F.A.C.E. to FACE
F.A.C.E. BULLETIN
10/23/07
October 23, 2007
Dear Friends,
Thousands of New Scholarships Available for Low-Income K-12 Students
(More scholarships available! See bottom of Newsletter!)
Please look out for the communiqué from me regarding contacting your legislator for district office visits. It has everything you need for the visit, but you will need to set up. We would like two legislative visits between now and January 2008, before the 2008 legislative session in March.
We need to do everything we can to convince our lawmakers to support school choice initiatives during the upcoming year. The main point will be to encourage them to endorse a $150 increase in the cap (30 million per year for the next 5 years) and an increase in the individual scholarship amount of the scholarship from $3,750 to $4, 500 for CTC students. These legislative visits to their district offices will probably end in January when they return to Tallahassee. Now is the best time to get this done. We need parents, administrators, clergy, and businesspeople to step up on behalf of the students.Your school community's efforts may serve as the impetus in convincing the legislature of the necessity of school choice programs. Please do everything possible to ensure that your legislator hears our voices!
Please let me know if you secure an appointment. Thank you for putting your FACE on the future of Florida's education!
Courage? Not quite. Young folks have a ways to go yet. Tallahassee Democrat, An article from the political reporter of the Tallahassee Democrat. "Courage is Lawson breaking ranks with his party and defying the teacher unions to support school tuition vouchers."Press release: SISTERS RECEIVE COLLECTIVE 17 YEARS IN PRISON FOR STEALING SCHOOL VOUCHER FUNDS
Thank you for Stepping Up For Students,
Michael A. Benjamin
Executive Director, F.A.C.E.
Florida Alliance for Choices in Education
Article published Oct 18, 2007
Courage? Not quite
Young folks have a ways to go yetBy Bill Cotterell
CAPITAL CURMUDGEON
A nice thing about this business is that we can publicly disagree with company policy.
So I got a little grumpy last weekend about our editorial on the acquittals of the former Panama City boot camp guards, which praised the "courage and fire" of the students who protested at the Capitol.
Having been there, I don't dispute their "fire." And we all have a right to demonstrate about anything the government does, although blocking intersections is not the way to do it.
I just didn't think it took courage. With all due respect to the fervor of the students, there was no way Mayor John Marks and City Manager Anita Favors Thompson were going to bust anybody.
The Tallahassee bus boycott, the Mississippi freedom rides and the Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins took courage. On the bridge in Selma, Ala., state troopers beat nonviolent marchers in 1965. Here, in 2007, the police cars blocked traffic for them.
Courage was Rep. Joe Lang Kershaw, D-Miami, arguing against the "cane pole fishing tax," which required fishing licenses. Kershaw saw the smirks, but he wasn't embarrassed to speak up for people who need to catch their supper.
Courage was Rep. Gwen Cherry, another Miami Democrat, the first black woman elected to the Legislature in modern times. Day by day, she quietly championed working women and poor people.
Gov. LeRoy Collins showed courage when the Legislature passed an "interposition" resolution opposing school integration. Resolutions aren't subject to signing or vetoing, so Collins wrote on the bill jacket that he would kill it if he could - lest future generations think he had been mute.
A generation later, Gov. Reubin Askew spoke out against a "straw vote" on school busing. It was 1972, the year that Alabama Gov. George Wallace was leading the state's first presidential primary, and Askew was up for re-election shortly. It took courage.
Courage was U.S. Sen. Claude Pepper, losing re-election in 1950, when opponents put black voters at the foot of every stage, to crowd around him and shake his hand. Advisers urged him to avoid news photos of himself greeting blacks, and the Alabama-born Pepper knew how it looked in 1950s Florida, but he would ignore no hand extended to him.
Courage is Ward Connerly and Justice Clarence Thomas, who say what they believe and know what they'll be called for saying it.
It was Julian Bond, now head of the NAACP, being denied his seat in the Georgia General Assembly for opposing the Vietnam War. It was Martin Luther King, saying he could not support violence in Vietnam while opposing it at home - a statement he knew would cost him his benefactor in the White House, Lyndon Johnson.
