FUNDING our FUTURE Cutting public education dollars is expensive over the long haul

• Published in: Ocala star-banner
• Main Author: Webster, Diana
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ocala, Fla Halifax Media Group 07.02.2010
• Subjects: Crist, Charles
• ISSN: 0163-3201

The Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy has come up with a long list of items that would raise an estimated $1.4 billion in revenue. You can find this list at FloridaFiscal.org. They include eliminating unnecessary sales tax exemptions, like limo rentals for example, and closing big loopholes in Florida's corporate income tax. Of course, those are only suggested items. When you consider there are $12.3 billion in sales tax exemptions and $20.9 billion in exclusions out there, surely our state can find some combination to close this year's projected deficit of $3 billion. Let's not just plug the current budget hole. Let's start investing now in a stronger and more effective public education system. By restoring funding to our public schools to the point they were before large cuts were made in 2007, we can bolster our system for the day stimulus funds run out in 2011. We can move our public education system forward, while other states remain stagnant or continue to cut back. If you agree with this, then I encourage you to sign Marions United for Public Education's "Fund Our Future" petition at www.marionsunited.org/FundOurFuture.