The Florida Roundup - Alligator Alcatraz, immigration enforcement in Palm Beach, Florida's state voucher program and Florida Emancipation Day

Episode Date: May 15, 2026

Florida Roundup with New York Times reporter Patricia Mazzei talking about Alligator Alcatraz (1:08). Jake Shore from WLRN talks the Florida Highway Patrol's role in immigration enforcement (12:12). Politico's education reporter Andrew Atterbury joins to talk the state’s voucher program (20:24). We also look at the historical legacy of Florida Emancipation Day ahead of the May 20 anniversary (38:15).

Today on the Florida Roundup. It was always intended to be temporary because we were only doing it because the federal government didn't have the resources to hold these people themselves. Alligator Alcatraz may close soon. What happens to the people detained there? And when will the state be paid back? Palm Beach County has seen the highest number of immigration enforcement arrests. I do get phone calls on a regular basis of people continuing to be detained. I wonder, because some of this is political, why Palm Beach.

County is getting a lot. And then Florida's largest teachers union sues the state over using public money for charter schools and school vouchers. Where do your kids or grandkids, nieces, nephews, go to school and why? 305-995-1800 or send us an email radio at the Florida roundup.org. And remembering Emancipation Day in Florida more than a century and a half later. I'm Tom Hudson. I'm Tom Hudson. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for being along with us. months ago, trucks started rolling into what was then called the Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport. It was a scar of concrete that's carved out of the Everglades between

Miami and Naples. It's a single runway that stretches almost two miles with the airport code TNT. For almost the past year, trailers, tents, and portopotties have spread across that runway, and the facility now is better known as Alligator Alcatraz. It may be shutting down soon, but Governor Rondesantis said Wednesday this week he has not got word from the federal government to close the facility. Everything that we constructed is temporary. We didn't build any permanent facilities down there because we knew it was going to be temporary. Now, I have not gotten any official word that they're going to not be sending illegal aliens there.

Families and lawyers for some of the people detained at that facility over the past 11 months have complained about harsh conditions and lack of communications. Environmental groups have sued over alligator Alcatraz. More than 1,000 people were held there as of last. month. The state of Florida is still owed hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government, and immigration enforcement arrests continue throughout the state. So this is where we're going to start this week here on the Florida Roundup. 305-995-1800 is the phone number to join in the conversation. You can send us a quick note, your thoughts about immigration enforcement and the possible closure of Alligator Alcatraz by emailing radio at the Florida Roundup.org. The journalist who

broke this story is Patricia Maze. The Florida a correspondent for the New York Times and she joins us now. Patty, welcome back to the program. Nice to speak with you. Hey, nice to be here. Thanks for having me. What is the expected timeline for winding down Alligator Alcatraz? What we know is that vendors at the facility were told to expect detainees to be moved out by early June and then for the breakdown of the facility to follow that for several weeks in June. So it sounds a little bit like there might not be a set date. You know, maybe it's June 1 to release the detainee,

not to release them, I'm sorry, to move out the detainees and then to break down the facility. But that is what we know so far. You spoke to a number of sources in a number of different places that are in a place to know some details here. But why close it now or why shut it down, wind it down now, 11 months in? Our original reporting on this suggested that federal officials have come to the conclusion that the facility is both too expensive and what they consider ineffective at this point. Now, it's unclear what they mean by ineffective, but certainly we have known from the start that it is incredibly expensive to operate the facility precisely because it is in a remote location without existing infrastructure.

How much are we talking about? The documents that the state has released either in public records requests or more recently in court documents suggest that it's been more than a million dollars a year. Now it's more than a million dollars a day. Right. Yeah. Over the course of 10 months, you know, that adds to hundreds of millions of dollars. They've asked the federal government to reimburse them $608 million of those dollars. but they have spent more than that.

Granted, their burn rate at the beginning of the facility was higher than it was later. But again, it's not like we have updated figures because the state doesn't readily release this information. The governor is very confident that the state of Florida will get this $600 million or so back that it has spent. He has said that it's all been approved by the federal government and it's just waiting on FEMA. And FEMA is slow to reimburse states that the state is still waiting for. reimbursement for even some hurricane spending from a couple of hurricane seasons ago. What is the state of that reimbursement payment to Florida? Vendors have said privately that in some cases their invoices have not been paid for a long time by the state.

