Annie martin orlando sentinel3/2/2024 ![]() (EWA judges weren’t assigned to entries that posed conflicts of interests.) This group of current and former journalists spent long hours carefully evaluating their assigned subsets of the 340 entries for the 2021 National Awards for Education Reporting and the Eddie Prize. The Sentinel then contacted hundreds of other companies that supported the program to gauge their views.The Education Writers Association would like to express our deep gratitude and thanks to the busy professionals who volunteered their time to evaluate the entries for our journalism awards. Rosen, who has steered $1.3 million to the program since 2003, said he wouldn’t contribute to the program again unless discrimination is prohibited. In June, prominent Central Florida hotelier Harris Rosen ended his support for the state program after the Sentinel initially reported on a few Central Florida private schools that refuse to serve gay students. “We remain committed to diversity and inclusion for all students and would never knowingly donate to any organization that discriminates,” he wrote.Ĭigar City Brewing also said it was ending donations to the program until changes are made. Similarly, ABC Fine Wines and Spirits, said it last donated to the scholarship fund in 2018 and “will not in the future under the current policy,” spokesman Sean Kelly wrote in an email. The hotel and vacation club giant said it wants to make sure the program “does not indirectly endorse any form of discrimination and that all participating schools foster a culture of respect and inclusion.” It has contributed $6.75 million since 2011, most recently in December 2018. “Who else thinks he (along with others) are trying to distract us?”Īfter the announcements from the two banks, Wyndham Destinations, which sent a rainbow-decked float to Orlando’s gay pride parade in October, released a statement on Thursday saying it too would stop contributions to the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program unless discrimination against LGBTQ students is prohibited. “This is about making sure ALL kids who benefit from programs via & programs like it are safe and free from discrimination,” Eskamani wrote. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, responded to Rubio on Twitter, saying the issue “isn’t about ‘culture wars.'” She has filed a bill that would prohibit schools that receive vouchers from discriminating against LGBTQ students. Fifth Third sent dozens of employees in rainbow-decorated T-shirts and a float to Orlando’s Most Colorful Parade, held in October as part of the annual gay pride festivities. Many of the companies that fund the tax-credit scholarships publicly support the LGBTQ community, vowing to make employment decisions without regard to sexual orientation or sponsoring events such as Orlando’s Come out with Pride festivities. But information on Step Up’s website identifies some of the corporations that have diverted their tax dollars to the program, though not always how much.Īfter companies announced last week they were stopping contributions to the program, Step Up apparently removed its annual report, which includes a list of donors, from its website. The names of the companies that contribute to the program, and how much they give, aren’t public record. The program is funded by companies that receive dollar-for-dollar tax write-offs for their contributions.įifth Third, which sent $5.4 million to the program in 2018, said it wouldn’t contribute again “until more inclusive policies have been adopted by all participating schools to protect the sexual orientation of all our students.” Similarly, Wells Fargo said it opposed “discrimination of any kind.”īut the Florida Republican described the banks’ announcements as a “publicity stunt,” calling the scholarships by the name of the nonprofit organization that administers most of them.Ĭampuses with anti-LGBTQ policies served more than 16% of about 104,000 students who received tax-credit scholarships during the 2018-19 school year, records from Step Up For Students and the Florida Department of Education show. 23 that more than $105 million from the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, which pays for low-income children to attend private schools, went to campuses with anti-LGBTQ policies last year. The banks’ decision came after the Orlando Sentinel reported Jan. Marco Rubio criticized Fifth Third and Wells Fargo banks in a statement on Monday, saying the companies were seeking “‘wokeness’ points from the radical left” after they halted contributions to Florida’s largest voucher program unless the state prohibits private schools that receive the money from discriminating against LGBTQ students.
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