of a Tallahassee Senator, at that moment in time the second most powerful and influential man in Tallahassee, right behind Governor Rick Scott.  In that meeting, this senator looked Patty Hightower right in the face and said "Of all the organizations that come here to see me, I can think of none, not

FEA Loses in Court, Rejected says the Judge!

1 Down and 1 to Go……

The Florida Teacher’s Union, the FEA, received a devastating loss today in the Florida Courts.  They had sought to invalidate SB 850, and twice now the judge in the case has rejected their arguments.  From the Tampa Bay Times Buzz Blog:

“A judge on Tuesday dismissed one of two lawsuits aimed at Florida's controversial school voucher program. The suit challenged the 2014 expansion of a program that provides private-school scholarships for low-income children. It also threatened a new program creating scholarships for children with special needs. A second lawsuit, which is still pending, alleges the voucher program conflicts with the state Constitution. Both are being driven by the statewide teachers union…On Tuesday, Francis said the new complaint lacked "a legally sufficient basis to sustain a finding of special injury."

Read the whole story here  

What is IFCAA?

"I recently met a very powerful statewide education leader at a conference in Washington DC, and while discussing my latest frustration with the FSBA, their lawsuit attempting to kill the tax-credit scholarship that benefits 1,000 primarily poor and minority students in Escambia County, this leader simply, wryly, said “Why do you keep funding them, then?”  He makes a great point.  Why do we?  IFCAA, my legislative proposal, fixes this problem.  IFCAA is a mechanism that allows each individual board member to allocate (or not expend at all) his/her individual portion of a taxpayer funded board, committee, council, and/or commission’s advocacy budget."

IFCAA stands for the Individual Freedom of Choice in Advocacy Act--A method for disrupting "Iron Triangles."  

IFCAA (Individual Freedom of Choice in Advocacy Act) is a proposal I have developed and given to Escambia’s legislative delegation, members of the Florida House and Senate, and to other conservative school board members around the state.

As school board members we are duly elected, individual constitutional officers-just like County Sheriffs, elected Superintendents of Schools, Supervisors of Elections, Tax Collectors, Property appraisers, etc.  

Unlike the individual officeholders mentioned above, however, our individual choice in advocacy for our constituents is handcuffed by a system that stifles individual officeholders’ choice.

What do I mean?

If the statewide “Sheriff’s” advocacy organization suddenly started advocating for ideals contrary to what an individual Florida County Sheriff believed—that individual Sheriff could (and would) rightly withhold the dues from said organization, or  choose to fund a different law enforcement advocacy organization that more accurately represented the ideology of this sheriff and his constituents. 

Same for Superintendent’s, Supervisors of Elections, Property Appraiser’s, Tax Collectors, and the list goes on...

Every office in the state that has an officer or board also has a professional advocacy “association.” These “organizations” receive massive taxpayer subsidies from state and local officeholders.

As school board members, we send taxpayer funding for advocacy to the Florida School Boards Association (FSBA).  

While the FSBA has done many beneficial things in the past, recently they’ve made some choices and decisions that have alienated conservative members; something must change.

The distinction between individually elected office-holders and members of elected boards is that the advocacy organizations that purport to represent us as bodies or units sometimes neither represent many of us individually nor do they represent the collective values of our individual constituencies. 

Worse--sometimes these very organizations actively work against what many of us want, yet we’ve no choice individually but to fund them.

This isn’t $30 to NRA or $50 to AARP —For the Escambia’s Board, FSBA’s price tag is more than $20,000.00 yearly!

While discussing my significant disagreement with FSBA’s lawsuit (attempting to kill the tax-credit scholarship that benefits 70,000 primarily poor and minority students statewide), a powerful, statewide education leader simply, wryly, stated “Why do you keep funding them, then?” 

Why do we keep funding them?

FSBA didn’t represent my views when they supported the class size mandates that blew up the budget-destroying our ability to significantly raise teacher pay.

