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Port St. Lucie resident warns board that voucher spending is draining public school resources
Summary
Chrissy Thanos, a Port St. Lucie resident, urged the St. Lucie board during public comment to oppose diversion of public funds to private school vouchers and to invest more in teachers; she cited a transcript figure that Florida is redirecting 'over 4,300,000,000' to voucher programs.
During public comment at the May 12 meeting, Chrissy Thanos of Port St. Lucie told the board that public funding is being diverted from public schools into private school voucher programs and urged voters to demand that public dollars remain in public education.
Thanos told the board, "Right now, Florida is redirecting over 4,300,000,000 in taxpayer money into private school voucher programs," (transcript figure) and said that amounts to roughly 11% of k–12 education spending in Florida as presented in her remarks. She warned that the loss of funding forces cuts to staff and programs — larger class sizes, fewer teachers and fewer extracurricular and support services — and urged community members to support leaders who will protect public education and invest in teachers.
Thanos argued that private schools receiving taxpayer dollars are not required to serve all students and can select whom they accept, while public schools must educate every child, including those with special needs. She urged voters to "demand that public school dollars stay with public schools, separate voucher spending from public education funding, stop draining neighborhood schools to subsidize private education, and start investing like the top performing states do."
The board did not respond to the comment on the record during the meeting; the session adjourned after public comment concluded.