And the state has said, well, we haven't been reimbursed. This becomes a problem for the state in the long term because these are emergency vendors that have been previously. vetted to respond to all sorts of emergencies. That includes hurricanes, and they're obligated to do things like pick up debris after a storm to help out the state. And they do this knowing that FEMA is going to take months to reimburse them. If they do not have cash going into hurricane season, they might not be able to respond as effectively. So it's sort of in everybody's interest for them to get reimbursed as quickly as possible. To your point about FEMA holding up the payment, There was a shutdown, obviously, of the Department of Homeland Security, a partial shutdown that we understand delayed part of this payment.

The Department of Justice has been holding it up as of late. And we don't know exactly why, but in court, they have argued, the federal government has argued that they do not have federal control of this facility. And I sort of wonder, once that check exchanges hands, you know, what happens to that argument. Yeah. And obviously, the environmental lawsuit has argued that, the Alligator Alcatraz stand up did not go through federal environmental reviews, as the plaintiffs argue that it should have. The state has said, no, it's a state facility. So whose call is it ultimately here, Patty, since the state and the governor has insisted this is a state-run facility that's accepting immigration enforcement detainees from the federal government?

It's interesting how that's sort of the political hot potato right now, right? It seems like nobody wants to take ownership of the closing of the facility, despite of all the fanfare that was involved last July when they opened it. If you listen to the federal officials, they say, oh, the state hasn't told us, you know, a date when is closing. And the state officials say the feds haven't told us when they're going to stop sending people. So I'm not sure we're going to expect, you know, a press conference outside of the facility the day it closes. But we will certainly hear from detainees, their lawyers, and their families as they get moved out.

and we'll be able to see if the facility is broken down. So maybe it's the sort of thing that we just have to see with our own eyes and document without some sort of piece of paper or announcement that the facility is closed. We're speaking with Florida reporter Patricia Mize, with the New York Times, who broke the story a week ago about the potential closing of alligator alcatraz. Patty, what happens to the people who are held there at the moment that one agency or another decides to close it down. Presumably they get transferred to other detention centers that the federal government

controls in Florida and other states. But we obviously have not been told explicitly where they're going to go or if they're going to go into to the same place. The last estimate, not estimate, the last tally that we saw from ICE on how many people were in Alligator Alcatraz, I believe was from April 9th. And it was 1,400 men. So it sounds like not easy. to send them all to the same place, right?

I imagine they would be sent to different places, but again, we have not heard that officially. I want to come back to the money here because it is a substantial amount of money that the state of Florida spent, kind of fronted in the expectation and anticipation of being repaid by the federal government. You mentioned speaking to some vendors

and these emergency vendors, many of whom also are involved with emergency services during storm season in Florida that still have some unpaid invoices from Alligator Alcatraz. What kind of cash positions are these vendors in, as the season shall not be named, is now just a couple of weeks away?

They're not eager to talk publicly about this because obviously they have these existing contracts that they want to keep with the state. But it really does sound like some of them are having liquidity issues and having to sell off other assets or figure out how to sort of stay afloat cash-wise while they wait for these payments. So it certainly sounds to me like that is one of the reasons why, you know, the federal officials have concluded this place is getting expensive and the cash situation is just gotten untenable.

Do we know if the federal government of ICE is still sending detainees to the facility? That's a good question. Because we don't have an updated population tally since that last month, I'm not sure. I certainly know some detainees have been moved out or released, but it's hard to know if they're still going in. Some people who are part of the groups that oppose the facility have sort of posted outside to look in and try to see buses coming in, bus coming out. But as you know, you cannot see the entrance from the street. So we don't really know, and we'll just have to see, I think, as we get new information and how it plays out over several weeks. And I think you spoke with some of the folks that are behind the environmental lawsuit, the federal lawsuit.

What would be the state of that lawsuit if the facility closes? I imagine that the federal or state defendants would try to argue that it all becomes moot. Right. But the plaintiffs, including the environmental groups that you cite, have said that they intend to follow it through till the end. They have other pending claims that they intend to bring up, including on, you know, the protection of endangered species, Florida Panther. Right. And they're scheduled to go back to district court after sort of an initial, you know, appeals court sent the case back.

So there would be more claims to argue and more discovery were these cases to continue. But, you know, the defendants would have to file to make them mood and then a judge would have to rule on that. Well, we're grateful for sharing your reporting with this today on the Florida Ronda, Patty. Thanks so much. We appreciate it. Thank you. Patricia Mize, Florida reporter for the New York Times. If alligator Alcatraz shuts down, immigration enforcement is expected, certainly, to continue throughout the state of Florida.

