PSLweb/Liberation takes a look at the anti- worker offensive taking place across the country in the form of budget cuts.
As hundreds of billions of taxpayers’ money are turned over to the banks, workers, students, the disabled and others are told to get ready for deep cuts in education, health and a plethora of social programs across Florida.
The $66 billion Florida budget for 2008-09 is $6 billion less than the budget approved by state legislators for the previous year. It includes a $332 million reduction in public school spending as well as cuts to state hospitals, nursing homes, health departments and social programs.
On Oct. 16, Gov. Charlie Crist called for 10 percent cuts in state agencies’ budgets. Crist will be submitting proposed cuts to state legislators in the spring of 2009. The cuts will translate into job losses for thousands of workers, coupled with the elimination of vital services for the poor.
The effort to shift costs to taxpaying workers has been complemented by aggressive campaigns promoting ballot propositions for budgetary and fiscal changes. Amendment 8, for example, would have allowed community colleges to collect taxes from local taxpayers in the form of a referendum for a local sales tax, which would have imposed an additional burden on the working class. This amendment was defeated in the Nov. 4 election. .
Public schools, community colleges and universities face cuts
The teachers’ union in Miami recently held an action to demand greater transparency from the School Board in the school budgeting process. The Miami-Dade teachers have so far been denied promised raises this year.
Dade teachers’ union President Karen Aronowitz said the union did not receive the budget information that they requested. This year, the district faces imminent cuts of more than $280 million. Among the cuts to be made are $72 million in raises to teachers and other school employees.
Like other states, Florida’s education system has come under attack by the federal government as well. Congress cut the Reading First program by 60 percent, a federal program that brought in highly trained teachers to the poorest school districts. Reading teachers have been laid off across the state. Florida children’s reading scores have significantly increased with the reading specialist program, in one district with more than 20 percent more children reading at grade level.
The education crisis is coupled with the housing crisis. Florida is second only to California in number of foreclosures and second to Nevada in the rate of foreclosures. Due to the high cost of living and thousands of foreclosures, the Broward County public schools have lost 16,000 students since 2005. Enrollment is down in Palm Beach County as well. As a result, classes are being combined and courses cut from the curriculum.
State budget cuts have already meant a loss of $60 million for Broward schools this year. Another $40 million to $50 million in cuts are expected in December. This doesn’t include other more major cuts likely to be enacted when state legislators meet in the spring.
And if the cuts in education are not challenging enough for Florida’s children, it should also be noted that Florida has the second highest rate of uninsured children in the nation—an average of 18.8 percent have no access to medical care or preventative medicine.
Community colleges, which are all seeing increased enrollment, are losing $116.4 million from the state this year.
“It’s impossible to squeeze any more blood from a stone,” said John Grosskopf, interim president of North Florida Community College, which provides higher education to some of the state’s poorest counties.
“It’s another source of financial pressure on a lot of families, who already are feeling nervous about their wallets,” says Nick Johnson, director of the State Fiscal Project at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington research organization.
Reduced funding to Florida’s universities means tuition increases, making college education all the more inaccessible to working-class and oppressed youth. It also means layoffs for educators and school personnel. Eighty percent of Florida State Universities’ budget is for staff, and cuts will naturally result in a combination of layoffs, hiring freezes and larger class sizes.
Disabled hit hard by cuts
The cruelty of the cuts leaves no group untouched. Elimination of in-home services for 7,500 of Florida’s disabled began in October 2008 as a result of state budget cuts. More than half of the people losing services are challenging the state’s decision to cut back their funding on legal grounds, but the challenge will only allow a 90-day reprieve before services are once again cut back or terminated.
These programs offer job, transportation and homecare programs to provide a sense of independence and dignity to disabled people. They also allow families of the disabled to keep their loved ones at home. People with Down syndrome and others are now at risk of being sent to state institutions, which are also facing cuts in 2009.
Park closures and privatization of roads
Beginning Oct. 1, all 47 of Broward County parks will be closed on Tuesdays. Parks department workers will not be paid on Tuesdays or receive holiday pay on Veteran’s Day and the day after Thanksgiving, when parks will also be closed.
The Florida Department of Transportation in Northeastern Florida is also warning that massive cuts in transportation projects are looming in 2009. This could lead to massive privatization of roads and the implementation of toll roads and tax hikes. Many construction projects are expected to be cut or delayed when the state legislature meets next year.
Efforts to fight back against the cuts are only in the beginning stages, and there is much more that can be done. The people of Florida can push back these cuts and save these vital services by building a vibrant movement that demands a bailout for people’s need before banker’s greed.
