Let's Spend Less on Education

The above seems to be the goal of our Florida legislature. Years ago, our representatives discovered that by starting a state lottery, they could avoid spending as much on the education budget and still pretend they were philanthropists.

This year, they've come up with a new gambit to spend less on our children. The formula for paying teachers has been cut back because certain counties have "amenities" like nice beaches. They neglect to mention that sometimes 500,000 bikers come to my beach, Daytona, to enjoy those same amenities.Teachers in Volusia, Flagler, and Dade counties better get out the sun block because they're going to the beach, but not to the bank. Today, Circuit Court Judge P. Kevin Davey dismissed a case against this new plan to pay some teachers less by saying, "The bottom line...is the legislature has the authority to make these decisions." Judge Davey felt that the school attorneys didn't show that the schools would be "severely hamstrung" and therefore unable to provide the core courses. This judge apparently doesn't expect much more than this for our kids. Sounds kind of like our legislators doesn't he ?

We already have Florida teachers relocating to Georgia, and it ain't for the beaches: it's for a professional salary.