Neo-Nazi groups have staged demonstrations near Disney and in Altamonte Springs. They’ve blanketed neighborhoods with flyers, urging others to “protect the purity of the white Aryan woman.”

One neo-Nazi was arrested for criminal mischief Sunday. Another was arrested a few days earlier.

A man used a rifle with a swastika on it to slaughter three people in Jacksonville.

Rolling Stone assessed the stories, root causes and reactions, concluding: “Neo-Nazis Gloat as Florida Becomes a Magnet for Hate”

This may make you mad. Or sad. It should. But don’t you dare act surprised.

Because this is an ugly, natural extension of the divisive culture wars that have been celebrated in Florida in recent years. You can’t demonize gay people and Black people and then go: Gee, I wonder why some folks are also demonizing Jewish people?

Labor Day weekend neo-Nazi demonstrations near Disney, Altamonte Springs prompt outrage

Besides, neo-Nazi groups don’t just preach hate against Judaism. They also demonize people of color and different sexual orientation.

As Mike Igel, chairman of the Florida Holocaust Museum, said in a recent Sentinel story: “You don’t meet a bigot, a neo-Nazi who says, ‘I hate Jewish people but I sure do love the gay community or the Black community.’ ”

Hate doesn’t happen in a vacuum. If love is love is love, then hate breeds hate breeds hate.

So when you see a politician who responds to a group that targets black people, gay people and Jewish people by saying only: “But I love the Jewish people,” they’re showing themselves.

Experts: Hatred links Jacksonville shooting, antisemitic displays in Central Florida

I don’t lay this rise in extremism and extremist-related incidents — an 80% increase in Florida over the last two years, according to the Anti-Defamation League — at the feet of any single politician. Nor do I believe all members of any one party are to blame. I’ve found that neither bigotry nor compassion is limited to any one political party.

But there’s a growing segment of politicians on the right who’ve decided the easiest way to build a rabid following is by vilifying already marginalized communities. So they peddle a nonstop narrative of you-vs.-them:

THEY are coming for your job. Or your kid’s spot on the swim team. Or your freedom of religion.

THEY want to make you feel guilty about your past. And to recruit your children. 

You are a victim, a target. Let us protect you … from them.

It’s all music to the ears of neo-Nazi recruiters.

Reasonable people can certainly have different opinions on sensitive topics, whether it’s affirmative action or transgender competitors in sports.

But too often, we don’t see reasonable. Instead, we see transgender people labeled as freaks, Black protestors labeled as animals and gay citizens and their allies being called “groomers.” Not by rogue, swastika-toting Nazis, but by top state officials, state legislators or even from inside the governor’s office.

Volusia County Republican Rep. Webster Barnaby referred to LGBTQ citizens who had testified against a proposed bill in Tallahassee as “demons” and “mutants.”

If you don’t understand why that’s not OK, listen to Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood, who said comments like that “put a target” on the backs of transgender citizens, adding: “It’s not OK to dehumanize people who aren’t hurting anyone.”

You think comments like Barnaby’s don’t embolden neo-Nazis?

Or from Rep. Randy Fine, a Brevard County Republican who is quick to decry antisemitism even as he disparages other marginalized groups.

Fine has targeted LGBTQ citizens with both legislation and rhetoric, accusing them of “grooming” children and mocking their requests for dignity. “I was just asked my pronouns,” Fine said on Facebook last year. “For future reference, they are:  You / Are / A / Fu&$ng / Moron.”

This from a guy who claims he’s been approached about leading a state university.

A lot of people don’t understand why it’s OK to vilify one minority group but not others. I don’t. Neither do many kids.

So while there’s a surge in neo-Nazi incidents among in Florida, there shouldn’t be any surprise that we’re also seeing it among our youth — with swastikas showing up on bathroom and school walls at high schools in Orange and Volusia counties. Even at a K-8 school in Seminole.

The kids are watching the adults. And they’re learning — not only how to hate, but how to feel emboldened about doing so out loud.

So if you’re appalled by Hitler salutes and White supremacist talk, good. You should be.

But don’t you dare act surprised. Especially if you keep supporting the people serving up this divisive, toxic stew.

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com

The Covenant House crisis shelter served kids who were also technically adults but were struggling to make their way in the world because most had been dealt rotten hands in life.

Some had fled abusive homes or parents struggling with drug addiction. Some had been kicked out. Some were pregnant. Some had parents who couldn’t come to terms with their sexual orientation and just wanted them gone.

The 28-bed shelter in east Orange County, not far from the busy intersection of Colonial Drive and State Road 436, filled a crucial need.

But operators of the South Florida-based nonprofit decided they couldn’t keep the Orlando operation going. So as soon as the closing was announced, local advocates began huddling, hoping to work up a plan for someone to buy the shelter and keep it open.

Now, however, the property is listed for sale.

Before anyone else buys it — and turns it into another neighborhood car lot or vape store — local leaders need to step up to ensure they can continue to provide these services no one else does.

This community has the money. Local leaders are currently debating whether to dump another $700 million or so into expanding the convention center again or maybe spend $800 million putting a roof on Camping World Stadium.

Surely someone can step up to provide the $1.9 million asking price for this property. Maybe the county. Maybe private donors. Maybe a partnership.

Covenant House Orlando, a shelter for for homeless youths, to close in July

“If we don’t get this done, it would be a big missed opportunity.”

