The First Amendment Foundation wrote Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday asking that House Bill 7069 be vetoed because of a lack of transparency.
by The Ledger’s Madison Fantozzi
May 30, 2017
The First Amendment Foundation wrote Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday asking that House Bill 7069 be vetoed because of a lack of transparency.
Polk County School District officials and community members have been calling for the same action since hours after the Legislature approved the education bill that was introduced on the last day of the regular session.
“Our concerns relate only to the lack of transparency in the process by which major policy decisions regarding Florida’s education system were decided,” FAF President Barbara Petersen wrote in the letter to Scott. “According to all reports, major education policy decisions included in HB 7069 were largely decided in secret by a small number of legislators.
“The secretive process precluded any opportunity for public oversight or input on major changes to Florida’s education policy,” she wrote.
The nonprofit organization works to protect free speech, free press and open government.
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“Alarmingly, local school officials were also shut out of the process, as were many legislators who were ultimately asked to approve this voluminous and complicated legislation decided in a manner closed even to them,” Petersen wrote in her letter to Scott. “Our citizens deserve the respect and the commitment of our elected leaders to uphold our Florida Sunshine laws, a 33-year-old tradition and benchmark of good government.
“We ask that you veto HB 7069 and allow the Legislature to come back to Tallahassee to reconsider the budget in a more open and transparent manner during a special session.” [READ MORE]