Not enough funds? Cancel school days

Nearly $500-million in cuts to public education continued to sail through the Florida Legislature today, with the GOP majority killing Democratic efforts to lessen the blow.

A proposal by Sen. Ted Deutch to shift money from transportation projects to higher education went nowhere. Same for his pitch to remove a provision that would allow the commissioner of education to reduce employee salaries in districts that can't resolve their fiscal emergencies.

The House is still talking, with just a few leadership filed amendments on tap.

As you ponder the action here and think about how bad things look, consider California, where things look worse. The Los Angeles school district just sent layoff notices to 2,300 teachers, and several districts are reopening contracts to negotiate pay cuts.

Hoping to save $1.1-billion, Gov. Schwarzenegger has suggested cutting the state-mandated school year by five days, the LA Times reports.

The move, which educators have deemed colossally bad, would give California one of the shortest school years in the country. And kids can't learn if they're not in school, right?

The Governator has countered that cutting days is better that cutting people and programs. Plus, his lobbyist told the LA Times, it's just an option to give districts flexibility in how they spend scarce resources. The state also is looking at letting districts use restricted funds, like textbook money, more liberally -- just like in Florida.

Could this be the next idea to come out of Tallahassee? Lawmakers have said the regular session is going to hurt more than the special session. And Gov. Crist seems cut of the same political cloth as Arnold. Stay tuned.

Comments

[terminator]

Bernie:
how about your board members and state legislators?
now is the time to be putting the squeeze on these guys since they are under intense pressure.
once we get rid of the useless district bureaucrats real education reform can begin.
most districts have little to no credibility in Tallahassee with the GOP legislators which is the reason they will "eat cake" for the foreseeable future.
talk to Fasano about supporting him with his DROP bill so we can finally shove these turds out the door for good!

[Bernie]

It is a given the our county's education leaders are of minimal value. I look to Joanne Hurley to be a rising star and bring good business sense to the board. That is why I voted for her.

I cede your point and agree that the buck stops here when it comes to responsible use of education funds.

And, the issue of dead wood getting buried in basically unnecessary jobs at headquarters is essentially out of our control until the next superintendent election. I think that we are stuck with Fiorentino and her buddies. Don't get me started! Can we impeach her???

[terminator]

Bernie:
you should direct your anger toward your local dimwits called the "school board" and the administrators at the district level.
do you know how many over the hill, deadwood, "friend of a friend" hacks are employed at the district office making $100K+ salaries for doing nothing while they steal money from the kids and refuse to give teachers raises?
Don't blame the legislators. The school districts have wasted too much too long and have no credibility.
Why would someone want to keep pouring money down a black hole?

[Bernie]

Exactly.

If the Gov had any b*lls he would veto what these jerks are doing because it flies directly in the face of his stated position. But since he doesn't, he'll just smile and mumble something about doing the peoples' business.

[Bernie]

Holy S***!!! What have things come to in 2009? This is supposed to be the age of great technological advancement and greater intelligence. We know how to educate children, but public education is not given necessary basic resources to do so. That a farce! The whole game is rigged by our politicians and we are the suckers. It is time to get the career politicians (criminals) out of office one by one. Having worked in the federal prison system for many years, in high level positions, I know exactly what a criminal is! All a majority of politicians worry about is staying employed in their cushy positions and bleeding as much money as they can out of the system for themselves. Our poor children continue to slip down in the food chain. How sad. I certainly am not going to sit back and watch this continue to happen. I am going to scream like hell so that our elected officials can hear my opinion on the crappy job that they are doing in general and specifically with managing public education. Time for all of us education advocates to sound off.