1403 Amended and Passed by Senate and House
It's time to say THANK YOU to all of our Representatives in the House and our Senators who thoughtfully walked back the sweeping prohibition on equipment in the FTC-PEP scholarship and chose to put parents' rights and freedoms above onerous restrictions.
We sent them emails and calls with our concerns. It's now time to celebrate and say thank you to them for doing the right thing.
This is the moment to stop and applaud the updated amendment to the bill and enrolling it on to the Governor for passing.
However, this happy message does come with a fair warning. It was very difficult to fight the uphill battle of Facebook posts that were being screenshotted - yes, your private Facebook groups that are closed and moderated that you trust have people in them screen shotting what you post and sending them to media, gov officials, etc.
And it was difficult to argue back against these sweeping restrictions and to have intelligent discussions with leadership who did not have an intimate knowledge of home education, the funding processes, etc. Most of them were simply reacting to what was being sent - or spammed - to them.
Here's an important question:
Who was sending this information to them?
On an individual basis, I don't know the persons. But from a big picture perspective, I know this much is true.
There are those who are upset that Home Schooling families are getting anything at all. For decades, home education families have paid their taxes - taxes which fund the public education system. We are shackled and bound to pay them with no recourse, exemption, or ability to opt-out. They take our money, and fund the public school system. And still there are people who hate to see Home Schoolers get any attention or assistance. And unfortunately, even among the home education community there are fearmongers enabling and stoking the fire.
The very moment Home Schooling families get a modicum of attention or financial assistance, we've been met with media, institutions, organizations, and individuals ...and in-fighting... that just can't stand to see it.
Please remember that we are all being watched. Be careful what you post.
Most people do NOT know anything about Home Education and the beautiful freedom of THE WORLD IS OUR CLASSROOM. And they will likely only know what becomes popular enough to hit an algorithm, or sensational enough to hit a headline. Many, if not most, of our legislators do not understand home education in its spirit or its function and form. They merely think, "public school at home," because that's all they're familiar with - public school.
I heard it over and over, "why should homeschoolers get this if public schools don't?" We need to say it with a unity of voice and resonance that makes it abundantly clear:
The core issue is NOT "why do home school families get this if public school children can't get that, and to try to make them equal to one another is a fool's errand."
Home education is not public school at home.
The core issue is and will remain this, as we discussed with Representative Massullo on our live podcast:
PARENTS have the innate right to make the decisions for their children's educational needs. The role of education, with or without funding, should be in the hands parents and taken out of the hands of institutions. If they are going to trust parents with scholarship funds, then they should trust that parents know best how to spend it.
The parent makes that choice. It will always be our mission to fight for parents' freedoms and rights to direct the education of their children. And without needless and onerous restrictions - scholarship or no scholarship.
Those parents at home who are educating their child supported by the PEP scholarship must honor the trust placed in them to spend it well on their child's education. We also need to maintain a financial posture that allows us to benefit from the scholarship without relying upon it. Finally, we must be careful and mindful of what we post online - not everyone is a friend to freedom. And for those of us who home educate without a scholarship (PEP or UA) - we need to fight alongside all parents who direct their child's education and find strength in numbers and unity of voice to protect those freedoms.
-JC
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In yesterday’s live Brenda mentioned PEP now being able to access dual enrollment at Private colleges. Could you guys expand on this? Was this added to Hb1403 or the Florida administrative code? I found Rule: 6A-20.0282 but I wasn’t sure if that’s what she was referencing?
And if so does this then add approved private colleges for all dual enrollment students?
Thank you for any clarification!