Crist vetoes legislature's cuts to education, Jacksonville News

March 14, 2009
By Brandon Larrabee

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Charlie Crist signed a spending measure Tuesday aimed at balancing the state’s budget but vetoed some of lawmakers’ proposed cuts to education, public safety, land conservation and tourism promotion.

The revisions to the budget, meant to fill an expected shortfall of at least $2.4 billion in the formerly $66 billion spending plan, passed during a special legislative session that finished Jan. 13.

With his veto pen, Crist restored full funding for a program to provided bonuses to teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards; struck a provision that would have led to the dismissal of 118 probation officers; and retains state backing for Visit Florida, the state’s tourism arm.

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Scholarship strengthens poor students, The Ledger (Lakeland)

January 26, 2009
By Doug Tuthill


Within the education policies that have come to be viewed as the legacy of Jeb Bush is a strategic imperative that transcends any one governor or political party. It is the light that now shines on students from impoverished homes and our collective obligation to do better by them.AC = -->

In that sense, Bush's A+ Plan in 1999 was the successor to Lawton Chiles' Blueprint 2000 in 1991. Both Bush, a Republican, and Chiles, a Democrat, were committed to using standards, assessments and accountability to improve student learning - especially the achievement of students from low-income families. One result is that Florida is making great progress in closing the achievement gap, including with Hispanic students who now outperform all students in 15 different states.

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More for classes, less for offices, St. Pete Times

January 25, 2009

There's growing bipartisan support for the notion that Florida's mechanism for funding public schools isn't sufficient. In Seminole County, the longtime Republican stronghold north of Orlando, there is talk about raising property taxes for schools. The state Board of Education has suggested it would appeal to the Legislature to improve schools' fiscal future. That's why it's all the more pressing that Pinellas County School superintendent Julie Janssen reduce the district's administrative costs, long among the highest in the state.

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Economic stimulus plan could mean $2-billion for Florida schools, St. Pete Times

January 23, 2009
By Ron Matus

The economic stimulus plan rolling through Congress could pump $2-billion into Florida schools, easing the pain from yet another round of state budget cuts on tap for this spring.

The $825-billion package, backed by President Obama, sets aside at least $100-billion for K-12 education and $21.5-billion for colleges and universities.

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Pasco schools brace for more pain, St. Pete Times

January 21, 2009
By Jeffrey Solochek

LAND O'LAKES — The Florida Legislature's special session didn't take as big a bite out of the Pasco County School District's budget as originally expected.

But that didn't stop superintendent Heather Fiorentino and her finance team from painting a continued doom-and-gloom scenario for the coming year during a Tuesday budget workshop.

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Lottery money spent on priazes, not education, WINK News

January 19, 2009
By Lauren Sweeney

FORT MYERS, Fla. - When you buy a lottery ticket, you hope to strike it rich and hope that your money is going to help support education in Florida."Money goes to K-12, there's money invested to build schools, and there's also the development of the bright futures scholarship program," said Randy Forrester, the Fort Myers district manager for the Florida Lottery.

But Call for Action found that when lottery sales increases, so does the amount of money given in prizes. That leaves a smaller piece of the the pie for education.

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A lesson in saving our schools and our children, Ocala Star-Banner

January 18, 2009
By Chris Altobello


On Jan. 7, the Marion Education Association, representing nearly 3,000 professional educators, presented the Marion County School Board our final appeal to settle the 2008-09 Collective Bargaining Agreement. This concluded many months of negotiations between the two parties, and ended with the School Board denying our minimal request.

We have since read several articles in the Star-Banner regarding the current school budget crisis. Some have attempted to spin our request as just another greedy effort by teachers to get a raise during these difficult times. Let me be clear: The MEA did not ask for one cent more than the county had already budgeted for this purpose, even after making cuts that exceeded the hold-backs directed by the state. My guess is that you haven't — and probably won't — hear that from the powers that be.

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Millions pouring into casino in Florida while education suffers, Casino Gambling Web

January 18, 2009

To walk through the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida and think about what good all of this gambling is doing for the state's education system makes a Florida resident proud.

Only that is not what's happening here. The state is receiving none of the benefits from the busy blackjack tables this Saturday night thanks to a voided compact from 2007.

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Over $23M expected to be cut from schools, WFTV Channel 9

January 14, ,2009

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- State lawmakers are expected to approve big budget cuts for local schools Wednesday. Over $23 million will be lost and that will mean massive cuts of jobs, programs, and services.

Superintendent Ron Blocker said that if the budget cuts occur, administrators inside the Orange County School Board headquarters building could not promise any programs and services would be safe next school year.

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Education cut too far, Crist says, Tampa Tribune

January 14, 2009
By William March

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Charlie Crist, who hinted at vetoing some education cuts intended to help balance the state budget, said Tuesday he's looking mainly at one comparatively small item: an $11 million cut in a teacher certification program.

The program provides teachers a 10 percent pay increase for 10 years if they achieve certification under a national program that identifies master teachers.