Those are the words of Martha Are, the CEO of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida. Are said she and other advocates have been meeting regularly to brainstorm options but don’t yet have funding pledged.

Meanwhile, the property is now on the market. Are said it would be devastating for it to be sold to someone who wants to bulldoze the 12,500-square-foot building and campus or turn it into something else.

First of all, because the shelter for young adults fills a dire need. There was always a waiting list.

Also because the property is already zoned to do what it does — provide emergency shelter to those in need. And it’s often a Herculean task to get residents to welcome new shelters into their neighborhoods.

That last part is what most concerns Donna Wyche, the manager of Orange County’s Mental Health and Homelessness Division. “If you lose it to commercial, it’s gone forever,” she said.

Wyche says she believes local leaders from the private and public sectors can find a solution. “We’re trying as a community to find some sort of semblance of partnership,” she said. “As a community, we have to get our stuff together.”

It’s not clear how much time local leaders have.

Renee’ Trincanello, the CEO of Covenant House Florida said her organization still hopes to sell the shelter property to someone who would continue operating it in the same spirit. But she also said her nonprofit  board decided to list the property to be fiscally responsible and “evaluate all of the possible opportunities.”

“I’m really hopeful that there will be an opportunity for us to sell to them,” Trincanello said. “We’re a very mission-driven service organization. And our position has never changed.”

That’s good to hear. But the bottom line is that the property is now listed.

If you want a feel for the kind of life-changing differences Covenant House has made, just read some of the stories the Sentinel has shared through the years.

They are the stories of people like Lindsay Davis, who arrived at Covenant House in 2016 with only a bathing suit and her birth certificate.

Davis had left an unstable home and was spending what should’ve been her senior year of high school sleeping on boardwalk benches in Daytona Beach. She was embarrassed to go to school without a shower or clean clothes.

Covenant House — which provided a place to stay, meals, education, job-training and more — helped Davis her earn a GED, a scholarship to Valencia College and generally get her life back on track.

For homeless teen, Covenant House is ‘a miracle’

Also people like Natalie Villard, profiled in a 2018 story, who was homeless and selling plasma before she found a safe haven there.

Surely this community can rally the resources to save a place that has transformed so many lives.

It would be great if some philanthropically minded individuals or businesses stepped up.

I also think Orange County could do so. The county has a $6 billion budget. So $1.9 million isn’t even a rounding error. (Seriously. We’re talking about 0.03%.) Yes, the county has budgeting cycles and certain pots of money reserved for certain needs. But county leaders can — and do — find money when they want to.

If a public-private partnership can join forces to raise the money for purchase and then fund the long-term operation, all the better.

Anyone who might be interested can contact the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida at info@hsncfl.org

This community has risen to challenges before. I sure hope we do so again. Because, while this shelter closing clearly presents a potential problem, it also presents an opportunity — and I’d argue an obligation — too important to ignore.

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com

Maxwell and South Florida Sun Sentinel journalist Scott Travis were co-recipients of the Hansell award, FSNE’s top individual honor, for their work in 2022.

Maxwell was cited for a series of opinion columns exposing the hypocrisy of a feud between Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Walt Disney Co. He wrote about how Disney bankrolled campaigns of Florida lawmakers who filed anti-gay legislation while the company publicly touted its commitment to equality, and how the DeSantis administration was doing behind-the-scenes favors for Disney when the governor’s campaign was still getting company contributions.

Travis, a senior reporter at the Sun Sentinel, was honored for his extensive reporting on the Broward County School Board.

In other FSNE awards, the Orlando Sentinel took both second- and third-place honors in two categories, Community Leadership and Video.

In Community Leadership, Desiree Stennett and Martin E. Comas finished second for a series of stories about 10 years after Trayvon Martin’s death while Matthew J. Palm, Skyler Swisher and Roger Simmons were third for stories about the Orlando Museum of Art’s Basquiat scandal.

In Video, Richard Pope earned second place for a feature on basketball player Justin Williams, and Pope and Mike Bianchi took third for a feature on Orlando Magic player Paolo Banchero’s draft night attire.

Other second-place citations were in Breaking News for the Sentinel’s coverage of Hurricane Ian and for former staffer Katie Rice for her Business reporting.

Other third-place awards were given to Rice, Dewayne Bevil and Wesley Alden in Multimedia, Maxwell in Columns, Patrick Connolly in Features Writing, and Jason Beede, Matt Murschel and Edgar Thompson in Sports.

The FSNE awards are open to newspapers across the state. This year’s contest had 546 entries from 57 newspapers, which was up from last year. The newspapers compete in different divisions based on their circulation, with the Sentinel going up against the largest newspapers in the state.

The Sun Sentinel won FSNE’s top award, the Gold Medal, in the large newspaper division for its series of stories called “Innocence Sold,” about sex trafficking in Florida.

Listen to what they claim their censorship laws will do.

Then look to see what actually happens.

In pushing this year to expand Florida’s so-called “Parental Rights” bill, the one critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” since it censors materials that mention sexual orientation, sponsor Clay Yarborough got on the floor of the Florida Senate and said he simply wanted to stop pornographic filth from being handed out in public schools.

“There are materials that are pornographic. There are materials that depict sexual activity,” the Jacksonville Republican said. “School districts should be held accountable for that.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis has made similar comments. And if you take their words at face value, who can argue with that? Not me. I certainly don’t want public schools handing out porn.

