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Let's start with the good news. On Friday, Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 178, the "Teddy Bridgewater Act," into law. It will allow high school coaches to spend up to $15,000 of their own money into covering expenses for student-athletes' food, transportation, and physical therapy and injury rehabilitation. The former New Orleans Saints quarterback was suspended after doing just that for his players at Miami Northwestern High School. Now it's legal.
But now the bad news. While it's a good gesture for the Florida government to give the all-clear on this issue, this new law is only a half-measure addressing the problem in high school sports. Bridgewater was stepping up to cover gaps in the system. He was feeding hungry students and calling them Ubers to get home safely from practice. Those are services the government can and should be providing.
You could argue it isn't even a half-measure. Bridgewater was able to cover those expenses because of his earnings from a lucrative NFL career. There just aren't that many coaches with the resources to spend $15,000 a year covering the gaps like Bridgewater did. DeSantis also signed Senate Bill 538, which allows school districts to supplement coaches' existing stipends with funds raised by booster clubs. It also opens the door for coaches to negotiate higher salaries. But neither of those avenues bring guaranteed resources the way higher stipends or stronger support from Florida's Department of Education may have.
It's a step in the right direction. It just isn't a very big step. And as anyone with experience in America's public school systems can tell you, often that's all you'll get, and you'll have to make it enough.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Former Saints QB inspires Teddy Bridgewater Act behind new Florida law
Continue reading...
But now the bad news. While it's a good gesture for the Florida government to give the all-clear on this issue, this new law is only a half-measure addressing the problem in high school sports. Bridgewater was stepping up to cover gaps in the system. He was feeding hungry students and calling them Ubers to get home safely from practice. Those are services the government can and should be providing.
You could argue it isn't even a half-measure. Bridgewater was able to cover those expenses because of his earnings from a lucrative NFL career. There just aren't that many coaches with the resources to spend $15,000 a year covering the gaps like Bridgewater did. DeSantis also signed Senate Bill 538, which allows school districts to supplement coaches' existing stipends with funds raised by booster clubs. It also opens the door for coaches to negotiate higher salaries. But neither of those avenues bring guaranteed resources the way higher stipends or stronger support from Florida's Department of Education may have.
It's a step in the right direction. It just isn't a very big step. And as anyone with experience in America's public school systems can tell you, often that's all you'll get, and you'll have to make it enough.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Former Saints QB inspires Teddy Bridgewater Act behind new Florida law
Continue reading...