About one and every 10 immigration arrests nationwide last year was here in the Sunshine State. Florida had the second most attentions in the country, and in Florida, Palm Beach County has seen more arrests than any other area. Rick Roth is a former Republican lawmaker and longtime sugar cane grower. in Palm Beach County. I do get phone calls on a regular basis of people continuing to be detained. And I wonder about that too. I wonder because some of this is political, you know, why Palm Beach County is getting a lot. WLR investigative reporter Jake Shore with our member station in South Florida looked into just that question. Jake, welcome to the program. So why has Palm Beach County seen the most arrests in

Florida for immigration alleged immigration violations. Hey, Tom, glad to be here. We don't exactly know, but it was a question that I started with upon looking at the numbers and just kind of scratching my head because there's less people and less immigrant populations in Palm Beach than the two counties to the south, Broward and Miami-Dade. And so, you know, upon looking at it, approximately one in of Florida Highway Patrol's arrests on federal immigration charges happened in Palm Beach County. So I brought that question to experts and to business leaders like Rick Roth and who might have an answer, I thought, and everybody just had a guess. And so, you know, Roth's guess was that it was the, you know, huge agricultural sector in Palm

Beach County and the undocumented workers that work in that field. you know, there's other theories as well, you know, about FHP specifically because they are the ones who are the engine for immigration enforcement in the state. And I want to ask you about the Florida Highway Patrol connection in a second, but how many arrests are we talking about in Palm Beach County? One of five in Florida is happening there. How many? Yeah, it's a bit over 1,200 arrests by FHP in Palm Beach County. So just Florida Highway Patrol. And they've arrested over, 7,000 statewide, and that comes out to close to one in five. And so and who is being arrested in Palm Beach County? And what are they being charged with? Yeah, I mean, so the data is really limited, but on the state immigration website where they show this information, they only spread it out between state and local charges and federal immigration. So I'm only looking at the federal immigration

charges and that's what we're seeing so it's local cops using their authority under 287g which is the program that they you know the agreement with ice that kits them federal authority to conduct an immigration arrest so you know they've in a lot of the body camera footage i've seen from other agencies it's somebody's pulled over for some you know nondescript traffic offense uh you know they check the license they might not find one or they suspect somebody is undocumented. They call ICE and then, you know, they are told to detain the person. And so that's how we see it play out in a lot of cases. We're speaking with investigative reporter Jake Shore. He is with our partner station in South Florida, WLR, about Palm Beach County as the home of the

most immigration detention arrests in the state of Florida by Florida Highway Patrol 305-995-1800. Our phone number live on this Friday. Roger and Pinellas Park has been patient. Roger, we want to hear from you. You are on the radio. Go ahead. Yeah, hello. Hi. Disturbing trends that a governor or president can simply declare an emergency and grant himself emergency powers. I think there should be some oversight on that.

I'm afraid that all the money spent on incarcerating all these people who grow our foods and build our houses has been distributed to their cronies. on a lot of no bid contracts, and it's just really a corrupt situation. So you're tracing it all the way back to that state of emergency declaration by Governor DeSantis now, gosh, I think it's been a couple of years now, but it's still in force and allows him some specific guidance, some specific actions that he can use under that state of emergency declaration. Gotcha. Roger, I appreciate you bringing that point up there from Pinellas Park. Jake, I want to

take Rogers' observation and kind of bring you back to state agencies and the role that they've been playing in the arrests that you've been documented in Palm Beach County. You mentioned the Florida Highway Patrol here. What is that relationship with FHP and immigration enforcement? Yeah, I mean, you know, they are the leader in the state in, you know, acting out the immigration agenda that Governor DeSantis has put out there. And, you know, you know, You know, what we're seeing is in press conferences, the director of Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Dave Kerner. Now, that's the agency that oversees FHP and all state licensing, license plates, everything like that. You know, he's boasted at press conferences about how ICE and Border Patrol agents are in the cars with troopers to help verify the immigration status of drivers that are pulled over.

So it's a really close relationship is what we've seen. Maybe I missed that, but the relationship between the highway safety vehicle agency and FHP? Yeah. So they oversee FHP. I see. The highway safety and motor vehicle, yeah. It's a lot of, you know, word vomit of government agencies. But yeah, but the same agency that, again, issues driver's licenses also oversees the highway law enforcement.

Yes. And so as folks have been asking questions about why Palm Beach County, what has been the reaction inside the county of residents? Yeah, people are, it's crazy. I mean, I talk to residents, they either don't believe me or they think, you know, any variety of theories. Like I talk to some immigrant rights advocates. They think it could be because of, you know, President Trump lives in our county. they think it could also be because Dave Kerner, the guy I mentioned earlier who runs Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle, is a longtime Palm Beach County official.