But now look at some of the books that have actually been censored.

One is called “And Tango Makes Three.” It’s a children’s book about penguins — an award-winning picture book that doesn’t say a word about sex, porn or anything else.

Instead, it tells the feel-good, real-life story about two penguins in New York’s Central Park Zoo who came together to raise a parentless baby penguin.

Yet Lake County put “Tango” on its list of banned books for students below grade 4, simply because the two featured characters are both male. Male penguins, mind you.

School book challenges, already on rise, could escalate in Florida

I decided to do something many book-banners don’t — actually read the book for myself. So I bought it and found myself smiling as I read the story of two penguins who fascinated the zoo’s staff with their dedication to hatching an egg that neither of them had laid. The penguins waddle, sing and swim. Most of all, though, they nurture.

If guys like Yarborough, the Moms for Liberty or anyone else with a penchant for book-banning read a book like this and somehow end up thinking about porn or sex, they need serious help.

The real problem with this book seems to be that it tells the story of two same-sex animals doing heart-warming, family-themed things.

The authors of the book have teamed up with families of students in Lake County to sue the state and the school district for banning the book for students in kindergarten through third grade.

Lake County officials won’t say much about the incident, since they’re now facing a lawsuit. But a spokeswoman said the state’s “Parental Rights” law required them to do so.

The lawsuit seeks to make the award-winning picture book, which was written for children of all ages, available to all students in the district before the next school year begins. It also notes that, since state lawmakers recently expanded their “Don’t Say Gay” law, the authors expect the book to be banned for middle-schoolers as well as of July 1.

Districts all over Florida have said they’ve been forced to similarly censor other children’s books. The Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine censored one called “The Family Book,” simply because one line happens to state: “Some families have two moms or two dads.”

That sentence is a fact. But it’s a fact that triggers some snowflakes.

In Leon County, a mother has challenged a children’s book about tennis legend Billie Jean King that mentions King is gay. Among the mother’s objections, the Tallahassee Democrat reported, was that the student read the book and “brought questions to her mother” about what she had read.

Most good parents I know would see that as an opportunity for discussion. This mom saw it as an opportunity to complain.

"A Leon County mother says her child was harmed after reading a page of a children's book …"

Among the mom's objections:
Her daughter "… brought questions to her mother …"https://t.co/NfYnNyHksD

— Scott Maxwell (@Scott_Maxwell) June 28, 2023

Maybe some districts are overreacting with their censorship. But that was the entire point of this poorly and vaguely worded law — to cause panic and induce teachers and school officials to censor when in doubt. DeSantis’ appointees to the state Board of Education instructed public school employees to “err on the side of caution” under threat of penalty.

The “Tango” lawsuit notes that lawmakers intentionally didn’t explain what constitutes “classroom instruction,” prompting many districts to interpret that to mean general book availability in school libraries. Nor does the new law define terms like “gender identity,” which, taken literally, would seem to prohibit the identification of genders … which sounds nuts.

When a law is written intentionally vaguely, you can usually conclude one of two things: Either the authors were too incompetent to write a precise law. Or chaos and confusion was the point.

The state has refused to answer questions about what books should be banned, hoping districts will err on the side of censorship.

I asked the Department of Education a simple question: Does the state consider allowing third-grade students to read “And Tango Makes Three” to be a violation of the state’s new “Parental Rights in Education” act?

The department wouldn’t answer.

If I were a school board member or school superintendent, I would run every title by state officials — to ask them whether they believe it violates state law — before banning it. What kind of whackadoo state wouldn’t answer questions about what’s legal and what’s not, unless confusion and chaos was the point?

Author John Green has words for those trying to ban his book in his hometown | Commentary

It’s also worth noting the “Parental Rights” act doesn’t talk about sexual activity, only “sexual orientation.” So those who say they support this law because they don’t want teachers talking about sex with kids are ignoramuses.

Sure, some books have no place in public schools. Pornography has long been banned. And there has long been a process in Florida for parents to challenge books. Lake County has one allowing parents to opt-out their own kids.

These new laws are like using a nuclear bomb to swat a fly — a bomb that takes out all sorts of collateral, including cartoon penguins, thanks to an imprecise design.

And in this case, that imprecision was incredibly intentional.

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com

It’s hard to keep track of how many times these guys have been caught violating constitutional boundaries. Judges appointed by Republican presidents, Democratic presidents — even by DeSantis himself — have all ruled that legislators and the governor have tried to run roughshod over the state and federal constitutions they vowed to uphold. The politicians have tried to violate your rights and then spent your tax dollars trying to defend their unconstitutional actions.

Last week’s ruling in a case brought by the drag-themed Hamburger Mary’s restaurant in Orlando was yet another example. It also reinforced two lessons for all Floridians:

1) Read these controversial laws for yourself.

2) Don’t believe the lies.

In this case, Judge Gregory Presnell called baloney on the state’s argument that the law was never meant to target drag queens — largely because the politicians said they passed it to try to target drag queens. The judge cited their own words to expose their lies.

Presnell also noted that the law was far too nebulous to be meaningfully interpreted and that Florida already has laws on the books protecting minors from sexually explicit performances.

Advocates said it was merely meant to prevent children from being exposed to nudity and sexual content. But anyone who actually read the bill could see it went far beyond that.

