View the unprecedented veto request to Governor Crist from organizations representing parents throughout Florida in the Florida Education News section. 

www.SupportDadeSchools.net is among the 15 signers of a letter to Charlie Crist asking him to veto the conforming bill HB 5101, the education funding blueprint from the 2010 legislative session. 13 grassroots organizations and respective chapters, including the Florida PTA, representing more than 500,000 Florida voters are declaring collective opposition to a budget that wounds education funding. We believe this is the first-ever such Florida effort by parent-driven grassroots organizations.

FINAL ANALYSIS: The 2010 Florida Legislative Session

Lawmakers and political insiders credit your advocacy with making a difference. We're not thrilled with the outcome of the legislative session, but it could have been far worse. You made a huge difference!

The legislature's spending plan technically kept PreK-12 education funding level with this fiscal year though it's believed Miami-Dade County Public Schools will still likely need to make some painful cuts.

Here are some of the key points to note:

1. The legislature's budget assumes M-DCPS will be able to capture local school taxes at a rate of 96%. Lawmakers usually budget in the 95% range, and a realistic figure for capturing those dollars is about 94%. In other words, the budget is balanced on an equation that our insiders say is very, very unlikely to happen in this slumping economy. 

2. The State budget plan for PreK-12 takes dollars away from the classroom. The District will need to increase its contribution to the Florida Retirement System; the charter school 5% administrative fee has been cut in half...and it must fund the new requirements inherent in the passage of Senate Bill 4 requiring the implementation of increased graduation requirements.

3. The Student Base Allocation is $7 less than last year and is at its lowest level since the 2003-2004 fiscal year.

4. The Class Size Reduction issue: Even though voters will address what we'll call a revised class size amendment in November, the District is faced with either hedging a bet that voters will approve it...or implement strict class size requirements (as opposed to school wide averages) when school begins in August. Implementation costs will run just shy of $100-million and could put 1,500 electives teachers on the street, severely damaging those programs. If the District assumes voters will approve the measure, and it fails, the penalty handed down from the legislature is calculated to be in the $75-million range.

5. M-DCPS very accurately projected the number of students that would enroll in the system this year; the legislature did not buy M-DCPS projections for the upcoming year...and we believe the State is not being realistic. Essentially the State makes this budget work by gambling that fewer children will enroll in the coming fiscal year. Our insiders suggest the struggling economy and long-term impact of the earthquake in Haiti are just two factors that will hike the enrollment in M-DCPS.

Our view: the net impact of the Legislature's education spending plan will essentially cut the amount of money M-DCPS can invest in our children.

While the regular legislative session is over, we urge you to continue to engage your legislators in meaningful dialogue.Your ultimate voice is your right to vote...and you must take advantage of that right in 2010. If you're often too busy to vote, we'll help you to obtain an absentee ballot. Senate Bill 6 will be a major issue in statewide political campaigns this summer and fall, as the thinking behind it isn't going away. Next year will prove to be challenging as federal stimulus dollars that filled education funding gaps will be gone; that money alone funded the employment of more than 2,000 M-DCPS employees this year.  Elected officials who do not support education and our children need to be voted out of office...and we need to back those who are there for the children. See the link above for more information.


Supportdadeschools.net is a grassroots network of parents, teachers, students and voting taxpayers who demand that legislators make education Florida's top priority. Children are the foundation of Florida's future; we will not allow the state budget to be balanced at the expense or our children.


  

 

This site has been donated by the Kearns Family on behalf of parents, teachers, students and informed voters who believe that a high quality public education is an investment in the development of a healthy, sustainable Florida economy.