As I write this the state of Florida is trying to pass Amendment 1.
The idea is to double the home tax exemption and therefore lowering the tax burden of Floridians. Many politicians are supporting this as an quick effort to help gente that need tax relief. Since insurance premiums have risen and the state intervened on that, it makes sense that the Florida state government did the same thing. So, for now this amendment, if passed, will have to do. Some other politicians like Mark Rubio and Bob Martinez are talking about future proposals to further refine the tax issue and end up with something similar to what California did with proposition 13. A small percentage flat tax that was intended to save the homes of those poor retiring folks whose property taxes were taking a bite out of their fixed incomes. This was also known as a tax payer revolt.
But a funny thing happen as time went by. The population kept on growing and as state revenues did not increase the state school system, very slowly, started to decay. This process was very slow and by the mid 1990’s school districts started running out of money and had to be taken by the state. A state that before the passing of the proposition was number 1 in the nation in education, plummeted almost to the bottom. And to this day per student spending is still lagging behind. California’s economy is diverse and had those problems, imagine what would happen if a proposition like this were to pass here in Florida.
No one that has been proposing Amendment 1 has made the connection or tried to predict what would happen with the Florida School system. Not investing on a future resource like our children is bad policy…and before someone starts beating their chest and saying that we spend good money in our schools and we shouldn’t spend more you are incredibly wrong. The problem is not about the money being spent, but how it is managed. The lack of vision on the majority of the schools and school districts is easily hidden under the catch phrases of accountability and measured achievement. But that is another blog entry.
I hope this amendment does not pass. I don’t think that someone who can afford a million dollar condo by the beach should be paying his or her fair share of the tax for services provided. This amendment does not do that and until someone with big cojones decides to spell this and talk about it. All there will be is just lukewarm half-ass actions.
But a funny thing happen as time went by. The population kept on growing and as state revenues did not increase the state school system, very slowly, started to decay. This process was very slow and by the mid 1990’s school districts started running out of money and had to be taken by the state. A state that before the passing of the proposition was number 1 in the nation in education, plummeted almost to the bottom. And to this day per student spending is still lagging behind. California’s economy is diverse and had those problems, imagine what would happen if a proposition like this were to pass here in Florida.
No one that has been proposing Amendment 1 has made the connection or tried to predict what would happen with the Florida School system. Not investing on a future resource like our children is bad policy…and before someone starts beating their chest and saying that we spend good money in our schools and we shouldn’t spend more you are incredibly wrong. The problem is not about the money being spent, but how it is managed. The lack of vision on the majority of the schools and school districts is easily hidden under the catch phrases of accountability and measured achievement. But that is another blog entry.
I hope this amendment does not pass. I don’t think that someone who can afford a million dollar condo by the beach should be paying his or her fair share of the tax for services provided. This amendment does not do that and until someone with big cojones decides to spell this and talk about it. All there will be is just lukewarm half-ass actions.
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