Florida’s public education system is facing further anguish as a result of continuing budget cuts. Florida has traditionally depended on tourism for revenue. However, soaring gas prices and the economic crisis have had a negative impact on the industry, and public schools are paying the price.
Upon returning to an Orlando public middle school, a third-year physical education teacher said that 2008 has so far been the worst year financially. “At the end of last year, at least 12 teachers were released from my school,” she said.
In an attempt to save money, Orange County also switched middle and high school schedules. “The early schedule now has the young middle schoolers at bus stops while it is still dark outside, which is a big safety risk,” the physical education teacher said. “Some teachers are upset because they have young children in elementary school that they can no longer take to school due to the hours. They have to find child care, which is another cost.”
Many teachers returned to work this fall without receiving their expected pay raise. Their salaries, which are not commensurate with their experience, do not reflect the rising cost of living.
At the start of the school year, Palm Beach County public school teachers and other staff were given small, temporary “raises” that will expire in December. One first-year Palm Beach County charter school teacher who began his career in the midst of the financial turmoil said: “On my first day as a new teacher, before students came back, we were told that all the janitors had been fired, and we were all issued vacuums for our classrooms. We also got a nice bottle of Windex. What happened to all the poor janitors?”
Each teacher at his school was given $200 for classroom supplies for the year, which does not go far for a first-time educator with no supplies to use from previous years. Substitute teachers were not invited back for the new school year; rather, the teachers have been sacrificing their planning periods for one week per month to cover other teachers’ classes as needed.
But these attacks are not going unanswered. In Volusia County, teachers mounted a large-scale protest in response to the cuts. In September, Broward County teachers picketed outside their district headquarters to protest the insignificant pay raise they were given. Union representatives in Seminole County are also expected to demonstrate against the lack of pay increases.
With more cuts are on the horizon, only militant organization of teachers, parents and students can stop the fleecing of the education system.
