“Wear Red For Public Ed” Teusday, January 4th
From our latest email: Next week begins the start of the second half of the school year, and also a very critical time for all Florida public schools. Governor-Elect Rick Scott has proposed a plan that would do away with Florida’s current public education system in favor a of a statewide private vouchers program.
Scott will be inaugurated governor next Tuesday, January 4th. Please join us and public education supporters throughout Florida by “Wearing RED for Public Ed” and show your support for our public schools.
So far, Gov.-Elect Scott currently has no plan for helping our public schools get the funding they need to help our children. We will be holding him accountable for this, in addition to his unconscionable private vouchers plan.
Lets start by “Wearing RED for Public Ed” next Tuesday, January 4th.
In the weeks ahead, we’ll be ramping up efforts to mobilize our fellow citizens here in Marion County to ensure our public schools are protected. Stay tuned.
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Note: If you’re on Facebook, you can RSVP for this event by clicking here.
Take Our Survey: Help Us Help You!
The election is over, and the new year will be here before we know it! Now is the time to get ready for what happens next. As a Marions United supporter, can you help us plan future campaigns and actions by filling out our survey? It should only take you 2-3 minutes.
As a grassroots organization powered by people like you, we’ve demonstrated that our all-volunteer movement can do quite a lot. Here’s what we were able to do this year alone, with your help:
- We launched an impressive petition drive, gathering more than 2,000 “Fund Our Future” petitions urging the Florida legislature to restore lost funding to our public schools.
- We quickly organized countywide opposition to Senate Bill 6, rallied close to a 100 people outside Speaker Larry Cretul’s office on SR 200, and helped pave the way for Gov. Crist’s veto.
- Marions United placed an unprecedented three Sunday op-eds in the Star-Banner, and was mentioned by various media outlets close to 10 times this year.
- This fall, Marions United sponsored two successful candidate forums and launched MarionVotes2010.com, an invaluable resource of candidate information for Marion County education voters.
We know you’re very busy this holiday season – we are too! However, just taking 2-3 minutes right now will provide a year’s worth of value to our efforts to design campaigns and actions that provide you easy and effective ways to make a difference for our schools and our children.
Click here to take the survey.
Thanks for all you’re doing for Marion County’s children!
Election Results
Earlier this week on Tuesday, the 2010 general election took place. On the ballot were all major statewide offices in Florida, in addition to all state house seats and half of all state senate seats as well as local school board seats. Finally, a handful of key ballot measures relating to public education were also on the ballot. Here are the results of races that had particular impact on public education here in Marion County:
Governor of Florida
Rick Scott (R): 48.87%
Alex Sink (D): 47.71%
Amendment 5*
Standards for Legislative Redistricting
Yes: 62.59%
No: 37.41%
Amendment 6*
Standards for Congressional Redistricting
Yes: 62.92%
No: 37.08%
Amendment 8*
Revision of Class Size Requirements
No: 45.51%
Yes: 54.49%
State Senate, District 14
Steve Oelrich (R): 53.83%
Perry McGriff (D): 46.17%
State House, District 22
Keith Perry (R): 60.69%
Jon Paugh (D): 39.31%
State House, District 24
Dennis Baxley (R): 64.43%
Michael Hageloh (D): 35.57%
School Board, District 4
Angie Boynton (NPA): 55.97%
Tom Patrick (NPA): 44.03%
School Board, District 5
Ron Crawford (NPA): 50.84%
Sharon Hagen (NPA): 49.16%
For more statewide results click here to go to the Florida Secretary of State’s Florida Election Watch page. For more local results, click here to go to the Marion County Supervisor of Elections results page.
*Note: Florida constitutional amendments require 60% approval to be ratified.
Announcing MarionVotes2010.com
We just launched www.MarionVotes2010.com – an online hub for Marion County education voters like you. On the site, you’ll find quick bios of all school board candidates, plus answers to our questionnaire. We think you’ll find all of this information very helpful as you decide who you’ll be voting for on August 24th and November 2nd.
The website also includes helpful links to vote by mail, vote early, and/or finding your polling place. Let us know what you think!
Superintendent Yancey Takes Your Questions
Superintendent of Marion County Schools Jim Yancey will take your questions tonight as part of a Marions United Community Conversation about the many issues facing our schools today. Please mark your calendar and plan on joining us.
Marions United Community Conversation
Our Guest: Jim Yancey, Superintendent of Schools for Marion County
Thursday, May 6th
7:00-8:30pm
Fort King Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall
13 NE 36th Ave. Ocala
Mr. Yancey will have some opening remarks and will spend the rest of his time answering your questions. We look forward to seeing you there – bring your friends and co-workers!
Statement on SB 6 Veto
This afternoon, Gov. Crist officially announced that he would veto SB 6/HB 7189, a bill which Marions United for Public Education fought vigorously. Nancy Noonan, President of Marions United for Public Education, released the following statement on Gov. Crist’s veto:
“Gov. Crist’s veto of SB 6 is a major victory for teachers, parents, students, and our public education system. Gov. Crist, unlike the legislature, listened to the people of Florida, heard their concerns, and did the right thing. We commend his political courage and his willingness to buck partisan party politics to do what is right for the people of Florida.
