By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

TALAHASSEE, Fla. – Legislation that would have created a “parent trigger” system for failing Florida schools died Tuesday the same way a similar bill died last year – on a tie vote in the state Senate.

The final vote was 21-21. Fourteen Democrats joined six Republicans in opposing the bill, according to the Bradenton Herald.

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The legislation would have allowed parents to demand changes at persistently failing public schools, which might have included the replacement of staff and/or a conversion to charter school status.

Of course the self-serving teachers unions hated that idea, because most failing schools are staffed with union teachers while most charter schools hire non-union staffs.

Non-union teachers do not pay union dues.

“The second time is just as sweet,” said Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association, regarding the deadlock vote that killed the idea again.

So the union president thinks its “sweet” to have children stuck in miserable schools, with their parents powerless to address and improve the situation.

Florida residents should remember that “sweet” comment the next time they think about the value of teachers unions. The unions are clearly in it for themselves, not the students.

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Some thought the bill would gain Senate approval this year, particularly since it was severely weakened with an amendment that would have given local school boards the option to ignore parental demands, according to the news report.

Giving school boards the right to veto charter school proposals would be like giving prison inmates the right to veto their sentences. Of course they’re going to act in their own best interests. Public schools don’t want to lose students (and the state money attached to them) to charter schools.

The state House had already approved the bill. It’s not known whether Gov. Rick Scott would have signed it, according to the news report.