You know, he was actually born in Lake Worth, or he's from Lake Worth. I don't know if he's born there, but his father was the police chief there. He represented Lake Worth in the state legislature, and he served as the mayor of Palm Beach County all before being appointed by DeSantis as the head of Highway Safety and Motor vehicle. So, you know, in the absence of any concrete information, some people have pointed to the fact that he knows this area intimately. I actually, you know, sent, I tried to request an interview with Director Turner. And no, no, none whatsoever. And just to get a good answer, you know, like if your hometown has been one of the hardest hit in terms of immigration enforcement,

I thought you might have a perspective on that. But they didn't accept the invitation. Jake Shore, investigative reporter with our member station in South Florida, WLR. Jake, thanks so much for sharing your reporting with us. We appreciate it. Thank you. Got this quick email from Charles. Charles, always great to hear from you. Charles writes, who's going to pay to restore the massive environmental damage from alligator alcatraz?

That remains to be seen, perhaps. All right, well, let's talk about the rainy season, which begins today here in Florida. Yeah, we're still a couple of weeks away from the start of that other season. And you know, several hundred people move to Florida every day on average. some return to the sunshine. But for a lot of folks, they're brand new to the season that shall not be named that starts June 1st. So we want to help out our new neighbors across the state. And we want to hear from you storm veterans.

What's in your storm kit? What do those new neighbors need to know about that season that begins June 1? What's the most necessary item in your storm stash? Chocolate bars and peanut butter, rubber boots, a chainsaw, maybe a nice bottle of rum. Email it to us, radio at the floor. Florida Roundup.org. Radio at the Florida Roundup.org. More to come. Stick with us. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. It is our pleasure to have you along with us here. Live on this Friday across the state from the peninsula to the Panhandle and beyond, and it is

always wonderful to be with you. Next week on this program, you are not going to want to miss this. It's our annual summer reading special. And boy, do we have two thrillers for you. Now, one is from Kip Lyman. Kip is a first. time novelist here in the Sunshine State. She says she lives in a haunted house in Fort Pierce and credits heavenly inspiration for her book. It was divine intervention. You know, the story was written. It was already written. And it was out there floating around. And all of a sudden it said, I choose Kip Leinen. Well, the name of that book is the Purple Ribbon. It's an innocent enough soundy name, right? But this novel is a modern thriller, some really terrible acts of

violence, but really inspiring acts of courage and bravery, too. The other thriller that we're going to talk about in our summer reading special is artist Henderson's real life. This book is part autobiography and part investigation. You see, she spent years looking into her father's life as a major marijuana smuggler in Florida and his death, tracing back to a federal agent who investigated her dad's death. I spoke to him. I did not have the nerve. to ask him if he killed my father. I don't know why I didn't ask him,

except I didn't want to hear him lie. This will all be next week on our summer reading special here on the Florida Rondup. You can always email your book ideas, especially if they're Florida-focused, radio at the florida-roundup.org. All right, now the school year here is wrapping up quickly. This is the third year that students can use state vouchers to help pay tuition at private schools or homeschool. Hundreds of thousands of families have used these vouchers moving students out of traditional public schools, putting school district budgets under pressure and leading to layoffs and school closings.

At the same time, school districts are seeing charter schools move into underutilized public schools rent-free with traditional schools picking up the tab for utilities, maintenance, and security. Last week, the state's largest teachers union filed a lawsuit suing the state. Andrew Spar is the president of the Florida Education Association. This lawsuit is a last resort. We cannot wait for another year. We cannot wait for other elected officials. Our students cannot lose one more day of education. Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamutas responded this way.

We're going to continue to support families and ensure that they can utilize those opportunities so that their child is getting the best education for their success. We will stand unapologetically. convicted on that principle. So what does the state constitutional promise of a uniform, high quality, and free public education mean here in 2026? Where do your kids, your grandkids, nieces, nephews, your neighbors, go to school and why? 305-995-800-305-3-0-9-9-5-1800. Let's go to line one right away here. Janet in Miami Beach has been very patient. Janet, go ahead. You are on the radio. Yes. We elected to send our oldest to private school.

because of the political climate at the time. There was talk of banning books and teaching creationism with heavy religious undertones. We got scared. So now we pay a lot of money for private school, and the school's wonderful, but we don't go on long vacations or live the way we want, and the school doesn't take up,

take step up money, because the state can regulate the curriculum and the books in their library. I see. So you don't use the state voucher dollars for the private school education for your child. Our school doesn't take them. Interesting.

And have you thought about returning to public school at all? I don't think so. Only because the school is so wonderful and I hesitate to move the kids. I'm afraid they'll never recover. Yeah. Well, I hope you have a happy and healthy summertime once we get to the end of school year, Janet.

