Florida State Rep. Anna V. Eskamani (D) has shared a blog post of her third week of committee meetings. Rep. Eskamani shared certain issues that have been discussed such as public school funding.
Rep. Eskamani is a member of the Infrastructure Strategies Committee, Transportation and Modals Subcommittee, Select Committee on Hurricane Resiliency & Recovery Committee, State Affairs Committee, Ways & Means Committee, and Postsecondary Education & Workforce Subcommittee.
Noting that the legislative session begins on March 7th, Eskamani has taken part in committee hearings to highlight concerns such as HB1. Eskamani argues that the bill “would establish universal private-school vouchers, forcing Florida taxpayers to wealthy parents who choose to homeschool their kids, send them to schools that openly discriminate against LGBTQ+ kids and kids with disabilities, or enroll them in elite private academies where tuition costs more than many colleges.”
Citing that the bill “would absolutely devastate our public schools,” Eskamani shared an analysis conducted by the Florida Policy Institute indicating that the universal voucher plan that House Republicans are proposing would cut public school funding by almost $4 billion within 5 years.
“House Republicans know their bill would devastate our public schools – that’s the whole point of the bill, which is part of a long-running effort to outsource Florida’s public school systems to a for-profit private operators,” she said, commenting that “that’s also why they’re trying to rush this bill through the process so fast, before people have a chance to understand the disastrous consequences.”
Rep. Eskamani has been a vocal critic of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) approach to education, arguing that the Governor is hyper focused on attacking the education system. The Governor has taken issue with teacher's unions, and he has long argued that the school system is hindered by "woke" measures that end up affecting the student body in the long run.