Yes, the bill tried to ban businesses and nonprofits from staging performances for all ages that contained nudity. But it also banned open-to-all performances that were “lewd” or “shameful” — words that are open to wildly different interpretations. Sound laws aren’t intentionally unclear.

The judge cited “vague language — dangerously susceptible to standardless, overbroad enforcement which could sweep up substantial protected speech …”

Some of us who’d actually read the bill before it was passed told you this long ago. We’d watched, for instance, bill sponsor Randy Fine embarrass himself on the House floor when he couldn’t even explain his own bill. He’d been asked to define “shameful” — so that venue owners might know what might get them arrested if his bill passed — and Fine responded:

“Um … um … [eight seconds of silence] … I think that it again, that is things that are … I dunno … I mean, again, you can look these things up in the dictionary.”

Many of these guys are just bad at their jobs.

Florida’s drag-queen obsessed politicians should see ‘Kinky Boots’ in Orlando | Commentary

Many are also weirdly obsessed with drag queens — much more than they are concerned with protecting children in general. After all, this bill does nothing to stop parents from taking children to movies that feature hard-core sex scenes or graphic violence — only to “live performances” via a bill that cited “prosthetic” breasts.

Judge Presnell wrote that their concerns about protecting minors rang “hollow, however, when accompanied by the knowledge that Florida state law, presently … permits any minor to attend an R-rated film at a movie theater if accompanied by a parent or guardian. Such R-Rated films routinely convey content at least as objectionable …”

And he noted that, when Republican lawmakers specifically targeted “prosthetic” breasts, that could also target “cancer survivors” who showed cleavage … while still allowing parents to take 5-year-olds to movies that feature graphic sex. Those are some twisted family values.

Click to access judge-blocks-drag-law.pdf

Presnell also noted the law seemed at odds with another one of the state’s new culture-war laws — the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” that supposedly declared parents should make decisions for their own children.

You remember that one, right? The so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law that advocates also lied about, hoping you wouldn’t actually read it.

They claimed the bill only attempted to ban discussions about gender identity in “kindergarten through grade 3,” hoping you wouldn’t read the next part of the bill that said it also banned discussions any time they were deemed “not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate.”

One of the bill’s sponsors admitted in a hearing that the bill applied to high schoolers as well. But advocates counted on you being too lazy to read the bill for yourself.

Per usual, somebody didn’t read the bill…it’s not just up until 3rd grade…just ask the sponsor of the bill. #receipts https://t.co/ONAlx7Zg6D pic.twitter.com/FLfxBDJRhD

— Michael Grieco (@Mike_Grieco) March 7, 2022

I am amazed and depressed by the number of people who allow themselves to be misled.

Some backers of the anti-drag queen bill will probably accuse Presnell, a veteran Bill Clinton-appointed jurist who also presided over much of the Joel Greenberg mess, of being a liberal judicial activist. Again, they will count on you not doing your own research — to know, for instance, that a Donald Trump-appointed federal judge recently struck down a similar anti-drag-queen law in Tennessee as well.

Judges from both parties have repeatedly found laws approved by Florida’s GOP lawmakers to be unconstitutional.

In one case, a Trump-appointed judge said the politicians’ efforts to knee-cap citizen-led petition drives was “wholly foreign to the First Amendment.”

In another, DeSantis’ own conservative appointees to the Florida Supreme Court ruled he violated the state constitution by trying to appoint a justice who didn’t meet the minimum qualifications to serve.

Over and over again, these politicians violated the constitution, paid lawyers as much as $675 an hour to defend their bad decisions and then made it difficult for media organizations to tally up the costs.

Your tax dollars pay lawyers $675 an hour to defend unconstitutional laws | Commentary

And they do it all because they can.

Because they count on you not reading the bills when they lie about what the bills say. And because they’re usually re-elected after doing so.

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com

Nice analogy, Mary Anne. If you want to deny your own kids something, fine. But don’t try to deny everyone else’s as well.

Politically, I’m a conservative Republican. Not a MAGA Republican but more of a Reagan-era conservative. Having said that, your column on “Kinky Boots” hit the nail on the head: [“Florida’s drag-queen obsessed politicians should see ‘Kinky Boots’ in Orlando“]. Have I seen “Kinky Boots”? No. Am I going to see it? Probably not. Do I care if my neighbor takes his children to see it? No, that’s his choice. We really need to get our elected officials working on the real issues here in Florida and stop wasting time trying to police what should be individual freedoms. Jack

Amen, Jack.

You’re full of sh*t. Chase

Chase, I appreciate your concision. Just four words. It’s like the “Jesus wept” verse in a Bible of profane reader responses.

I think you should write a book. You are as funny as Dave Barry, Bill Bryson and David Sedaris. Pat

First off, Pat. I am not. Second, I think Dave Barry once said: “Every newspaper writer has a book inside of him … which is precisely where it should stay.” (Though, several years ago, I did an event with Dave Barry where I shared that line. Afterwards, he said: “I’m not sure I ever actually said that. But please keep telling everybody I did. It’s very funny.”)

You seem really stupid. Rocky

Rocky, you won’t be asked to write any blurbs for my books.

Your column today detailed a blatant cover-up with double standards. [“Problems in Florida voucher schools: A $10,413 secret“] Our tax money is going toward these voucher schools, and the public doesn’t have access to how they’re being operated. This resembles taxation without representation. Ray

Or maybe taxation with obfuscation.