Courage was King, John Lewis and Andrew Young refusing to abandon nonviolence when young, angry, self-anointed "leaders" were grabbing headlines with calls to arms.
FAMU student Priscilla Blow, writing in the FAMUan student newspaper, showed courage this week.
"I believe that waiting until marriage before having sex is realistic," she wrote. "Today's music videos and advertisements suggest otherwise, but there are still individuals out there who believe in the value of their bodies."
Like her or not, Castell Bryant was a courageous FAMU president. So is James Ammons, who refuses to blame his predecessors or accept excuses.
Courage was former Florida Supreme Court Justice Leander Shaw, signing a ruling that struck Florida's old parental-consent law for minors seeking abortion. He was up for a reconfirmation vote and could have let the unpopular case go out "per curiam," but Shaw recalled the ruling to put his name on it.
Courage was U.S. District Judge Frank Johnson in Alabama and U.S. Rep. Charles Weltner of Atlanta, voices of reason at turning-point times. It was editors such as Hodding Carter in Mississippi and Ralph McGill in Atlanta, or the news and editorial staffs of the Duke University paper, which taught the big media some Journalism 101 in the lacrosse team rape hoax.
Courage is columnists such as Cynthia Tucker in Atlanta, Leonard Pitts in Miami, Bill Maxwell in St. Petersburg and Thomas Sowell in California, minority writers who often go against the grain. Courage is Bill Cosby and Alvin Poussaint in their new book, "Come On, People," frankly stating that high illegitimate-birth rates and the accusation of "acting white" are more dangerous than all the KKKluckers left in America.
Courage is the Rev. R.B. Holmes and many others, working in Tallahassee every day in tangible and spiritual ways. It is Sens. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, and Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, and Rep. Curtis Richardson, D-Tallahassee, defending FAMU in the Legislature while demanding accountability.
It would be politically safer, especially for Lawson and Richardson, to join the nay-sayer chorus that insists there's nothing wrong and, besides, everybody does it.
Courage is Lawson breaking ranks with his party and defying the teacher unions to support school tuition vouchers. It's Lawson, Richardson and Rep. Loranne Ausley, D-Tallahassee, standing up for state workers - not exactly a popular constituency in the Republican Legislature. They're all term-limited, by the way.
I guess I've reached that stage in life when everything was better back in my day - the music, the movies, the hair, the issues, even the politicians. But our definition of courage was a little better back then, too.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Tara Klimek or Nina Banister
October 18, 2007 (850) 413-2842
SISTERS RECEIVE COLLECTIVE 17 YEARS IN PRISON
FOR STEALING SCHOOL VOUCHER FUNDS
TALLAHASSEE-Florida's Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Jerry Hill, State Attorney for the 10th Judicial Circuit, announced today that sisters Betty Mae Jives Mitchell, 40, and Jeannette Jives Nealy, 39, were sentenced Monday to a collective 17 years in prison for fraudulently obtaining and misusing more than $200,000 from Florida's school voucher program.
Mitchell's sentence is 160 months, just over 13 years, and Jeannette Nealy was sentenced to 48.9 months, just over four years, in prison. Both also received 10 years of probation, were ordered not to operate a child care facility or any school while on probation, were restricted to one bank account each and are banned from applying for any state or federal funding.
"The jury clearly recognized the seriousness of these actions and sent a strong message that stealing money from taxpayers is not acceptable," said CFO Sink, who oversees the Department of Financial Services (DFS), which assisted with the investigation that led to the charges. "I commend the investigators and prosecutors involved in this case for ensuring these women were held accountable."
The sentencing follows an investigation led by the Polk County State Attorney's Office in partnership with the DFS' Office of Fiscal Integrity and Division of Insurance Fraud. The investigation focused on the sisters along with other family members: Jocie Jives, Levy Gail Everett-Davis, (acquitted), Demario Quowon Jives, Willie James Jives, and Margaret Burns. All were arrested on June 29, 2004, on various charges of racketeering, grand theft, money laundering and scheme to defraud.
