Legislation

Did you know that the National PTA/PTSA is the nation's largest volunteer child advocacy organization?  According to the National PTA website, "Parent/Teacher Association (PTA) reminds our country of its obligations to children and provides parents and families with a powerful voice to speak on behalf of every child while providing the best tools for parents to help their children be successful students."

And the Florida PTA's mission statement means it strives to be a powerful voice for all children, a relevant source for families and communities, and a strong advocate for the education and well-being of every child.

Unfortunately, Florida is currently ranked 50th in the nation in funding education and child services.  Worse, this was before recent budget cuts passed our State Legislature in Special Session in January, and school districts are bracing for even larger cuts as the current legislative session attempts to grapple with the continuing economic downturn.  A strong movement is needed to ensure that a stable source of funding flows into the state's coffers to meet the budget needs of Florida's children.

Below is some information on how to stay updated as to the budget and issues relevant to children and public education and how to take action by joining your voice with PTA/PTSA and with other related child and education advocacy groups that strive to invest in the future by investing in our children and their education:

• Sign up for updates and alerts from Florida PTA at www.floridapta.org/CapWiz.html -- click on Action E-List and then on PTA Take Action Network -- and respond to these alerts.
• Visit the Duval County Council of PTAs/PTSAs website at http://dccpta.org/ to find out what actions are being taken locally and join in whenever possible. 
  
• Visit the Duval County Public Schools website at www.duvalschools.org/static/aboutdcps/superintendent/supermessage_budget_update_2009.asp to find out our district's situation and needs.
• Visit the Save Duval Schools website, sponsored by People for Jacksonville's Future, Inc., at www.saveduvalschools.org.  The site has links to reach out to State Legislators and an opportunity to share your thoughts with other Duval County residents on its message boards.
• UPDATE: In 2009, as the Duval County Public Schools faced a more than $100 million budget deficit due to falling state revenues, a local politico and a prominent school board member had an “aha” moment together. Michael
  Munz and WC Gentry had met with Duval Schools Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals, who reported, incredulously, that the district was required to spend millions on music books even as music teachers were being “surplussed” due to
  budget cuts! Munz and Gentry, together with nonprofit and business leaders in the community, agreed that when it came to cuts in education, they’d had enough. Munz’s business, The Dalton agency, and other community leaders pulled in Deborah Gianoulis Heald to say it out loud in front of local media: “Enough!” And Save Duval Schools was born. Save Duval Schools is a political issues organization with a simple goal: To give voice to Floridians who want the Legislature to follow Article IX, Section 1 of our constitution, i.e. to fulfill the state’s “paramount duty” to provide public school students with a “high quality” education. It is Save Duval Schools’ position that our lawmakers need to make two things happen in order to fulfill their “paramount duty.” First, we
  as a state must find or create a steady, reliable income source for public K-12 education. Second, we must invest our local school boards with discretion on how to spend state education funds, without the nonsensical mandates like
  the “mandatory music books,” cited above. Save Duval Schools founders
  created a website (www.saveduvalschools.org) through which voters in Florida
  may directly contact their lawmakers with their thoughts on education funding. Last legislative session, lawmakers let us know that they were definitely hearing from Save Duval Schools—thanks to involved parents like YOU! But in order for Save Duval Schools to continue its impact on the Florida Legislature, we need for involved parents like you to spread the word! If you haven’t already signed up to receive email alerts from Save Duval Schools,
  please go to www.saveduvalschools.org today and sign on! And please spread
  the word ... the viability of Save Duval Schools mission DEPENDS on its grassroots—that’s us, PTA people—you and me. Won’t you please help us spread the word about Save Duval Schools? (from the October 2009 DCCPTA News newsletter)
  
• Visit the 50th No More website, "a non-partisan, grassroots organization designed to fight back against budget cuts to our great public schools," at www.50thnomore.org to find out more ways to "help Florida's kids get the education they deserve."
  
• Contact your legislators!  Legislators are quick to note that they hear more frequently from tax cut advocates than those who support adequate public education funding. Please make your priorities known to your elected state representatives.  For complete contact information for members of the Duval County Legislative
  Delegation, visit www.duvalschools.org/static/aboutdcps/superintendent/downloads/Legislative_contacts.pdf.  Keep in touch with your legislators through emails, letters, faxes, and phone calls and by responding to Florida PTA alerts. Provide a picture of the impact on your school through real examples. 
• Write a letter to the editor.  Share examples and facts about what the impact of these cuts are on your school and community. Click here for a sample letter to the editor and here for a list of possible talking points from the Florida PTA website.

Please continue to contact your state and national leaders to support the education of our children!

Florida PTA Legislative Brief

Florida PTA Legislative Report #1
February 19, 2010

The Florida Legislature will convene for the 2010 Legislative Session on March 2, 2010. The regular nine week session is scheduled to end on April 30, 2010.

Once again, the budget, or lack of it, is expected to dominate the conversation during this session. Education was funded on federal stimulus dollars last year and will continue to be funded by the same source this year. However, as this program sunsets in one year, it is critical that the legislature makes provisions for a permanent and stable funding source for the future needs of education.

The Legislature must find a way to generate new revenues, to fund education and other children's services. This will be our message throughout session and we hope you will join us not only through your emails and phone calls, but also in person, as we Rally In Tally, on March 25th, to bring this home to our legislators. For more information go to http://www.floridapta.org/legislative.html or contact your County Council.

The revision of the class size amendment to be calculated on school averages rather than actual class size has already passed the education committees in both Houses and is expected to generate vigorous debate. Bills to expand the corporate voucher program have also been filed, further eroding the dollars that could be used to fund public education. A bill to replace the FCAT in math and science in high school with end of course exams is also making its way through the legislature.

PTA will also be active in other areas such as the safety and protection of our youngest children with the passage of a booster seat bill as well as increasing safety for all citizens with a ban on texting while driving. Nutrition, food safety, health and environmental issues will also be a part of our active advocacy efforts.

A list of the bills we are actively working on can be found at: http://www.floridapta.org/Legislative%20Information/FPTA%20Legislative%20Report-Feb%2019.pdf

A longer list of bills in the area of children and education has been posted on our web site at http://www.floridapta.org/Legislative%20Information/2010%20Bills-Feb%2019.pdf.

The lists will be updated at the end of every week reflecting any action that was taken and new bills will be added as they are filed. If there is a PTA position corresponding to the bill, it will be shown under public comments.

For a full text of these bills please go to: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Welcome/index.cfm?CFID=87003130&CFTOKEN=22816812

We will send out alerts as needed through Capwiz. We will also send out weekly updates through Capwiz and email lists. Please respond to the alerts and forward the alerts and updates to your email lists. Your voice is the most important one and we hear this constantly as we meet with policy makers. They want to hear from you. If you have any questions, please email us at ino@pta.org.

Thank you for your advocacy efforts.