Thanks for being with us here on the Florida Duranup for Miami Beach. 305-9-9-8-800 is the phone number. Andrew Aderberry covers education statewide for Florida Politico. Andrew, welcome back to the program. Great to talk to you again. Hey, thanks for having me. You picked a great time to do this. Yes, indeed.

I know in our house, I think today on this Friday is the last AP test for my youngest son. So testing season is just about over for him, which means effectively the school year is about over for him as well. Let's talk about this lawsuit, though. Filed last week three years after the voucher program was expanded to universal vouchers. why now for the suit? I think it's a very poignant question and a very timely question. It was great you played the clip you did with President Andrew Spar with the FBA saying this was a last resort. I think that says a lot about where their thinking was on this.

I think for a lot of people, would have made sense perhaps if this would have been filed a couple years ago when the universal school choice happened. But then again, now there are more effects that you could perhaps document and use to make your case, which I'm sure that's what the FAA is going to do in this. But it is interesting. because this is the first time the vouchers have really been challenged since they went universal. And I think the way that former governor, Jeb Bush, he's, you know, he's a big voucher guy. He's one of the people who got this off the ground. He was the one who had to deal with the original lawsuit about this years ago.

He said, basically, this is the FDA's attempt to revive the 2006 ruling that overturned the state's first ever voucher, which was eventually spawned, you know, other vouchers where we are now. So now maybe perhaps since they're, we've had three years for schools to show how this is affecting them, maybe the FDA thinks this is the time to go for a judge and see what they think. Yeah, certainly the story of school choice and school vouchers is one that dates back to Governor Bush's tenure in office and beyond. How much are we talking about here in 2026? How much state education funding is earmarked for these vouchers?

Oh, it's a big chunk. So the budget they're looking at now, we're talking up to $4.5 billion for vouchers. and the current year is $4.2 billion. Those are just for the scholarships from the state money they go towards students to go to a private school or even sometimes homeschooling. That's one thing that a lot of people kind of overlook. There's vouchers now for homeschooling,

and those are very popular. I think those are even more popular than lawmakers thought they ever would be. Yeah, I remember, boy, we were doing a live show at our member station in Orlando, Central Florida Public Media, and we had the Orange County Superintendent on, and we were asking her about the drop in school enrollment,

traditional public schools. and she cited first and foremost homeschooling over private schools. Yeah. And especially, that's the one thing you hear a lot about in some of these more rural counties because there aren't private schools in its many cases. But parents are still saying, hey, I can get a voucher to teach my kid at home what I want to do, what I want to teach them. And the vouchers, you know, $8,000 or so.

I mean, for a lot of people, for some people, they were turned off by having more state regulation over homeschooling, which is the whole point of homeschooling is to not have state regulations. Right. But I think that that voucher, you know, was very attractive to people and it makes education, uh, attainable in a way that it probably wasn't before. Regulations here. Uh, I, I, my sense in, Andrew, tell me how wrong I am or, or right is, is really kind of

the focus of this lawsuit or the FIA against the state. It's, yeah, I guess it's about the money, but it's really, uh, I think kind of citing, you know, uh, fair rules and regulations between the traditional public schools and private schools and homeschooling. Am I? Oh, yeah. And to that, you're right. And to that point, the lawsuit has a very interesting chart. I don't think I've ever really seen a chart quite like this in a lawsuit, but it basically breaks down all sorts of different rules and how they're applied differently to charter schools and scholarships. For instance, every school has to have a school safety

officer and armed guard. That's required in charter schools. It's required in traditional public schools, but not in the scholarship program. And that's just like one of several ways that they've broken it out. Geez, it looks like 20, 30 different. rules and how they apply differently, which is exactly like you said, that's their total point in this lawsuit. Yeah. Tom is listening from Hollywood in South Florida. Tom, welcome to the program. Great to have you. You're on the radio. Thank you for having me, Tom. This really concerns me. I'm a teacher of 39 years. A great public education is what made this country great. And when you have the same regulations, and the charter schools don't run by the same rules. They can't have a certified teacher. son was talking to me the other day.

He's not happy with this school, but the parent has some feeling that a charter school is like a private school, and it's better for their child. But he was telling me that his social studies teacher just tells them to open up their tablets and go to this and read this and complete the assignment, and there's no real instruction. charter schools are not required to be certified teachers. And in one case, his math class, he didn't get a regular teacher until January of this year.

