"Tough, tough decisions"

Committee meeting by committee meeting, the future of Florida's education funding is becoming a bit more clear.

As the Gradebook reported Tuesday, the House budget includes reductions to school recognition funds under A-Plus, bonuses paid to National Board certified teachers and even support to school advisory committees. Its average per-student funding would dip by $86.

The Senate budget targets some of the same items, but in many instances with bigger cuts.

As the Palm Beach Post reports, the Senate's version would slash per-student funding by $115.91. It would cut the money that schools get for good FCAT grades to $80 per student, compared to the House's $90. It would reduce the money teachers get for classroom supplies by $50 each. And it would delay implementation of the final phase of the class size reduction amendment for two years.

"These are tough, tough decisions," committee Chairman Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville, said in the Post article. "They're not for the faint of heart."

Comments

School Recognition, Teachers Lead and SAC funds should be cut to zero. These three decisions to cut LEGISLATIVE PROGRAMS because the LEGISLATURE cannot afford to fund the public schools would not result in a single person getting layed off. Over $235 million could be absorbed with those three policies. Do it! The only tough thing for them is they don't want to cut their pet projects.

Also note, the cuts mentioned above understate the true cuts that are being mandated on the schools in many ways, but the easiest to understand is that the total provided for the schools include about $400 million for increased CSR costs which cannot be used for funding the current base budget. With about 2.5 million students, $400 million amounts to about $160 per student.

The constitution says that the Legislature must fund CSR and not the districts, but the districts will receive between $220 million and $290 million less to rund the schools with the $400 million for CSR in the total. Funding the schools is also a "paramount duty" for the Legislature. A bunch of programs that are sacred cows (like Bright Futures) do not have this status in the Constitution.

OK, Legislature, it is time for YOU to make "tough decisions."

[Raye]

All those NBCT teachers who busted their cans getting certified becuase they were told it would be paid for and that they would get bonuses ought to sue for breach of contract.