The Gainesville Sun writes that "Lawmakers do not need to return to Tallahassee once again this year in order to kick off a politically motivated anti-abortion initiative, touch off a new statewide water war or cover up for their own ineptitude in creating a massive voucher program that is an easy target for fraud." Moreover,
The very thought of the Legislature going back into special session yet again should horrify Floridians. Tallahassee suffers from a leadership deficit that is beginning to rival Washington's staggering fiscal deficit. And there is reason to fear that nothing good can happen if this gang of calculating but inept pols return once again to the scene of their previous crimes.
Indeed, there is reason to fear that another special session will only give the pols opportunity to indulge in still more mischief. House Speaker Johnnie Byrd is just itching to float a new anti-abortion constitutional amendment to help promote his campaign for the U.S. Senate. And a group of powerful business interests are pushing Gov. Bush to pave the way for wholesale water transfers from North Florida to growing-out-of-control cities in the south.
And of course, the Republican ruling class - having glibly assured us that vouchers would solve Florida's education problems - have been so embarrassed over recent reports of fraud and misuse of voucher funds that they are eager to hurry back and "fix" their own much-touted educational "reform."
But the Senate has launched a needed investigation into abuse of the state's corporate voucher program, and it won't be completed in time for an October special session. Voucher reform - if you can call slapping a new coat of paint on a very bad idea "reform" - can wait until next year.
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Yes, Bush and Byrd keep bragging about all the new money they have thrown at the schools this year. But their dirty little secret is that the funding still isn't sufficient to cover enrollment growth, increased insurance costs and other obligations. And a lot of the new money is earmarked to cover the costs of Florida's new smaller class size mandate.
Last week the Florida School Boards Association released a list of ways in which districts are coping with budget shortfalls. School days are being shortened, the high school seventh period is gone, guidance counselors and teachers aids have been eliminated, art, music and phys. ed. classes cut, summer school programs curtailed, health benefits slashed and so on.
"You've got A-Plus schools on a D-budget," argues association President Andy Griffiths. "It's not just the cuts we had to make this year. It's the cuts we've had to make the last three years. We simply can't continue this trend."
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Bush and Co. plead inadequate revenues to bail out the schools, although somehow, the governor and the Legislature managed to find $60 million on the spur of the moment to bail out suddenly overcrowded prisons. What does it say about a state that can afford to keep its criminals locked up but can't spare enough money for good schools?
It would cost about $325 million to adequately fund enrollment growth in the public schools, universities and community colleges. Florida's economy seems to be rebounding and state revenue collections are running above expectation - collections for June alone were $150 million more than anticipated. If still more dollars are needed to adequately fund public education for the rest of the fiscal year, perhaps lawmakers could temporarily revoke one of their recent tax cuts.
The "Researcher to the Right" -His research has been lauded by Gov. Jeb Bush and discussed by members of Congress. The president recently appointed him to a prestigious panel. He is a regular on the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal.
School voucher zealot, Jay Greene of the right wing Manhattan Institute, who apparently has "[n]ever done any research that did not reflect positively on school choice", is profiled in the St Pete Times. The Times bends over backwards to make this wingnut look respectable. The Manhattan Institute is a funded by "conservative" money. See also "Voucher impact study disputed" ("Rutgers researchers characterize Greene's findings as "'generous and simplistic'"), "Greene's study flawed" and "Critics challenge report on education reform" ("The chairman of a think tank that praised Gov. Jeb Bush's education reform also is a top executive of a Wall Street investment firm that lost $281 million of Florida's pension money investing in Enron stock as it tumbled").
Party Switch -Broward County Property Appraiser William "Bill" Markham, who was elected in 1968 at the high-water mark of Republican power in Broward and today is the lone GOP countywide officeholder, intends to become a Democrat this week, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel has learned.
Markham's conversion is a major coup for the Democratic Party, which has had little good news since 2000 when the presidential recount in Florida gave the election to George W. Bush. Although the state Republican Party does not keep statistics, a GOP spokesman in Tallahassee said Markham may be the longest-serving Republican in Florida. He has held the same office for more than 34 years.