I enjoy your writing. I often wish I could take a Sentinel Sunday edition and beat some folks over the head with it. Al

Al, I’m not sure I can in good conscience endorse such a thing. Maybe the Monday edition. It’s lighter.

Mayor Demings is correct to appoint a committee to look at the needs of the county. [“Don’t expand the convention center again. Orange County has other needs“] The tourist industry and its companies have done great things for our county, but it’s time to put excess tourist dollars where they are desperately needed. Bob

Bob, your perspective mirrors what tourism execs decided in Las Vegas. They knew they’d done a very good job building up tourism there but decided they needed to build up the community at large as well by steering hotel taxes to local needs. And most everyone there says the community is better for it.

An uprising? Mayor’s hotel-tax task force suggests overdue changes | Commentary

Excellent piece today. [“As DeSantis relocates migrants from Texas, Republican legislators beg them to keep working in Florida“] It’s hard to fathom how anyone familiar with the basic concepts of the agriculture-construction-hospitality industries didn’t realize Florida’s economy would suffer instant and Richter-scale disruption if the the hard-working, non-citizen migrant community all called in sick. Kathleen

Kathleen, I think a lot of these politicians don’t really care about the impact of their actions — until it affects them personally. Then they want to know why they can’t find anyone to fix their roof.

As DeSantis relocates migrants from Texas, Republican legislators beg them to keep working in Florida

Did Publix and Kroger ever join the Fair Food alliance? I know Publix has been beaming about record profits recently. John

No, they did not. Many major restaurant and grocery chains — everyone from Wal-Mart to McDonald’s — agreed years ago to do something about the exploitative working conditions in Florida’s tomato fields by paying an extra penny per pound to farmworkers. But Publix always refused. The Fair Food folks confirm that’s still the case.

Publix remains a holdout in fair-wage farm debate

My homeowner’s insurance is being canceled next month and I’m about to pay over $2,000 more for a new policy. This is a huge problem, yet the governor is out campaigning, and the legislature is taking baby steps, mostly catering to the insurance industry. It makes my blood boil. Craig

Craig, I believe this is the most under-discussed problem in this state right now. This state’s leadership seems either indifferent to the problem or simply incapable of coming up with meaningful solutions. So they keep screaming about Disney and drag queens instead.

My policy went from $2,000 last year to $3,895 this year. I’m retired with a small pension and social security. I don’t know what to do next year if the policy increases again. There is nothing left after paying for a new roof this year. I don’t want to leave the state I’ve lived in for 68 years. Mary

Mary, I’ve gotten way too many notes like yours.

Scott, I’ve figured out a way to get the governor to pay attention to this real crisis in Florida instead of made-up ones. You should print a rumor that the insurance companies are using climate change data and ESG to determine the high rates they charge Floridians. Then mention that they use the high profits to fund drag shows and give their executives free Disney annual passes! Don

We could even say some insurance companies allow their employees use preferred pronouns.

Florida’s insurance crisis: 2 special sessions, little help | Commentary

Scott, I read the column about your 25th anniversary at the Sentinel. Well done! A robust fourth estate is a marker of an advanced society. I did my part in the military, standing against “enemies foreign.” Your standing against the “enemies domestic” ilk is no less patriotic. I’ll make you a deal: You keep writing, and I’ll keep reading. Alex

Alex, your note is particularly humbling, given your service. Deal.

My opinion of your opinion is that it sucks. Chris

Chris, I was tempted to give you my opinion of your opinion about my opinion, but it felt like that might make the universe collapse upon itself.

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com

25 years at the Orlando Sentinel. What a long, strange, amazing trip | Commentary

But then Florida lawmakers approved the biggest school-voucher giveaway in American history  — one that promises vouchers worth around $8,000 to every child in the state, regardless of income or need.

So, as the Tampa Bay Times reported, the church school did some re-calculating and decided that, instead of leaving their tuition at a price that would be fully covered by the vouchers, they would jack up tuition to $12,000.

Talk about pennies from heaven.

The Times cited a YouTube video the church put up (and later took down) where Monsignor Robert Gibbons said the church “decided that we need to take maximum advantage of this dramatically expanded funding source … Otherwise, we would be negligent.”

A Florida school raised tuition because of vouchers. Will more follow?

Hmm. Imagine walking into an appliance store and asking the owner how much a toaster oven costs.

The store owner responds: $50.

You say: “How perfect! I happen to have a gift certificate for $50!”

Owner: You do? Oh, well then the toaster now costs $85.

You: “Wait, why?”

Owner: Because you have an expanded funding source. To charge you less would be negligent.

You can bet this won’t be an isolated example. It seems clear: The cash grab is on.

Not only will more schools jack up their prices now that they know they can bill taxpayers for hefty chunks, more private schools will set up shop just to cash in. Especially because, in Florida, it’s easy to open a school, regardless of whether you’re qualified to run one.

Fiscal watchdogs and voucher critics predicted this cash grab would occur — that schools would raise tuition, pricing out some of the very families that voucher advocates claimed they were trying to help. Democrats even proposed some checks and balances to prevent schools from doing just that, but Republicans rejected those safeguards.

Previously, only a fraction of the 300 students at St. Paul’s in St. Pete received vouchers. This year, the Times reported, the school was urging every student to seek one.

