AUG 13 Hot Topics: Diverted Dollar$: The Real Cost of School Choice
Diana Smith | Published on 7/29/2025
Aug. 13 Hot Topics Panel Focuses on School Vouchers and Diversion of Tax Dollars
League of Women Voters of Orange County Lunch and Discussion Series
Florida’s voucher programs and how education money is being siphoned from public schools will be the focus of the League of Women Voters of Orange County’s Aug. 13 Hot Topics lunch and panel discussion — “Diverted Dollar$: The Real Cost of School Choice.”
Doors open at 10:30 a.m. at the Winter Park Events Center for a buffet lunch. The discussion starts at 11:45 a.m. at 1050 W. Morse Blvd. in Winter Park and ends at 1 p.m. Tickets are $30 for League members, $37 non-members. Register at www.lwvoc.org/hottopics
The Hot Topics panel will look at a voucher law that helps parents pay for homeschooling or private schools and also will discuss how public school students and the community are being adversely affected. Orange County Public Schools recently announced a projected loss of 3,130 students in the 2025-26 year, which will result in a $27.8 million loss in state funding and require cutbacks in all departments.
The moderator is Beth Kassab, editor of the Winter Park Voice. Panelists include Stephanie Vanos, member of the OCPS School Board; Dr. Tashanda Brown-Cannon, Chief Academic Officer at OCPS; Annie Martin, an investigative reporter with the Orlando Sentinel who has worked extensively on education
stories, and Dr. Norín Dollard, senior policy analyst with Florida Policy Institute.
Among the issues to be discussed at Hot Topics:
--Defining what taxpayer-funded vouchers are.
--Identifying how much money is diverted from public school funding to pay for vouchers.
--The negative effects of vouchers on public school students, educators, schools and community.
--Florida’s failure over the past 20 years to increase the education budget and keep pace with inflation.
The panel discussion will be streamed live on the League’s Facebook page Facebook and an edited version will be available later on the League’s YouTube channel, League of Women Voters Orange County - YouTube.
Visionary sponsors: Phil and Jennifer Anderson. Silver sponsors: Lyn and David Berelsman and Voting
Voices — Michele Levy, Charley Williams, Caroline Emmons-Schramm and Laurie and Richard Wack.
A new Silver sponsor group, The Kindred Three: Lee Rambeau Kemp, Sue Foreman and Joan Erwin.
Bronze sponsors: Alex and the Hon. Cynthia Mackinnon.
The League of Women Voters of Orange County, Florida, is a nonpartisan civic organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
League of Women Voters of Orange County, FL, P.O. Box 1901, Winter Park, FL