From the beginning of the year, and this is, I don't know if I could name the school. I don't think that's important. But the school, you know, to me that's unacceptable. Some reason, I'm not sure why the same thing. And this thing of Hope schools really concerns me. Schools of Hope. We'll talk about that if we have some time here, Tom. Yeah, but what did you teach, by the way, for 39 years in the classroom? Sure.

All right. Very good. Tom, thank you for your service in the classroom. Much appreciated your voice here from Hollywood on the Florida Roundup. Andrew Atterbury covering education for political Florida. What about that idea, the specific idea about certified teachers and the regulations around requirements of a certified teacher in a traditional public school versus what charter schools maybe can operate? Lucky for y'all. I came a little prepared because I was expecting to answer some questions. And I'm looking at the lawsuit. And what the what the FBI alleges in their lawsuit for public schools, public traditional schools, you know, charter schools are public schools. I think that's one thing we have to make sure we get right. Yeah. So they are required. Teachers must have a Florida educator certificate. Now for charter schools, they must hire certified teachers, but they can also hire those who are eligible for or working toward their certification. And now in private schools, they're not required to have a Florida teacher certification.

So there you go. There's one difference right there. Yeah, right there. Michael in Tampa, it is your turn here on the Florida Rondiff. Go ahead, Michael, you're on the radio. Well, I have been a homeowner for 47 years. I actually grew up in a family where all eight of us went to private school. But I've paid property taxes. Part of that money going to public education, which I very much believe in, as I think both federal and state governments do owe its citizens, public education, sending money in sending tax dollars to charter schools or religious schools, period. That's not what public education is about. That's what the public part is about.

Gotcha. Thank you for lending your voice there to the conversation here in Tampa. Andrew, in the lawsuit, does the F.E.A. make that point. Is there a portion of its claim about the public dollars, the public tax dollars, moving away from a public institution into private hands? Oh, yeah. So what they're asking for in the lawsuit is they basically want the family empowerment scholarship, which is the main voucher program. And even the charter school law to be found unconstitutional. And we're talking like, that's 900,000 students that would, would that would affect. So I mean, that really that really shows why this is such a big deal. But that also shows why you're going to have the governor react strongly to this. You had the education commission. Education commissioner had very strongly to this. The attorney general, former governor, Jeb Bush. So when you make this kind of challenge, like in this state, you're going against basically everyone who is in power because this has been, I mean, Florida calls it, they call it the school choice state where the, we have more school choice students than anybody. So yeah, when you, when you take, when you file a lawsuit like this, you're really going into the right at it, right at him. Susan wrote us an email saying a news article said one family gets $9,500 and the child also participates in an orange, orange park high school.

athletics. Does the voucher money reimburse a high school for those contracted services? For sports, I'm not sure. I don't think so, but I mean, it could. It covers a lot of different things and you'd have to like study the manual by heart. I don't have every, I don't know every single thing you can get for. But I mean, it covers a wide range of things. It can be for tutoring. It can be for tuition at private schools. It can be for equipment. There's a whole bit much of different things. So I'm not 100% on sports. Yeah. And I know in homeschooling as well, there's perhaps a little bit more latitude. about how those dollars can be saved.

There's been reporting, right, about going to cultural enrichment trips to amusement parks, for instance, those kinds of things. Yeah. Mark, we want to hear from you last voice from North Florida on this. Go ahead, Mark. You're on the radio. Hey, yeah, I just wanted to say my wife has taught in charter school for a while now, and it was a private school that went charter. And I'll tell you, I mean, charter is not the answer. It takes away from the local school district.

The FTE dollars change. A lot of parents think, oh, we're going to move to charter because it's going to be so much better. And then they get in there and they realize that teachers get paid less. The teachers don't want to work as hard. They don't want to do as much because they're not making as much money as they did in the public school. And it's just, it's a, I don't know. It's a tough situation. Yeah, I can hear that frustration in your voice, Mark.

I appreciate you, though, sharing it with us here on the Florida Rund. Have a terrific weekend there in North Florida. Andrew Atterbury covering education for political Florida. Always great to have you on the program, Andrew. Thanks for sharing your reporting. Appreciate it. Thanks for having me. I could go on all day.

I know. We'll have you back soon. I promise. It is an important topic for all of us here. I'm Tom Hudson. You're listening to the Florida Rondup from your Florida Public Radio station. Republican lawmakers were not exactly back in school, but they were back in session for a few days this week,

trying to come to terms on a plan to spend your money. The legislature still has to pass a budget for the next fiscal year that begins in July. Our reporting partner from WUSF, our partner station, Douglas Sol, it covers Tallahassee for us in the capital city. So Douglas, before we talk about the budget back and forth, some Florida Democrats are floating the idea of pausing the state gasoline tax. Is that going to get purchased at all with Republicans? Right now, it's not looking like the Republican side has as much enthusiasm for suspending the state gas tax as Democrats do. It is kind of an interesting political situation because on the federal side, you have President Trump saying he wants to suspend the federal gas tax.

