Business and economic information you need to know
May 4, 2009 8:09 pm US/Eastern
School Board Says Capital Budget Money Won't Help
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Call it what you will: passing the buck, a shell game. When it comes to education, the Florida Legislature does not want to make tough choices about closing tax loopholes to cover bid budget gaps for public schools.
They'd rather duck the challenge and leave the choice of higher taxes to school board members like Miami-Dade's Ana Rivas Logan.
"No, absolutely not," said Rivas Logan, "this is not the time to do this. Our county has said no new taxes."
Here is the problem: over protests from Miami-Dade and Broward school leaders, Florida lawmakers are now poised to raid capital budgets that pay for schoolhouse renovations, bus aides, mechanics, etc. They'll take that money—some $50 million in Miami-Dade's case—and use it fill day to day budget holes in the classroom.
There's one big problem. "The truth," says Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, "is there is not $50 million in available funding." That capital money is tied up, he told us. There is nothing to give, Carvalho warns, without laying off people and/or delaying a lot of work that keeps classrooms up and running.
The solution from state lawmakers is to take the money anyway and drop the hot potato into the lap of school board members. The legislature has decided to "allow" schools to decide whether to raise property taxes to refill the capital budget coffers—the same ones they are emptying as part of what critics decry as a "band-aid" approach to funding education. Budget watchers say the tax would add up to about $25 for every $100,000 of taxable assessed property value.
Later this summer school boards in South Florida will debate taxes among themselves and with residents. The debate is worth having, whether it's at the local school board or in the paneled legislative chambers of Tallahassee. The debate will be loud and there's no betting on what final decision will be made. Well, there might be one bet; it won't do anything to secure the long-term academic futures of Florida's kids. That demands choices no one seems ready to make.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Business/Economy
Click to enlarge
I-Team: Tracking The Florida Stimulus Money Trail 
Stumble It!
Reporting