It’s possible the church school was previously running at a deficit as a service to its community and congregation and that the increased rates will just allow it to cover its costs and pay teachers more. But you have no way of knowing, because, even when tax dollars are the primary funding source for a private school, Florida lawmakers let those schools hide most of the details about their spending and operations.

That lack of accountability and transparency is also why more schools will certainly sprout up in the coming years to cash in on these vouchers — because voucher schools truly are, as the Sentinel has been reporting for years now, “Schools Without Rules.”

Schools Without Rules: An Orlando Sentinel Investigation

While public schools must hire teachers with degrees and certifications, be financially solvent, disclose their graduation rates, serve all students and let the public know what curriculum they use, voucher schools don’t have to do any of that. Nor do state officials check to see what’s going on.

As a result, Sentinel reporters found voucher schools where teachers lacked credentials and even college degrees. They also found teachers with criminal records, schools that falsified fire and health inspections and schools that refused to serve children with disabilities or gay parents. A few were such financial wrecks, they shut down in the middle of the school year.

In Florida, you can basically just throw up a shingle, call yourself a school and start cashing the $8,000 checks.

Florida school vouchers: 5 things to know about this billion-dollar black hole | Commentary

Sure, some private schools are great — with established track records and accredited by respected organizations. But many are not. Of the 276 private schools listed in Orange, state records show fewer than 50 are accredited.

I see value in school choice with basic accountability measures. Lawmakers could require all voucher schools to publish graduation rates and nationally accepted test scores, hire teachers with degrees, disclose all the curriculum and not discriminate with taxpayer money.

But GOP lawmakers have rebuffed most accountability measures. As a result, Florida has become a Wild West of taxpayer-funded education with many parents just hoping for the best — and then learning the state basically shrugs its shoulders when they file complaints like the ones the Sentinel has documented. (“Cleaning lady substituting for teacher” … “I don’t see any evidence of academics” … “vast scope of educational neglect.”)

Florida won’t tell you what’s wrong at its voucher schools – unless we pay $10,413 | Commentary

If a school closes down mid-year or parents discover there’s not really any quality education going on, Florida’s version of accountability is to basically say: Well, try again. That’s “choice” for ya.

There’s also the question of whether there will be enough money for all the families who want to cash in as well now that families that used to spend their own money on private tuition can turn to taxpayers for help. An odd, under-reported provision in the new law says every student is now entitled to a voucher but also says students from poorer families get “priority” status. Think about that. It makes no sense. If everyone allegedly gets a voucher, why would anyone need “priority” status — unless you’re worried the cash grabs will be so rampant, the state might run out of money?

Some voucher critics view price hikes like the one described in St. Petersburg as a way to keep the riff-raff out. That’s a cynical take. The Times reported that St. Paul’s leaders said they will work with families who can’t otherwise afford to attend the school.

Still, Monsignor Gibbons did say the church believed requiring families to spend their own money — in addition to the vouchers — was a way to get “parents who are fully invested.” He said they didn’t want to “just become another public school where the government is funding the education.”

They seem to want the best of both worlds — public funding without the public accountability.

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com

Will it be the undocumented workers who often do the back-breaking work in Florida fields, atop Florida roofs and on Florida construction sites, usually for lower wages than most Floridians would ever accept? Or will it be the companies and corporations that are exploiting them for profit?

I think I know. But let’s watch together. Because this is the first time Florida lawmakers have even pretended like they might crack down on employers.

For years, GOP lawmakers would scream about illegal immigration but say nothing about those who profited off the system. It was like screaming about human trafficking while giving a pass to the traffickers.

Finally, this year — after lots of attention on their selective outrage — lawmakers agreed to insert a provision in their new immigration crackdown that claims to target employers. It promises hefty fines to any company with 25 or more employees that doesn’t vet all its hires through the federal government’s E-Verify system.

But read the new law closely. I did. One provision in SB 1718 gives any employer caught breaking the law “30 days to cure the noncompliance” before facing fines.

Think about that for a minute. How many other lawbreakers are treated that way? When cops catch a burglar, they don’t say: Sir, you have 30 days to cure your “noncompliance” with Florida’s larceny laws before we do anything about it. 

Another section says the $1,000 fines will start after the state finds that an employer breaks the rules “three times in any 24-month period.”

Again, can you imagine trotting out that excuse if you were caught doing something illegal? (Officer, I know you caught me pouring gasoline down the storm drain. But it only seems fair to wait until you catch me doing the same, illegal thing two more times before taking action.)

White-collar lawbreakers are rarely treated the same way petty thieves are. And this law all but ensures that will continue to be the case.

If Florida lawmakers really wanted to crack down on employers flouting state and national hiring laws, it would be easy to do so.

The American Farm Bureau, after all, freely admits that more than half of its workforce is undocumented, stating right on its website: “At least 50-70 percent of farm laborers in the country today are unauthorized.”

So, if the state truly cracked down after this new law takes effect, more than half this state’s agricultural workforce would be gone by late summer. Crops would rot in the fields. Produce prices would skyrocket.

As Palm Beach Post columnist Frank Cerabino recently wrote, Floridians who fume about “stolen” jobs would be able to “consider some red-hot new career opportunities picking vegetables, tarring roofs or cleaning hotel toilets.”

This is why GOP lawmakers never really wanted to crack down on undocumented workers.  Florida’s low-wage economy — centered around tourism, construction and agriculture — would collapse without the 700,000-plus undocumented workers who make it run. (Plus, their campaign donors wouldn’t like it.)