“Today’s victory also demonstrates the tremendous power of grassroots democracy. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Marion County citizens called, emailed, or faxed their legislators and Gov. Crist, urging them to defeat SB 6. Our voices were heard because we, as teachers, parents, students, and concerned citizens, stood united for strong and effective public education.
“Finally, there is more work to be done. The Florida legislature continues to try and cut funding from our schools, and is looking to pass bills which will undermine public education. We will be watching. The SB 6 debate has demonstrated that Marion County and Florida will fight hard to protect our schools and make them stronger and more effective.”
SB 6/HB 7189: How Did Marion County’s Legislators Vote?
SB 6, and it’s companion bill, HB 7189, undermine our teachers by tying their pay to standardized test scores like the FCAT. These bills force local school districts to no longer consider experience or professional education when hiring teachers. So when these bills came to a vote, did our legislators stand up for our teachers? Unfortunately, most of them didn’t.
Senate Floor Vote (SB 6)
YES
Sen. Carey Baker (R-Dist. 20)
Sen. Evelyn Lynn (R-Dist. 7)
Sen. Steve Oelrich (R-Dist. 14)
NO
Sen. Charlie Dean (R-Dist. 3)
YES
Rep. Larry Cretul (R-Dist. 22)
Rep. Kurt Kelly (R-Dist. 24)
Rep. Marlene O’Toole (R-Dist. 42)
NO
Rep. Charles “Chuck” Chestnut (D-Dist. 23)
Rep. Charles Van Zant (R-Dist. 21)
Click the appropriate links above to see the full vote count. SB 6 passed the Senate 21-17, HB 7189 passed the House 64-55. Every Democrat and a handful of Republicans in both chambers voted against these bills.
Here in Marion County, we thank Sen. Dean and Representatives Chestnut and Van Zant for standing with our teachers, our schools, and our future. We are very disappointed with Senators Baker, Lynn, and Oelrich in addition to Representatives Cretul, Kelly, and O’Toole, who voted to undermine our teachers.
It is now up to Gov. Crist to decide what to do with these bills. He so far is threatening a possible veto.
Join Us For A Protest Against Budget Cuts and SB 6 Thursday!
Are you tired of what the legislature is trying to do to public education in Florida? They’re proposing more unnecessary budget cuts to our schools while undermining our teachers. This is unacceptable to anyone who values public education. Please join us for a protest outside House Speaker Larry Cretul’s district office on State Road 200 this Thursday at 4:00pm.
Click here for more details and to register for this event.
See you there!
“Budgets Cuts Are Completely Unnecessary”
Marions United President Nancy Noonan’s op-ed appeared in this morning’s Ocala Star-Banner. In it, she discussed how the Florida legislature can close the current $3.2 billion dollar shortfall it faces and prevent any budget cuts to our schools. Nancy took on House Speaker Larry Cretul’s (R-Ocala) March 7th editorial where he failed to mention any methods of raising revenue to stop budget cuts. You can read the full op-ed here.
Does Cretul think he will balance Florida’s budget on the backs of our children, teachers and schools by making deep cuts to major programs like public education? We hope not, because budget cuts are completely unnecessary.
Anyone who is familiar with Florida’s public education system knows it cannot afford more budget cuts. Our state is already 50th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia in per-capita funding. We have the results to show for our state’s lack of investment: Florida has the third highest dropout rate in the nation and ranks 43rd in SAT scores and 48th in ACT scores. Last year, Marion County Public Schools narrowly avoided laying off 522 first- and second-year teachers. While Cretul and our legislators in Tallahassee pat themselves on the back for preserving public education dollars, it was mostly due to stimulus dollars from Washington, not any masterstroke of leadership on their part.
But this year, Cretul and our representatives in Tallahassee will have to lead. Congress will not bail our state out again with a second stimulus. Fortunately, the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy has identified several areas where our state can raise the more than $3 billion required to ensure there are no cuts in this year’s budget, particularly to our schools. Some of these items include modernizing our state’s sales tax by removing unnecessary exemptions and eliminating unnecessary corporate income tax exemptions. And those are only selected recommendations. The reality is that Florida annually gives up $12 billion a year in potential sales tax revenues and another $20.9 billion in potential service tax revenues.
At the end of the day, budget cuts are completely unnecessary.
Marions United Part Of A Wider, Spontaneous Statewide Movement
Bud Chiles, son of the late Governor “Walkin’ Lawton” Chiles (who we walked with two weeks ago), mentioned us in an editorial in TC Palm a newspaper on Florida’s treasure coast. He was discussing our state’s embarrasingly low high school graduation rates. Here’s how we we’re mentioned:
To some, this continuing pullback of state support for education seems like class warfare, especially to the families and communities that are and will be losing their schools — the hearts and souls of their neighborhoods. I’ve seen groups of parents and community leaders spontaneously forming around the state to speak out for education change — groups like Fund Education Now, Marions United For Public Education, and 50th No More. People in Florida are fed up.
This is all correct. Marions United, despite being originally a project of Progress Florida, has been led entirely by local grassroots leadership. We, like Fund Education Now, were a grassroots response to the planned deep budget cuts imposed on local districts by practically non-existent leadership in the Florida legislature.
Being a local grassroots group, dependent on people like you, rather than a pawn of shadowy special interest groups or private foundations, is our greatest strength. We’re really glad people like Bud Chiles recognize this.
