Governor Bush Endorses School Voucher Amendment
In Florida, Governor Jeb Bush and legislative leaders endorsed a proposed constitutional amendment Wednesday they hope will keep private school vouchers intact despite a crippling court ruling.
"This is a fundamental right we all should have," Bush told 4,000 cheering voucher supporters, most of them African-American, on the steps of the Old Capitol building. Let voters decide, he said, "whether or not poor, minority and disabled students should have the same options" as wealthy students.
Support for vouchers tends to fall along political party lines, with many Republicans in support and many Democrats in opposition. But there are key crossover constituencies in both camps, said Chad d'Entremont, assistant director for the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education, based at Columbia University's Teachers College.
This article, written by Ron Matus, appeared in the February 16th, 2006 publication of the St. Petersburg Times.
Published Thursday, Feb. 16, 2006