Why do you think that, when Ron DeSantis wanted to pull an immigration stunt by flying a bunch of migrants off to Martha’s Vineyard, he bypassed the hundreds of thousands of undocumented workers in Florida’s labor pool and went all the way to Texas?

Immigrant advocates in Florida were able to strip some of the worst parts from the crackdown law, including the original proposal to arrest anyone — including nuns and nonprofit workers — who helped an undocumented immigrant, possibly even if the helper didn’t know.

Jailing nuns? Florida’s nutty new immigration plan | Commentary

“We were able to stop the most harmful parts,” said Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, a Brazilian immigrant who is now executive director of Hope CommUnity Center in Apopka. “And the silver lining is that a new movement brewed up. We spoke up. We said: This is our home and we belong here. I call it a new us.”

Sousa-Lazaballet still has plenty of concerns about the new law, including the parts that ask hospitals to collect data on the immigration status of people who need help and the $12 million lawmakers set aside for more relocation stunts, like last year’s involving Martha’s Vineyard.

I’m actually somewhat sympathetic to some of these businesses and industries that rely on undocumented workers. They’ve been put in a tough position. They have customers demanding cheap products and politicians who refuse to pass meaningful, sensible immigration reform.

We’re a nation full of people who feel entitled to 25-cent tomatoes and yet who scream about the very workers who harvest those cheap eats while also accusing them of sTEaLiNg oUr jObS!

It’s cheap and ugly politics. The real solution is both comprehensive reform and an American acknowledgment that we can’t expect things so cheaply.

But since Florida politicians aren’t much into comprehensive solutions, they’ve just vowed to do a crackdown.

Well, if your version of an immigration crackdown is to target the people fleeing oppression and poverty — and not the corporate entities trying to illegally profit off that misery — then you have a twisted set of values.

So we’ll see what Florida’s values are in a few weeks — when we see who’s targeted.

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com

But first I wanted to address a question many readers have asked after national politicians and pundits raised the issue: Is there any chance Disney might leave Florida to escape Ron DeSantis?

Let’s cut to the chase: No.

And how do I say this gently? Frankly, it’s a ridiculous question — like Tweedle Dum ridiculous.

Yes, DeSantis is hounding Disney like Cruella de Vil on a puppy hunt. And yes, everyone from former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to North Carolina legislators have invited Disney to relocate to their states. But those folks sound nuttier than Chip and Dale.

You’re more likely to see DeSantis dress up as Tinker Bell than you are to see Disney leave Florida. Disney has more money invested in Orlando than Scrooge McDuck could count.

The park land itself is about 40 square miles. Do you know how big that is? It’s the size of Paris. Asking whether Disney might move is like asking whether Paris might pick up the Eiffel Tower, Louvre and Notre-Dame cathedral and head to Luxembourg. And actually, Disney has pumped more money into Epcot and fake France than real France has spent on the cathedral.

Disney’s investment is so big, it’s hard to fathom. But to put things in perspective, consider  just one relatively tiny piece — a single ride. Back in 2006, Disney spent about $100 million on the Expedition Everest coaster in Animal Kingdom.

Now that’s $100 million on just one ride … in just one theme park … actually in just one of six different lands at that one theme park … which is just one of four different theme parks total. And that says nothing of the water parks, hotels, Disney Springs and the monorail system that DeSantis recently started eyeing the way Shere Khan eyed the man cub.

Sure, I get that folks like Haley — who also has her eye on the GOP nomination for the White House — want to troll DeSantis. (She offered to relocate 70,000 Disney jobs to the Palmetto State where Haley said residents are “not woke, but we’re not sanctimonious about it either.”)

Hey @Disney, my home state will happily accept your 70,000+ jobs if you want to leave Florida.

We’ve got great weather, great people, and it’s always a great day in South Carolina!

SC’s not woke, but we’re not sanctimonious about it either. pic.twitter.com/uf1PWQjGc5

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) April 26, 2023

And we understand why Democratic lawmakers in North Carolina would do the same. (The North Carolina Senate leader said: “Florida doesn’t seem a good fit for the happiest place on earth these days” and stressed that “In NC, y’all still means all.”)

Florida doesn’t seem a good fit for the happiest place on earth these days. In NC, y’all still means all. #ncpol #DisneyWorld https://t.co/OQQ6D2h63l

— Dan Blue (@DanBlueNC) April 19, 2023

But no matter how many pundits, politicians and publications pose the question, Disney isn’t abandoning an investment that rivals the GDP of Rhode Island simply because of a spat and legal fight with a politician. Especially when Disney knows it was here long before Ron DeSantis and will be here long after.

Rubio vs. the Dodgers

Marco Rubio has been politicking around Florida for decades and doesn’t much care for the way DeSantis is getting all the attention these days. So last week, Rubio tried to dip his toes in the culture-war pool that has made DeSantis so popular among the red-meat crowd.

Rubio’s target? A nonprofit group in Los Angeles that dresses up as drag versions of nuns and was slated to be honored by the L.A. Dodgers for their philanthropic work in that community.

When Rubio heard that the often-satirical Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were slated to be honored by the Dodgers, he wrote a letter to the Commissioner of Major League Baseball.

“The ‘sisters’ are men who dress in lewd imitation of Roman Catholic nuns,” Rubio wrote, going on to say that honoring them would be “an outrage and a tragedy.”

