ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A new poll shows overwhelming support for Amendment 8, the Florida ballot initiative that could affect your child's education.
But is the wording in it confusing?
It would add term limits for school board members and require civic literacy in schools -- that's easy enough -- but it would also affect who can approve charter schools.
“You can't split it. If you vote for it, all three pass,” said Barry Edwards, a St. Pete political expert.
“Right now, you have a process and you have to petition the school board. If you have a charter school in Pinellas County, the school board loses that money and has to give it to the charter school.”
The Constitution Revision Commission is a board that meets every 20 years to recommend changes to the state's constitution.
Pinellas school board member, Rene Flowers, only likes the civic literacy component of it. She believes the term limits aren't fair and she thinks charter schools get an equal chance when applying to school boards.
“There's 67 of us and we’ve been more than fair. There's an application process that they have to follow. There’s a standard application,” Flowers said.
“If there is a piece that you don't support, don't vote for it at all.”
A Florida Chamber of Commerce poll found it has support from 75 percent of voters.
Edwards added: “Our own local senator, Darryl Rouson, opposed the amendment, but also Pam Stewart opposed it.
“And, why I bring her name up, she is the current secretary of education for the state of Florida and she thought it was a bad idea, too.”
But, many in education do approve of Amendment 8. All of it.
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