The charges are based on evidence that individuals, using a church-based school, illegally obtained and used funds from Florida's school voucher program through misrepresentation and theft. Faith Christian Academy, formerly located at 810 E. Main St. in Bartow, was established as a school to educate disabled and low-income children. Principals of Faith Christian Academy applied to the Florida Department of Education to qualify for the John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program and the Corporate Tax Credit Program. They then fraudulently applied for scholarship dollars on behalf of unknowing parents of students not at the school, charged the state for school vouchers in excess of what they charged other students in tuition, and submitted fake receipts in order to get funds from the national school lunch and breakfast programs. A substantial amount of the stolen funds were spent for personal use, including the purchase of a Hummer H2 and Lexus L400.
The trial of Betty Mitchell, Jocie Jives, Jeannette Nealy, and Levy Gail Everett-Davis began on May 15, 2006. Everett-Davis was found not guilt and the jury could not reach a verdict on the others. Betty Mitchell, and Jeannette Nealy's retrial began on July 9, 2007, and both were found guilty - Betty Mitchell in 25 of 27 counts (Racketeering, Conspiracy, Money Laundering, Structuring Transactions, Fraud, Communications Fraud, Theft-McKay, Theft-National School Lunch Program, Theft-Florida PRIDE, Theft-Bank of America, and Uttering Forgeries 15 counts) and Jeannette Nealy in four of eight counts (Racketeering, Scheme to Defraud, and Theft-McKay and Theft-Bank of America).
The Office of Fiscal Integrity is responsible for statewide investigations of allegations of fraud, waste, or abuse involving State of Florida property and money. To report fraud, waste, or abuse of state resources, visit http://MyFloridaCFO.com/fraudpage.asp or call 1-800-GET-LEAN (1-800-438-5326).
# # #
As a statewide elected officer of the Florida Cabinet, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink oversees the Department of Financial Services, a multi-division state agency responsible for management of state funds and unclaimed property, assisting consumers who request information and help related to financial services, and investigating financial fraud. CFO Sink also serves as the State Fire Marshal.
5,000 New Scholarships Available
for Low-Income K-12 Students
The Step Up For Students scholarship program, administered through Florida P.R.I.D.E. and Children First Florida--Florida Corporate Tax Credit (CTC) scholarship funding organizations, will award approximately 5,000 new scholarships for the 2007-2008 school year to Kindergarten through 12th grade students who qualify for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program. Applicants must be currently enrolled in a public school, unless they are entering kindergarten or first grade. Those who qualify may receive up to a $3,750 scholarship for tuition at an eligible private school of their choice or a scholarship for up to $500 for travel expenses to an out-of-district public school. The scholarships provide a fresh start for students who are not succeeding in their current school setting.
This year, $70 million in scholarships will be awarded to qualifying Florida students until funding is exhausted so applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Income limits for scholarship recipients are determined by household size. For example, a family of four can earn no more than $38,203 to qualify. To apply, log on to www.floridapride.org or call (813) 258-2700 for Florida Pride and www.scholarshipfunding.org or call (904) 247-6033 or (407) 702-2607 for a Children First Florida application.
The Step Up For Students (Corporate Income Tax Credit) scholarship program provides K-12 scholarships that currently allow almost 17,000 low-income Florida students to attend an eligible private school or out-of-district public school. One hundred percent of corporate contributions go directly to funding scholarships – not a single penny can be used for administrative costs.
Children First Florida - Serving Orlando, Central Florida, Jacksonville and Panhandle
P.O. Box 54367
Jacksonville, Florida 32216
(904) 247-6033 or (407) 702-2607
cforster@scholarshipfunding.orgAlachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Holmes, Indian River, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Martin, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Putnam, Santa Rosa, St. Johns, Seminole, St. Lucie, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington
School Year 07 - 08 Income Eligibility Guidelines
Persons in Household
New & Add-Ons
(185%)Renewals (200%)
2
$25,327
$27,380
3
$31,765
$34,340
4
$38,203
$41,300
5
$44,641
$48,260
6
$51,079
$55,220
7
$57,517
$62,140
8
$63,955
$69,140
9
$70,393
$76,100
10
$76,831
$83,060
11
$83,269
$90,020
12
$89,707
$96,980
13
$96,145
$103,940
For each additional person, add
$6,438
$6,960
Effective from June 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008
Florida Alliance for Choices in Education (F.A.C.E)
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