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Crist hints at budget veto, The Buzz (St. Pete Times)

January 13, 2009

Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday emphasized the value of "working together" with the Legislature. But he also gave strong hints that he will surgivally use his veto pen and aim it at the education budget cuts approved by lawmakers over the weekend.

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School officials want cut of federal bailout, USAToday

January 12, 2009
By Greg Toppo

If banks, insurance companies and automakers are getting a piece of Washington's bailout largesse, why not cash-strapped schools?

That's the thinking of officials at a few hard-pressed school systems, who have set wheels in motion to get a share of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, intended for ailing financial institutions, and the economic stimulus package now before Congress.

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Budget cuts to hit Fla education even further, WFTV, Channel 9

January 12, 2009

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- State lawmakers were able to fix a $2.3 billion budget deficit, but our children will be paying the price for it. The biggest hit in the budget cuts was education.

The state will reduce funding by $140 per student. Florida already ranks 41st in the nation in per-student funding and this is on top of a series of other funding cuts in our schools.

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Florida budget agreement reached, Orlando Business Journal

January 12, 2009

State lawmakers agreed Jan. 11 to raid state trust funds and proceed with deep cuts to health care and education to balance the $2.4 billion deficit.

Budget writers decided to tap trust funds, including the tobacco settlement fund, to the tune of $1.6 billion and cut state spending by more than $1 billion annually. Legislators agreed to cut an extra $400 million to pad the state’s budget ahead of the regular session in March, when state officials expect continued revenue declines.

Medicaid faces cuts of $170 million to $180 million, although the state’s 460-plus nursing homes were spared. Public schools are facing a loss of about $140 per student.

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Education cuts coming into focus, News Herald (Panama City)

January 10, 2009
By Chris Segal

TALLAHASSEE -- The working draft of a bill aimed at resolving the state's billiondollar budget deficit reduces perstudent funding through the Florida Education Finance Program by 2 percent but gives school district moreflexibilityinspendingearmarked funds, lawmakers said Friday.

State universities and community colleges also will be cut by 4 percent and public schools and Florida's voluntary pre-kindergarten program by 2 percent. The summer prekindergarten program, though, will take a bigger hit with two more students added to each class for a maximum of 12 per teacher.

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Florida budget session: Don't Cut Kids, Education First, The Ledger (Lakeland)

January 9, 2009


The only good thing that can be said about the Florida Legislature and its special session on the budget crunch will come at next Friday's scheduled adjournment: "Good riddance."AC = -->

We've already addressed the lack of leadership for this important session. Already in the session's first four days, what leadership there has been has been in the wrong direction.

On Monday, legislators decided to cut more than $600 million in state support for public schools. On Tuesday, budget committees moved the bills along. About $467 million would be cut from the kindergarten-through-12th-grade programs. Another $113 million would come from public universities; an additional $6.5 million from private ones.

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Florida education system improves education quality, Independent Florida Alligator

January 9, 2009
By Matthew Beaton

The Florida education system tied with Vermont for 10th place in overall education quality, according to Education Week’s Quality Counts 2009 report.Florida’s overall grade for 2009 was a 79.6, or a C–plus, which is an improvement over its score in 2008. Since 2007, the state jumped in ranking from No. 31 to No. 10.

The overall grade was derived from individual grades each state received in six separate fields. These fields included chance–for–success, K–12 achievement, finance, standards, transition and alignment and the teaching profession.

In each of these categories, the state earned a C–minus or better.The state earned a 90.8 (A) in the standards, assessment and accountability category. The one sore spot is the 51.7 (F) Florida earned in spending, a sub–category of school finance.

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Florida public schools brace for a budget crisis, Channel 4 (CBS)

January 8, 2009

TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) ―
As Florida lawmakers debate budget cuts in an emergency special session in Tallahassee, many public educators fear their school districts will be cut back to the basics.

State lawmakers say they must cut $2.5 billion dollars from the budget because of hard economic times. On Thursday the state's House will vote on a budget-reduction package that includes nearly $1 billion in spending cuts for schools, health care and other state functions. The Senate will follow with a vote on its version of a reduction package on Friday. They will then work on resolving differences between the two before taking final votes next week.

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Teachers could be forced to give back to help balance budget, WOKV (Jacksonville)

January 7, 2009
By Jeff Hess

Florida Teachers could be forced to take pay cuts to help fix the Florida budget.
The legislature is considering a bill that would force teachers to take pay cuts if a district's cash reserve dip below 2%.

Mark Pudlow with the Florida Education Association says it is unfair to target teachers for something beyond their control.

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Florida's GOP: No new taxes, cut the budget, Creative Loafing (Tampa)

January 7, 2009
By Wayne Garcia


As you read this, the Florida Legislature is meeting in Tallahassee, ostensibly to plug a $3 billion gap in the state's ailing budget because of losses in sales tax and other collections in this recession.

The real purpose is to continue the Republican-led dismantling of state and local governments in a quest to fulfill the 1990s mantra of "less government, fewer taxes and more personal responsibility." State lawmakers are set to work on the continued gutting of Florida's public infrastructure -- health care and education foremost among them -- through Jan. 12.

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