1/14/2009

Please hold education harmeless as promised by Governor Crist. Teachers need support in the classroom to give our students the education they deserve. We can no longer clean our rooms, make our own copies, call parents, maintain discipline, buy our own supplies, give our supplies to students, ignore our families, donate and volunteer our own time, pay for our own training, sit through unprofessional training, work overtime, pay for professional association dues, make students learn, teach in a portable, work in an unhealty building, give my planning room away to another teacher, give my needed plan period away to teach more students, fill out any more unnecessary paper work, fight for our contractural rights and PAY OUR HOUSEHOLD BILLS. This ia all totally exhausting and we can no longer take the abuse. Please Florida Teachers and Students Deserve Better - Fund Education and hold Educatio Harmless.

1/16/2009

As a primary teacher in a low income school my students will lack basic materials, a new math curriculum, a paraprofessional, qualified teachers. We have already lost teacher per grade level, and have been told we would loose our paraprofessional and additional teachers. Which will increase class room size, and decrease the quality of education. Which will grealy impact the FCAT score. Statistics have shown that crowded schools are directly linked to the size of population in our jails!!! Given our current circumstnaces there should be greater emphasis given student/teacher ratio than technoloy. Also the way funds are allocated should be re-established. Some funds that are allocated for future hypothetical improvements (such as media equipment, flatscreens, upgrading rooves, LEADS, hurricaine preparednes money, etc.) should be assigned in a more liquid account that can be used for emergencies such as the current recession that we are suffering.

1/18/2009

Countless teachers have lost their jobs in my child's middle school. Currently, there is no money to pay for substitutes,so now all classes that have no teacher for the day will have to go to the auditorium for class assignments, etc. Thisis ridiculous. Sports have been cut, but they still want to weigh the kids and send home slips that say your child is overweight. School violence and bullying is a problem, but there is no outlet at school to get rid of pent up energy. To minimize cuts to education, I would like to see them lead by example. Many people have NO job now. Try cutting legislative salaries across the board since less revenue is coming in. It may be a "drop in the bucket" but to a thirsty student, every drop counts. As a native Floridian, I consider conservation important, but not as important as people and education for our children. The legislature needs to actually be creative, not simply warm their seats and cross out spending for education. I've worked for the State of Florida. There is so much waste - try streamlining - be accountable for the money we pay in taxes. Books cost the same no matter where they go in Florida. A district that receives less money technically uses more of their budget on these supplies than other districts. Try a more equitable system. Give the school boards more authority to say how the money is spent. Above all, they need not to pay lip service to the importance of education. Every child in Florida has to compete for college placement against the rest of the country - the legistlature is not properly responding to the fiscal crisis by making schools and students sacrificial lambs. Maybe they ought to be legally liable for their choices, because what they are allowing to happen is criminal.

1/21/2009

I'm a high school student in Orange County, Florida. Faced with the problem of budget cuts, my county decided to reorganize the school times in an attempt to save money on buses; so, elementary school now begins at 8:30, middle school at 7:30, and high school at 9:30. Because of this time change, many of my fellow students get out too late to have jobs, participate in extra-curricular activities, or pick up their siblings from school. Moreover, with less time to study when we get home from school, many of us have developed bad sleeping habits that are clearly not healthy. Furthermore, as a member of my high school's band, I've seen a lot of the cuts go straight to the arts departments. This is no way to encourage and inspire the people who will be ruling our country in twenty years! Budget cuts have been nothing but more weight on our shoulders as we prepare for college, and I hope when I'm old enough to be of influence, I can become more involved with the education of future generations.

1/22/2009

Our school board is considering cutting all art, music and media programs from its elementary and middle schools. Please look at alternative forms of revenue, especially industries exempt from sales tax, to continue to honor our constitutional mandate on education.

1/22/2009

Our students are not getting the quality education they deserve as our teachers have to work additional jobs to cover the loss of income due to the economy and the lack of raises. Personally for me, I am the Parental Involvement liaison; however, I can only do so much as I have to work as the front desk Secretary due to budget cuts. This consumes 95% of my time and leaves little time for anything else much less my own job. All the while, my purchasing power has decreased due to rising costs.

1/27/2009

I run a large center in West Boynton Beach. Last year we had 262 children enrolled. This year we have only 212. This is a huge cut for us! Parents are losing jobs, cutting back full-time VPK children to 3-hour only spots, changing schedules or leaving to move out of state. Another cut to this budget will put many small schools out of business and cause many programs to drop the VPK program all together.