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Alvarez Pledges to Turn Down Charter School Money in House Campaign

Mike Alvarez | Florida House | Politics

Mike Alvarez is running for the District 62 seat in the Florida House of Representatives.

TAMPA – Florida House candidate Mike Alvarez announced today (June 18) that he would aggressively support public education in Florida and reject campaign donations from charter schools.

“Our public schools are under attack,” Alvarez said. “Every year, Republicans in Tallahassee and Washington chip away at our public education system. Now, they’ve even enlisted a Democrat in this primary to destroy our public education system from within. Voters have a clear choice in District 62 – I stand with Democrats, teachers, parents, and students who want a great public education for every child in Florida.”

The Florida Democratic Party has taken a similar stance in its official platform, listing public education as the second of 15 resolutions that define the party. In that resolution, they call for “… an end to the for-profit education industry that take funds from public education.” They also state that the party “… opposes subsidizing for-profit charter schools with public money and calls for full funding and support of high-quality, free public education for all children.”

Alvarez noted that one of his opponents, Susan Valdes, who made a last-minute entry to the HD 62 race, has been heavily subsidized by out of area, for profit, education corporations during her previous campaigns. News reports note that, in her 2016 race for the Hillsborough County School Board, more than 1/3 of her funding by June 2016 was tied to those corporations and their executives.

Those same donors have invested heavily in political efforts around the country to erode public education and funnel taxpayer dollars to education corporations, Alvarez said. The Trump administration has publicly backed those efforts – even going so far as to appoint one of it’s biggest proponents, Betsy DeVos, as his secretary of education.

“Democrats have a choice in this primary. We can elect someone who will stand up for teachers, parents, and students against the corrupting influence of Tallahassee – or we can back the policies of Donald Trump and big out of state education corporations,” Alvarez added. “This is another area where Board Member Valdes needs to have an honest conversation with the voters. Will she finally stand with Democrats for public education or will she join Tallahassee Republicans again and keep funneling taxpayer money to out of state for profit schools and their executives? I’m not afraid to share my values with the voters, I hope Board Member Valdes will break the trend and give voters an honest answer.”

Alvarez is a fifth generation Floridian who enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps after the 9/11 attacks. He served for four years including three deployments, one with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit in the South Pacific and two in the Al Anbar province of Iraq.

Upon leaving active service, Alvarez attended and graduated from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. Alvarez is the director of operations at Westfall Roofing, the secretary of the Hillsborough County Democratic Party’s Hispanic Caucus, as well as a member of the Sierra Club, West Tampa Chamber of Commerce, and the Oakford Park Neighborhood Association.

He is running for HD 62, which is currently held by Democrat Janet Cruz, who is running for the state Senate. Other candidates in the HD 62 race are Valdes and Christopher Carlos Cano, all Democrats.

HD 62 covers a portion of Hillsborough County that includes Town ‘n’ Country, Citrus Park and Egypt Lake-Leto.

The primary is Aug. 28. The general election is Nov. 6.

For information about Alvarez, go to mikealvarezforfl.com.

Mike Alvarez | Florida House | Politics | Elections | Tampabay News

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