Op-Ed By: Timothy Kilpatrick
Since Florida first authorized charter schools in 1996, the state’s eagerness to embrace school choice has
empowered families and put our public education system on the map as a stellar example of individual student success.
That is why, for parents with school-aged children in Hillsborough County, the school board’s reckless attack on school choice is eye-opening.
The action taken by the Hillsborough County School Board last month to displace more than 3,000 students turns back the clock on the gains that diversity in education have made over the past 25 years.
In an unapologetic attempt to fix their own years of fiscal mismanagement, several board members shifted the blame to parental choice as a quick-fix political solution.
You see, coupled with their partisan ideals is the belief that they understand the needs of the students better than the students’ parents. Denying families the right to choose the educational environment that suits their student best hurts underserved and minority populations who have found their home at their choice schools. According to board member Nadia Combs, “Hillsborough County parents don’t know what’s best for their children.” This naiveite of thinking, that seven board members can make better judgments of the needs of 180,000 students than the students’ own families is absurd. This elitist attitude comes from the same board that was mere steps away from a state takeover due to a financial crisis and irresponsible spending.
Most concerning is that several key board members showed an unwillingness to reason. Their actions on June 15th were out of step with even their own trusted staff and advisers. These board members have decided that the recommendations of their superintendent and school district staff, cautions by their board attorney, state statute, positive audit results, and actual student achievement are far less credible than the board’s agendas or divisive opinions.
This systematic chipping away of the right to choose by parents and students is at best shortsighted. At its worst, it is misguided, brash and callous. The decision to ignore recommendations from staff and parents show just how little regard the board has for the students and their educational success.
But with the interests of the students at heart, parents are responding loud and clear how important choice schools are for their children. At a special called board meeting last week, more than 100 parents, teachers and students joined the “Rights of Parents Rally” to defend their legal right of school choice.
As everyone anticipated, the Florida Department of Education intervened, because the School Board’s decision broke state law. The School District’s already fiscally embattled administration is now caught up in costly legal distraction for which the students and tax payers of Hillsborough County will foot the bill.
On June 15, the Hillsborough County School Board issued its anti-school choice wake-up call to thousands of students’ families in jaw-dropping fashion, with blatant disregard to the long-term negative impact that less diversity has on a society. It’s amazing that in a time of celebrating choice and equality for ALL in most aspects of life, this School Board would scoff at the notion that equal and diverse access to education should also be embraced and celebrated. On June 28, the School Board was reminded by parents and students that diversity, inclusion, and the right to choose does matter.
It was a message delivered by parents who actually know “what’s best for their children.”
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