TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online
Florida Back To The Future: Build Prisons, Cut Schools
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Published: May 6, 2008
The Miami Herald's analysis probably said it best: The big winners in the new state budget are prison builders; the big losers are public schools.
Talk about getting your priorities wrong.
When the legislative session ended Friday, Gov. Charlie Crist and lawmakers congratulated themselves for a job well done. But public schools and parents found nothing to celebrate. They know the $900 million cut in K-12 funding will hurt education when public schools begin the new year in August.
In remarks after the Legislature closed, the governor focused not on the cuts, but on having saved the state's merit-pay plan for teachers, a program used by just a handful of districts, including Hillsborough.
The merit-pay plan is not highly regarded because the way it's scored - a mix of FCAT scores and performance reviews - falls short of rewarding the most effective teachers. This year half of the finalists for Hillsborough's Teacher of the Year - including the winner - didn't qualify.
It would be far better to spend the money in ways that clearly benefit students and reward strong teachers.
Floridians deserve straight talk from the governor. Even the most optimistic among us cannot pretend our schools will be better off next year, and Crist should not suggest otherwise.
Most disappointing is that the governor promised to hold education harmless when he campaigned in January for Amendment 1, the state constitutional amendment that allows homeowners to take their property-tax cap with them when they move. Critics said the amendment's passage would hurt public education, but Crist promised education would be held harmless.
Harmless. That was his word.
Harmless. Tell that to the teachers in Pinellas County who face pay cuts and the closure of seven to 10 schools.
Harmless. Tell that to Hillsborough students who will likely see fewer librarians and school nurses, as well as overcrowding in elective classes not covered by the class-size amendment.
Harmless. Tell that to Broward and Miami-Dade schools, which will take about a third of the $900-million cut and expect to have to lay off social workers and guidance counselors.
Harmless. Tell that to the schools cutting summer school programs, school security, and art and music classes.
In Tallahassee's depressing climate, lawmakers couldn't even agree on a way to give cash-strapped districts temporary relief from class-size caps, which continue to require the construction of costly new classrooms.
None of this sounds very harmless at all.
At the same time, the state plans to spend nearly $300 million to build new prisons and, incredibly, another $86 million to operate a private prison.
Florida's prison population is expected to soar from about 96,000 inmates today, to 120,000 inmates by 2012.
Experts say the best way to slow the need for prisons is to put your money into cheaper, more humane efforts at prevention, starting with education.
This year, Florida sounded a retreat in the battle. By doing so, lawmakers failed our children.
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Reader Comments
Posted by ( jahffmn ) on May 6, 2008 at 2:17 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
save the school budget and also include a pay raise for co's .
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Posted by ( jahffmn ) on May 6, 2008 at 2:22 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
have counties contribute to the school districts by eliminating take home vehicles.
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Posted by ( JackNelsonSteward ) on May 6, 2008 at 5:42 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I wonder. If it weren't for our "War on Drugs" how many new prisons would we be building? For the nearly a third of a billion dollars we are about to spend on prisons, what kind of prevention and treatment could we offer?
This isn't to say that there aren't destructive drugs, or that there aren't people who commit violent crimes involving drugs. I just think that the blanket prohibition and criminalization that exists now are demonstrably failing to address the problem and that imprisoning people on simple drug offenses is more costly and less effective than other options.
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Posted by ( Teeg ) on May 6, 2008 at 6:23 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I knew, when the governor said education would be held "harmless," that we were being fed a line. Maybe if we had been told the truth, the greedy people downstate whose only care it that pittance they will save on their property taxes, would have thought twice before voting for Amendment 1.
I told everyone I knew that education would be the loser if Amendment 1 passed. It was PROPERTY taxes. Where did these people think the education funding came from?
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Posted by ( Claylisa ) on May 6, 2008 at 8:38 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
"greedy people downstate"
Not fair of you, Teeg. Anytime the populace is offered the opp to cut it's taxes, especially in the housing climate we live in now, what do you expect them to do? Rarely, do we have a chance to vote out taxes. It's usually left to the shady politicians and they're agendas. They fed Florida a line and we bit. (You must not have property taxes. Cos you would surely understand.) That Republican Crist said "hold harmless" for education. Shame on us for believing the GOP bast--d, huh? Jeb, screwed education with the FCAT nonsense and his partner in crime Crist continues the "war on our children", as well.
Education DID NOT HAVE TO BE the the loser to property taxes, as clearly evidence by this article.
I told everyone, and always will, the government mis-manages our monies and spends where they want, not where is best for the citizens. Period.
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Posted by ( Dave ) on May 6, 2008 at 9:10 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
More people = more prisons, more roads, more houses, more malls, more everything.
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Posted by ( Teeg ) on May 6, 2008 at 10:27 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Sorry Claylisa, but I AM a property owner who pays property taxes. I am also sorry that you were probably one of the greedy voters who "bit." If people would educate themselves before checking "yes" on just about every amendment on every ballot, perhaps we would not have the problems we are experiencing now.
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Posted by ( Claylisa ) on May 6, 2008 at 12:02 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Teeg, once again...how is it greedy to NOT want more taxes? Lovely, of you to blame the taxed for not wanting more taxes. Rather weird.
You seemed to hold the stance that ALL the blame falls on #1. Do you not agree that there are other ways for the state to spend our money? If you don't then, what is your gripe then on where any of the money goes? If you do, then I think we agree in most respects that #1 is just a smoke-screen/scapegoat for all this mess. I'm sorry, I didn't notice anything AFTER #1 on the ballot that said..."by the way, this cut will be sponsored by Florida's education system". Did you?
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Posted by ( eloquentmind ) on May 6, 2008 at 5:39 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
What the hell is wrong with this society? Spend more on the criminals and less on our children's education???
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Posted by ( sunsekrjg ) on May 8, 2008 at 4:16 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Excellent editorial. The fact is that the people of Florida were sold a bill of goods by a pack of either total incompetents or just plain liars. I think its both. Over the last ten years, the legislature and governors of this state have worked hard to bankrupt and turn Florida into a not so great place to live for the average person. They have succeeded. BTW... hope everyone enjoys their $240 tax savings.
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Posted by ( leoasad ) on May 9, 2008 at 3:16 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Lets see, we have no State Income Tax, wow! All we have are property taxes, and the sales tax. If we lower the property tax, we have less money. If we have less money, we can spend less money. If we can spend less money, we get less benefits, if we get less benefits (education) we get dummer, if we get dummer, our dummer children will pass further tax cuts. Before we know it, schools in Florida will meet in some back-yard and an ex-con will be teaching them because the real teachers will have found jobs in the other 49 states in this country...
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