But Governor Rod DeSantis says he does not want to go that route related to the state gas tax. He says it would, he kind of doubts the overall effect it would have on gas prices and says that's something the feds should figure out. As we all know, gas prices are very high right now. Yes, they are. Yeah, $4.5 in climbing in some places. So give us the quick, The state of the budget talks here between the House and the Senate. You know, things are actually moving pretty fast this week. It's not uncommon for this process, despite all the dissension between the chambers we've seen leading up to this week. What's not figured out today is going to be bumped to the budget chiefs in the legislature to reconcile.

And there's optimism that could be finalized next week with the final vote after Memorial Day, which was the plan. So there's always a chance when we went into this that things would devolive. all, you know, between the chambers. But right now, they seem to, there seems to be a little bit less drama than, then maybe could have been. The biggest tension seems to be between the Speaker of the Florida House, Danny Perez, and Governor DeSantis. The governor didn't mince words earlier this week about what he thinks about the speaker

and the budget talks. No, and he didn't mince words yesterday either. The chamber, the House chamber and DeSantis for two years now have been kind of at throats, and that has not led up this budget process. The governor has a list of priorities, as he always does. And more so than in the past, the legislature, particularly the House and its leadership, has been willing to resist some of those things. That includes funding for things like First Lady KC. DeSantis's health initiatives and more money for the Florida State Guard, which DeSantis reestablished. Negotiations aren't over right now, but, you know, DeSantis definitely

isn't completely happy with how the house is handling what he wants to do with the budget. Yep. Time is ticking here, but they seem to be still hopeful they'll come to terms before midnight, I guess, on July 1st, which is, of course, the deadline. Douglas, thanks for sharing your reporting with us. Appreciate it. No, thanks for having me on. Douglas Sol covering Tallahassee with the Your Florida Reporting Project from our partner

station WUSF in Tampa. We would like to hear from you about how you are preparing for this hurricane season. we especially want to hear from you storm veterans, batteries, rechargeable flashlights, what is your must-have item in your storm stash? Email us radio at the Florida Roundup.org. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. We appreciate you being along today.

161 years ago this week, Union troops arrived in Tallahassee to occupy the city. The Civil War had been over for less than two weeks, and the soldiers were marching through Confederate states, spreading word that slavery was over. Inslave blacks were freed. Brigadier General Edward McCook stationed himself at what today is known as the Not House in Tallahassee. On May 20th, McCook appeared on the steps of the temporary union headquarters. He introduced himself and read a statement that President Abraham Lincoln had signed two and a half years earlier and was now the law of the land thanks to the Union victory.

The Emancipation Proclamation. May 20th is Emancipation Day in Florida. It's distinct from June 10th, commemorating when Union troops made it to the westernmost part of the Confederacy in 1865, spreading word that black people were freed from slavery. May 20th is when word of emancipation came to the Sunshine State. I am Dr. Tamika Bradley Hobbs, and I am a historian. And I'm the president of the South Florida branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. also happen to be the regional manager of the African American Research Library and Cultural Center in Power County. Citizens of Tallahassee. Good afternoon.

The function of history is not just a marked time, but to tell us where we have been and where we need to go. I am General Edward McCook, the commander-in-chief of the Union forces here in your city today. May 20th, 1865 as a Floridian is a critical marker of the beginning of a world of new possibilities for black people in this state. Since I arrived in town, many of you have come to me seeking the assistance of my command to order the Negroes back into the fields. The yoke of slavery is broken. The path towards citizenship begins. Meanwhile, the Negroes have come. to me, wanting to know whether they are still slaves or are now free men. That date for Tallahassee, which is in the old black belt, it's where the majority of the

enslaved black population was located at the time, and it was the capital of the state of Florida. When Union General Edward McCook comes to that city and lowers the Confederate flag, raises the U.S. flag over the Capitol, and reads the Emancipation Proclamation, that, That is symbolically the moment that slavery ends in the state of Florida. By order of President Lincoln, the Negroes are no longer held in bondage. President Lincoln comes to the idea of emancipation as a way to punish the South, hopefully to get them to the negotiating table, and that is going to be the origins of the Emancipation Proclamation.

