Videos have been brought to light that show a fight at Matthew W. Gilbert Middle School and they reinforce the point that there are other reasons for school vouchers than academics.
A woman says her 12-year-old daughter was attacked by a group of students and suffered a concussion, among other injuries.
She claimed the teacher supervising the teens told students that it was okay for them to fight for a little while.
The school district administration said the teacher did what she was supposed to do and the video shows some adult, presumably the teacher, trying to separate the fighting, screaming students.
It is not an isolated incident.
Eye on Jacksonville has commented several times on the number of violent incidents in the local school district, which is required to report them to the state.
In the 2019-2020 school year, Duval County Public Schools reported 1,474 fights, 532 physical attacks and 295 students who had or used drugs.
Vouchers provide poor students trapped in failing schools with an opportunity to get a better education. They save taxpayers a lot of money, and cause the government schools to improve.
Nevertheless, the powerful teacher union bosses oppose them strenuously and liberal politicians who are beholden to the unions often seek to revoke or undermine vouchers.
But recently Florida added bullying as a reason parents may qualify for vouchers.
Parents want their children to have a good education. They also want them to be safe in school and not to be mugged or beaten up by other students.
More affluent parents always can move their children to private schools. Vouchers give less affluent families that same ability.
The incident at Gilbert illustrates why parents need to have vouchers available to them.
