The Florida PTA has decided to call Governor Scott for a veto to conforming bill 7069. Please read and distribute the press release below to your general membership and school administrators. If you are so inclined, please forward to anyone in the state of Florida. This is a call to action, and you do not need to be a PTA member to raise your voice alongside the Florida PTA.
The ACCPTA is also asking that you consider submitting a request to the Governor using his website. If possible, please use the link below to email your request. In the subject line, please enter “Please veto HB 7069”. There is room for a short message to be included and we ask that you briefly share specific information regarding how this bill will be harmful to your district.
http://www.flgov.com/contact-gov-scott/email-the-governor/
If you need something specific for our district to say, here are a few Alachua County stats on this bill:
- For Alachua Countyhis budget is $19 less in per-student funding next year than this year. It is also $492 less per student in 2017-18 than 2007-08. Our per-student funding, indexed to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the last nine years (2007-08 to 2016-17), results in a decrease in Alachua County Public Schools per pupil funding of $1642.
- Our reduced 1.5 mill capital outlay facilities funding, which is capped by the State Legislature, would be further stretched to cover the facilities cost, including rent, of the 13 charter schools in our district. This reduces the capital outlay funding for our 45 traditional public schools and centers by about $900,000 in school projects.
- This bill removes school districts’ Title I flexibility and ability to serve our most at-risk population. For example, in Alachua County, we currently budget 2.8% of the Title I funds for parent and family engagement, the current legislation restricts that budget to only 1%.
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