Florida's education cuts lead to school closures

From the Orlando Sentinel's editorial board

For a lesson in what happens when lawmakers relentlessly cut state funding for education, look no further than Seminole County's public school system.

State funding for the district peaked four years ago. Since then, it has dropped — as ex-Gov. Charlie Crist might have put it — like a rock. The district has lost a combined $83.1million in state funding.

To balance the district's budget, Seminole's School Board has approved a long list of spending cuts, from the big — eliminating 700 positions to save nearly $30 million — to the small — cutting school supplies to bank $200,000.

But one cut in particular, the board's approval last year to close Longwood Elementary, sparked an uproar. And with another looming deficit that could reach $20 million next year, members might shutter two more elementary schools.

The impact would ripple beyond the two schools' neighborhoods by forcing a rezoning that could affect half the elementary schools in the district. Outraged parents have been protesting that prospect to district leaders.

But the politicians in Tallahassee who have starved schools are starting to feel the heat, too. As well they should.

Gov. Rick Scott, who signed a budget last year that cut $1.3 billion in public school funding, is insisting on one for next year that boosts funding by at least $1 billion. That would solve some, but not all, of Seminole's money problems next year.

Enter state Rep. Jason Brodeur, elected to represent a swath of Seminole County. He introduced an amendment to the House's latest budget to bar the School Board from closing any more schools.

This is the same lawmaker who voted last year to cut school funding by $1.3 billion. Who signed a no-tax pledge which, of course, creates more pressure for cuts in areas like education. And who declared on his campaign website, "The best decisions are made closest to the people and should be handled that way."

Brodeur later withdrew his silly and vindictive amendment. What a statesman.

Critics of school closings in Seminole have argued that the School Board should cut elsewhere — as if it hadn't already achieved more than 97 percent of its savings that way. That includes reducing its district office staff by 20 percent and its district-level administrators by 8.5 percent.

If Seminole gives its elementary schools a reprieve, other money-saving measures that could hit far more families, like fees for student athletes, might be necessary.

That is, unless lawmakers like Brodeur stop trying to micromanage school districts and instead help them dig out of the hole that Tallahassee helped create.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/os-ed-seminole-school-closings-020312-20120202,0,2044012.story