Tags: orange county school board
More fallout from Amendment 1
May 28th, 2008
Central Florida News 13, a local TV station here in Orlando, reported today that over 100 students walked out of class to protest the Orange County School Board's recent decision to swap the school starting times for middle and high schools.
The school board made this decision, much to the anger of many parents and students, because it will save the county nearly $6 million in fuel, labor, maintenance and bus replacement costs when it faces a nearly-insurmountable budget shortfall in the wake of budget cuts.
This is yet another example of the fallout resulting from the implementation of Amendment 1 earlier this year, mainly so home and business owners could receive tax relief in the form of expanded homestead and property tax exemptions. Floridians should not be surprised by these budget cuts, however, as before the vote bloggers and other sources of anti-amendment information were getting the warning word out and telling people what might possibly result:
The political groups against this amendment claim it would cause apocalyptic type service cuts and layoffs in police, fire, rescue, parks, and similar services. (School districts are exempt from most of the tax cuts and caps.) I do not know the validity of this claim. Obviously taxes would be cut, but over the last 7 or so years tax revenues have dramatically increased (nearly doubling in many jurisdictions) and the cuts are relatively minor in comparison to the increases.
As we have found out in central Florida, apocalyptic turned out to be an excellent word. The schools, law enforcement agencies, firefighters and recreational services, to name a few, are all feeling the severe budget-cutting effects resulting from the passing of this amendment.
Send an email to Charlie Crist and thank him for this abomination he so cheerily pushed on the people of Florida. Don't hesitate to also let your local representative know what you think too!
I know I did...
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