Home » About » Newsletters » September 1999
Standing up for Kids: the Voucher Challenge
By Jessica Connor
Editor and Public Education Coordinator, September 1999
It is often easy to lose sight of the people who are affected by the cases in which the ACLU is involved. The school voucher lawsuit, the subject of major controversy across Florida and the country, is no different.
The stories of the Pensacola parents who are the plaintiffs in the voucher lawsuit illustrate courage and commitment - and the reason behind why the lawsuit was brought.
They are parents who care about their children's education and wonder why politicians are so bent on giving money to private, religious schools at the expense of children attending neighborhood public schools. Rebecca Hale, John Rigsby, Susan and Gregory Watson, Queen Nelson and Samuel Watts all have children who attend public schools in Escambia County that are graded "F."
Ruth Holmes, whose children were educated in the public school system and who has been involved in public education for 32 years, is also involved, as are two school board members, Linda Lerner of the Pinellas County School Board and Betsy Kaplan of the Miami-Dade County School Board. The Florida NAACP, Florida PTA and the Citizen's Coalition for Public Schools are also involved. All are concerned that vouchers will dismantle the public schools by stripping them of needed resources.
Rebecca Hale
Rebecca Hale, mother of Jessica Dennis, grade five, and Kimberly Dennis, who is in middle school, is the Vice President of the PTA at Spencer Bibbs Elementary, one of the two Florida schools graded "F" and whose students are eligible for vouchers under the program now being challenged. Rebecca says she got involved in the lawsuit because she "wanted to stand up for something rather than criticizing all the time." Rebecca is an administrative assistant at the Escambia Pensacola Human Relations Commission and also attended the public schools. She is a member of Sixth Avenue Baptist Church. She says she is 150% involved in her daughters' education but is quick to point out that her involvement is not just for her child but for all the students at Spencer Bibbs. "It's not just about my kid, it's about my children. They are all my children."
"Let's make our public schools better," says Rebecca. "The voucher program will dismantle the system. If this is truly for the benefit of the children, give the schools the resources they need."
She is proud to be a plaintiff in the lawsuit and reports that she is getting a lot of support for her involvement. "I'm getting a lot of handshakes, a lot of congratulations for standing up."
John Rigsby
John Rigsby is the father of Thaddeus, grade four, and Porsche, grade three, and is the PTA President at Spencer Bibbs Elementary. A second year law student at Florida State University, he is also a product of the public schools.
"Here we go again," John said. "The Black community is being used as pawns for someone else's political agenda." John agrees with Rebecca that we need to find solutions and hold the public schools accountable, not dismantle the system. "If there is something terrible going on in public schools," he says, "we must find ways to deal with it."
John joined the lawsuit because he recognized the need to counter what he calls the "somewhat elitist and arrogant assumptions" about private schools. "The old guard has a lot of problems dealing with teaching in the inner city schools. A lot of the children bring a lot of baggage. So you're asking teachers, who are already underpaid, to be social workers, psychologists, administrators, to be a bit of a conflict counselor.
"Without the public school system, what other element can we depend on to educate the poor? Public school is sometimes the only meal that these children get. The positive reinforcement in the schools is the only place a lot of them are going to receive it."
Susan and Gregory Watson
"We wanted to do this for our children," is how Susan and Gregory Watson describe their involvement as plaintiffs in the voucher lawsuit. As Susan explains, "We think public education is the mainstay of the United States and we think vouchers will destroy it."
Parents of three children, Sarah, grade eight, Seth, grade five, and Sybil, grade three, the Watsons are both extremely active in their children's education and are active members of the schools' PTAs. Gregory chairs the school advisory council at Brown Barge Middle School and Susan volunteers in the classrooms.
The Watsons, both products of the Escambia County public schools, are concerned about the children who will remain in the public schools. "I don't believe private school children get a better education. And what about the children whose public schools are gutted of their finances? My children will suffer. All children who stay in the public school districts will suffer."
The Watsons have received "nothing but support" from their neighbors and community for their involvement in the lawsuit. "Most people are just thrilled that we are taking a stand."
Queen Nelson
Queen Nelson is the grandmother of Ashley Wilson, who is in grade four at A.A. Dixon Elementary School, the other Escambia County school rated "F" and eligible for vouchers. (Ashley's mother is a flight attendant and Queen is the primary caregiver.) A member of Emmanuel Baptist Church and a manager at Walmart, Queen volunteered to be a plaintiff in the lawsuit because, as with the other parents, she felt someone needed to do something to stop vouchers in Florida.
"If the school is in a low income area and they feel it needs help, then why not help it?" she asks. Ironically, her granddaughter had previously gone to one of the better schools in the area and after she transferred to A.A. Dixon, a "failing" school, her testing scores improved.
Samuel Watts
Samuel Watts is the father of three children who all go to Spencer Bibbs Elementary School: Rondale, grade four, and Reynard and Rebecca, grade three. Watts chose to become involved in the lawsuit because he also believes that vouchers threaten the public schools.
"I don't approve of [vouchers]," he says. "They are trying to take the funds from the public schools and they ought to be strengthening them."
He agrees that there should be more effective ways of improving the public school system than dismantling it. "They should have a few more teachers over there - there are so many kids with just one teacher."
Ruth Holmes
Ruth Holmes has been involved in public education for 32 years. She was a fourth grade teacher for more than 20 years and is a past president of the Florida Teaching Professionals-National Education Association (FTP-NEA). She is currently the Curriculum Coordinator at Jim Allen Elementary School in Escambia County.
"I've spent my life standing up for kids in public education and I believe in a time like this teachers have to stand up and be counted," says Ruth. "I have said all of my professional career that equal funding does not result in equal education. Some children simply need more. Vouchers have the danger of destroying public education, which has been the very cornerstone of our democracy. We all need to stand up and fight to preserve it."
Standing up for children is the common bond linking those parents who are defending public education and challenging the Florida voucher scheme. Forcing taxpayers through the use of school vouchers to fund religious education is unconstitutional. But it will also further impoverish an already troubled public school system. Rather than improving the public schools by reducing class size and ensuring needed supplies, the state has decided to take money out of the areas that need it the most. These parents are angry, and they are fighting back in the true spirit of a democracy.