Well, Rubio got the attention he desired from everyone from ESPN to MLB. And for a brief moment, the Dodgers did what he asked and uninvited the sisters to their stadium.

But then, the Dodgers not only changed their mind and re-invited the Sisters, they apologized for momentarily cowing to Rubio’s demands, saying the team appreciated the sisters’ efforts to raise money for HIV/AIDS and breast cancer research and stressing that the team was committed to respecting “all of our fans who make up the diversity of the Dodgers family.”

That made Rubio even angrier. He tweeted that “Shamefully, (but not surprisingly) the @dodgers have been bullied into apologizing to & ‘re-inviting’ a group of anti-Catholic bigots.”

So Rubio didn’t get his way. But he did get his headlines about the Florida senator taking on a California baseball team.

pic.twitter.com/626cPP4Ith

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 22, 2023

Rick Scott vs. socialism

Not to be outdone, Florida’s junior senator, Rick Scott, also tried to get in on a bit of the culture-war action.

After some minority groups issued travel advisories warning that their members might not feel safe or valued in Florida, Scott decided to issue one of his own — a “TRAVEL ADVISORY FOR SOCIALISTS VISITING FLORIDA,” warning them that “Florida is openly hostile toward Socialists, Communists and those that enable them.”

Scott’s announcement scored him a piece on the Fox News website and some attention from London’s Daily Mail. But overall, he got less attention than DeSantis or Rubio and just generally generated head-scratching.

In fact, a correspondent for the New Republic, who apparently worried readers might think he was pulling their leg, felt compelled to tweet Scott’s announcement with this disclaimer: “This is an actual press release from a former governor and current United States senator.”

This is an actual press release from a former governor and current United States senator. pic.twitter.com/GdMkUVXvrC

— Daniel Strauss (@DanielStrauss4) May 23, 2023

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com

I’m not here today to debate whether the shooting was justified. Investigators and prosecutors are still working to determine that.

What I will say, though, is that it’s ridiculous that investigators will never have access to video footage from any body cameras that day.

Officers should’ve been wearing body cams to capture everything. But they weren’t. And it’s important for you to remember: That was a choice made by the department. And it was unusual.

See, this shooting didn’t happen back in 1992 when cameras were bulky and flip phones were the norm. This happened in 2022, when most police departments and sheriff’s offices considered body cameras standard. Osceola, however, has never been like most departments.

While other cities and counties invested in cameras — to build trust with the communities and collect evidence for prosecutors — Osceola dragged its feet. First under former Sheriff Russ Gibson. Then by current Sheriff Marcos Lopez.

So now — with a man dead, lawsuits flying and investigators still looking for answers — we don’t have all the information we should. All because of conscious choices. Either because the officers didn’t have cameras or didn’t have them on.

The sheriff’s office said this week that Lopez is now working to get cameras for his entire force. That’s swell, but way overdue.

And if another deadly incident transpires tomorrow involving Osceola deputies, there’s a solid chance there won’t be any video evidence once again. As of this week, the Osceola sheriff’s office says it has issued only 285 cameras to its 478 sworn officers.

Even more stark: Of the 50 school resource officers on the job, the office says only 17 working in high schools are wearing body cameras.

That’s on the heels of Lopez offering conflicting stances about whether he wanted his officers wearing them. (See this story from 2021: “Osceola sheriff backtracks on support for equipping school deputies with body cameras” where Lopez said: “I don’t think they’re needed.”)

Osceola sheriff backtracks on support for equipping school deputies with body cameras

It’s good that the office says Lopez now believes they’re needed force-wide. But he and his predecessor made the choices that left us without cameras in this deadly shoplifting case last year — and in most Osceola County schools to this very day.

Cameras aren’t perfect. They don’t always catch everything. And they can be turned off at inopportune times. But I’ve been talking with police chiefs and sheriffs about this for a decade, and most agree the benefits are extensive.

Cameras help prosecutors secure convictions and keep the bad guys behind bars. They vindicate cops who are subjected to bogus complaints and give members of the public fuller stories if they suspect a cop left crucial details out of his or her official report.

Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said his best cops usually liked having recordings of their interactions with the public — that it was “the bums” who got nervous; some ultimately deciding to leave the job. Other chiefs said that simply letting suspects know they were on camera sometimes quieted them down.

Basically, cameras make many people behave better. Everyone has known that for years.

In fact, by 2018, Osceola was one of the few major offices in Central Florida that didn’t have cameras as standard-issue equipment.

Commentary: Body cameras for police are now the norm … except for a few Central Florida holdouts

That was a choice made by Gibson until he left office in 2020 and by Lopez in the years since.

And it’s one investigators and maybe even jurors will now have to wrestle with as they consider a lawsuit from the family of 20-year-old Jayden Baez.

Family members say deputies used “excessive, unreasonable and unnecessary force” in response to a shoplifting call. The department says the officers were under threat; that the suspect was in a car that was trying to ram the officers’ vehicle.

Osceola sheriff, deputies facing lawsuit over deadly Target shooting

If you were an officer who was forced to shoot and kill someone, wouldn’t you want the video that shows precisely the danger you were facing when you decided to pull the trigger?

Now, think about who wouldn’t want video evidence. In this case or any other.

And just remember that most any time that evidence isn’t available — for a jury, for prosecutors or for members of an angry or distraught family — that missing evidence is the result of a choice someone made.

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com