Scott touts — and hypes — school spending before budget signing
by John Kennedy | April 17th, 2012Gov. Rick Scott began touting the state budget’s $1 billion boost for Florida classrooms early Tuesday — as he made his way toward his scheduled noon budget-signing at a St. Johns County elementary school.
“I don’t know of another state that’s ever increased K-12 funding that much in the history of this country,” Scott said during a drive-time interview with WOKV-Radio in Jacksonville, a Palm Beach Post news partner.
Scott may need a history lesson, though, when he arrives at Cunningham Creek Elementary School. Florida’s own K-12 budget was boosted $1.2 billion as recently as 2007-08, and billion-dollar bumps were relatively common in the state as per-pupil funding climbed to a $7,143 record high in 2008, before the recession tightened.
The $6,375 average, per-pupil spending in the 2012-13 budget before Scott represents the state’s second lowest level since 2005-06.
Scott blamed a decline in federal stimulus money for leading to the $1.3 billion cut last year — which the latest boost fails to cover completely.
Still, Scott said touring schools is “one of the nice things about this job.”
“These kids are excited,” said Scott, who visited three schools last week with a similar $1 billion message.
April 17th, 2012 at 11:34 am
Don’t be fooled by this $1 Billion more for public education. If you remember he and the GOP Congress took $1.3 Billion away last year, so that leaves public education $0.3 Billion short. But if you read how this new money is to be spent, the majority will not go to the public schools but to Charter Schools and for the Corporation Tax cuts for the vouchor program of Dollar for Dollar tax cut. See the real numbers, see how much each student is getting for their school, the 2nd lowest since 2005-06. This is just a ploy to make it sound good so people will vote GOP this fall, which has been against their best interest for many years.
April 17th, 2012 at 5:24 pm
I suppose anybody who reads my “wisdom” recognizes me as a Johnny-One-Note. From Washington to Tallahassee on down a terrible political education culture has become embedded. THROW MONEY AT THE SCHOOLS, AND THEY WILL GET BETTER! Much evidence to the contrary. The federal “EVERY Child Left Behind” and the Florida FCAT waste valuable teacher time in “testing and data collection.” It never occurs to politicians that ABOLISHING the federal and state programs would actually improve the QUALITY of education by liberating teachers to offer individualized, creative, inspiring, fun lessons. One-size-fits-all bureaucratic programs have the opposite effect.
April 18th, 2012 at 12:51 pm
Bill is correct, except that cutting funds for schools won’t make them better, either. No one has been throwing any money at the schools in many, many years.