FSBA didn’t represent my views when they sought to block necessary tenure reform in Florida, yet I had no choice but to fund them.

FSBA has ignored every conservative idea I have submitted for six years running for their statewide

Lawsuit Seeks to Limit Choice and Opportunity

Special Interests, Unions, and Lobbyists Want Total Control over Florida's Students, Taxpayers, and Families.... 

Several leading (self-anointed) state education advocacy associations, led by the statewide teacher’s union, have filed a lawsuit Thursday assaulting school choice for some Florida families.  This lawsuit seeks to end the nation’s largest tax-credit scholarship program, a program that serves nearly 70,000 students statewide and 944 in Escambia County alone.   This wildly popular program serves primarily poor minority students and all taxpayers benefit- as the cost per pupil in this program runs about 50% of the cost per pupil in the traditional public school systems.

Accountability is built-in.  Student progress is measured, and the gains made by students in this program roughly equate to the progress the students in traditional public schools achieve year over year.  Opponents counter that the system isn’t fair because students in this scholarship program “don’t take all the exact same tests and FCATs-like public school students must.” 

So, to follow that logic of these tax-credit scholarship critics, because traditional public schools waste so much time over-testing and drilling students on how to take tests-we should foist this same nonsensical practice on tax-credit scholarship schools?  That is ridiculous.  We need to test less across the board-we all know this!

The plaintiffs in this lawsuit want this program killed so they can monopolize education and leave parents NO choices; they think it’s all their money and “We know what’s best for your kid” is their mentality.  But I think we deserve a greater voice in how our tax dollars are spent educating our own children-don’t you?

The plaintiffs state that they worry about the amount of taxpayer money “diverted” from local districts by this tax-credit scholarship that primarily benefits underprivileged minority youth.  But what really worries these special interest groups is the loss of the money “diverted” to their own coffers -via dues memberships fueled by taxpayer funded employees- if this scholarship program grows!

 The plaintiffs espouse the naive belief that money is the panacea to improve school performance and this scholarship program robs Florida of additional money for schools. But they know full well that throwing more taxpayer money at schools doesn't make such schools better.  Look no further than poor quality DC

War on School Choice Part IV: Lawsuit to be Filed Seeking the Dismantling of Opportunity Scholarships in Florida

FSBA Lawsuit plays large part in stunning defeat of current FSBA president and FSBA president-elect in Last Night’s primary elections…

As I have previously written here, here, and here—it appears as if school choice is under a concerted attack not only here in Florida -but also all over America. 

School choice is the future of public education, though, and I strongly support it as do most concerned parents and a small number of elected board members here in Florida.

Now comes word that the leading state advocacy associations, led by the Florida School Boards Association (FSBA),  are planning an expensive and protractedlawsuit to attempt to kill the opportunity scholarships for state students who are disabled and/or poverty stricken. 

What a foolish thing to do.

These programs are wildly popular and the students, primarily poor minority students of color, benefit greatly from such programs.

And all taxpayers benefit, as the cost per pupil in these programs runs about 50% of the cost per pupil in the traditional public school systems.

But the guardians of the status-quo want this program killed; they want the FTEs and the money that follows the students….

So many parents are reacting, sending emails like this one and this one-that policy-makers better pay heed.  I answered the emails I received and I told the parents I support school choice!

A backlash is forming statewide, with some sitting board members around the state calling upon the FSBA to stop this lawsuit they plan to file tomorrow.

Incumbent FSBA President defeated

And In an amazingly stunning rebuke to the FSBA in last night’s primary election, both the sitting president and president-elect of the FSBA, Karen Disney-Brombach and Diane Smith, were  voted out of office.

  This is an absolutely astonishing occurrence, something that should send the following clear message to all sitting school board members and administrators statewide---- and especially the leadership at FSBA: 

1.) Put children, parents, and taxpayers first, and

2.) Listen to your constituency-- NOT the lobbyists and special interests!

--otherwise you, too, might be ousted in the next election.