I have President Lincoln's proclamation here. which I will now read in an effort to answer some questions you might have concerning the status of the bondsman. For those black people, enslaved black people, who happen to be in those areas, January 1st, 1863 becomes a very, very important date. By the President of the United States of America a proclamation. They know that this is coming.

That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord, 1,863. They wait in anticipation. African Americans stayed up waiting for the clock to strike midnight to mark January 1st, 1863 because they knew that they would be free. All persons held as slaves within any state or designated part of a state,

the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, forward and forever free. There were Union troops in the Fernadena area of Florida around Jacksonville, as well as in Key West. Those two areas of Florida have a history of celebrating emancipation day on January 1st, 1863 is their anniversary. And the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof,

will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons and will do no act or acts to repress such persons or any of them in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. Eventually, the Union, the U.S. United States Army, is able to defeat the Confederate Southern States. So the war is over. The Confederacy has been defeated. It means, by extension, that slavery is no more. if we kind of extend the intention of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States. That news is traveling relatively slowly, but more importantly, the people who can enforce that proclamation. By virtue of the power in me vested as commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States. These emancipation anniversaries that are linked to the day that U.S. Army troops showed up at a location, and a lot of these occasions read the text of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Publicly proclaimed for the full period of 100 days from the day first mentioned above, order and designate as the states and parts of states wherein people thereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States. the 20th of May, May the 20th. Florida has a really unique celebration that's associated with Tallahassee of the beating of the Freedman drum. There's a special rhythm that was carried out

on these discarded drums from the US military that were handed down in a family for generations now. And that's a part of the folklore in history of Emancipation Day as it's celebrated in Tallahassee. When you talk to people who grew up celebrating over the years, particularly our Black elders. It was ballgames. It was a day out from school.

There was ice cold, sweetened lemonade. There were tea cakes, which are a Southern specialty. It was a day of community and food and celebration and remembrance. It was always linked to the moment that is incredibly important in Black American history and American history. I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated states and parts of states are and henceforth shall be free. Given that it was taking place during the school year, it was the black schools that were the locations of these celebrations. The leadership for organizing Emancipation Day Celebration, 20th and May Celebrations, in the state of Florida really came out of our segregated school system.

That is going to change with integration. So as black educators, black school administrators lose control over the school calendar, you're going to see a slight erasure of the holiday and a celebration. You will then see black communities picking this up in other institutions. The churches become more central, other civic organizations, more important in helping to plan and execute. But across North Florida in particular, there is an unbroken history of 161 years of celebrating May the 20th as Emancipation Day. And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity,

I invoke to consider a judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God. I really try to impress upon people what we run the potential of losing with our embrace solely of Juneteen as an emancipation holiday. I love to say none of us are free until all of us are free.

So the manifestations of emancipation in Florida don't fully take on their meaning until the people in Texas find out, and all black people now have theoretically heard the news. But these local celebrations and the culture and the memory and the effort are all distinct from Juneteen. And witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be fixed. The 20th of May is a celebration for Floridians. Signed by the president Abraham Lincoln. And since that moment, we have been in this struggle to really capitalize on the full reality of our citizenship in this state and in this country.

And it has been met with so many challenges, outright brutality, the diminishment of rights, the segregation and subordination of nearly all of our ambitions. I trust that I can now leave and that Negroes and whites will work together to rebuild this great state. Good afternoon. And as we look at what's been transpiring here in the state of Florida for the last few years in particular, it is very concerning for those of us who understand this chronology and who are concerned not only with preserving but advancing. but advancing the plight, black folks in the state. The anniversary of the end of slavery and the beginning of the possibility for freedom for black people in this state and in this country become a critical time marker for us to

continue to evaluate where we are in these places as it relates to our ability to exercise our humanity and our whole citizenship. That was Tamika Bradley Hobbs. She's president of the South Florida branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. The reading of the Emancipation Proclamation was from Partner Station WFSU in Tallahassee, and the Freedom Drumming was courtesy of the Museum of Florida History. And that is our program for today.

It is produced by WLR Public Media in Miami with assistance from WUSF in Tampa. The show is produced by Bridger O'Brien. Denise Royal is WLRN's senior producer of content streaming and news products. WLR's director of live original programming is Katie Munoz, and the vice president of radio is Peter Merritt. The program's technical director is M.J. Smith. Engineering help each and every week from Doug Peterson, Harvey Bissard, and Ernesto J. Our theme music is provided by Miami jazz guitarist, Aaron Leibos, at Aaron Leibos.com. Thanks for calling, emailing, listening, and, of course, supporting public radio in your slice of the Sunshine State. I'm Tom Hudson. Have a terrific weekend.