Florida PTA
everychild:onevoice
Amendment 1
Constitutional Amendment to Revise Property Taxes

The Florida PTA opposes Amendment 1, the proposed state constitutional amendment that will be on the Presidential Preference Primary election ballot on Jan. 29, 2008, based on the following positions.

FLORIDA TAX STRUCTURE (1997) The Florida PTA urges the legislature to increase tax revenue through tax structure reform and order to adequately fund services necessary to meet the educational, health, safety, recreational and other basic needs of Florida's children. The Florida PTA urges immediate reform of Florida's system of sales and use taxes. Exemptions for products and services should be retained only where they meet an overriding public policy interest. The Florida PTA supports amendments to the Florida Constitution that enhance the ability of the state to fully fund services to meet the needs of Florida's children.

TAXES - COMPREHENSIVE REVENUE RESTRUCTURING (1991) The Florida PTA urges the Legislature to implement a comprehensive restructuring of Florida's tax system with the goals of guaranteeing stable and adequate funding of public schools and necessary services for children.

FUNDING (1989) The Florida PTA urges the Legislature to place priority on the basic education programs and ensure that the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) be adequately funded to guarantee an equal educational opportunity for all children. Funding formulas must assure equalization of funding for all school districts.

FUNDING CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS (1991) The Florida PTA urges the Legislature to take whatever action is necessary to fully fund strategies and programs that ensure the health, safety and education of the children of Florida.

TAX LIMITATION (1984) The Florida PTA opposes any tax limitation by constitutional amendment which would limit the progress being made in attaining the state's goal for education and for programs that promote the welfare of children and youth The Florida PTA recognizes the fact the Florida legislative leaders have made a verbal commitment to hold public school funding harmless, however no funding source has been identified. As parents and advocates for children, we cannot leave our children's future up to chance. What makes the situation even more fragile is that, because of term limits, many of the legislators who have given the verbal promise to protect education will not be in the legislature when future funding decisions have to be made.

Florida PTA has long advocated for a tax structure that will adequately fund all services that are necessary for children. The proposed property tax amendment only addresses tax cuts, not true tax reform. These proposed cuts will reduce funding for school districts without identifying a replacement source. Further, they will force counties and cities to make cuts to programs that have a direct impact on children. Some examples of these cuts are: After School Tutoring Programs, School Resource Officers, School Crossing Guards.

The Florida PTA does not oppose tax cuts, but we oppose cuts without tax reform; i.e. replacement funds that will ensure the future of our children and enhance the ability of the state to fully fund the educational, health, safety, recreational and other basic needs for Florida's children.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN
VOTE NO ON AMENDMENT 1
Talking Points:

• We support comprehensive tax restructuring that will increase tax revenue through tax reform in order to adequately fund services necessary to meet the educational, health, safety, recreational and other basic needs of Florida's children.
• We support reforming Florida's system of sales and use taxes.  Exemptions for products and services, such as for food and medicine, only should be retained if they meet an overriding public policy interest.
• We are concerned that passage of the amendment will further weaken state and local revenues and result in sizeable budget cuts to education and children's services.
• We remind Florida's citizens that the state constitution says: "The education of children is a fundamental value of the people of the State of Florida. It is, therefore, a paramount duty of the state to make adequate provision for the education of all children residing within its borders."  (Article IX, Section 1)

Please remember early voting begins Monday, January 14.
Please go to the polls and cast your vote.

THANK YOU

Dade County Council PTA/PTSA continues to be concerned about the impact of budget shortfalls and further cutting of the funds available for our children's education. We’d like to invite you to sign up for the Dade County Council’s own CapWiz service. Please go to the following link to sign up to receive our Council's Action Alerts.

http://capwiz.com/dadepta/mlm/signup/?ignore_cookie=1

Marilyn Spiegel
Legislative Chair

Important Note:  If you have signed up with CapWiz (Florida PTA, DCC PTA/PTSA, The Children’s Trust, etc) and are not receiving alerts, we have been advised that “Bellsouth” email blocks the Capwiz for some reason.  Therefore, we suggest you set up another email account through a different provider (i.e. Yahoo!, Gmail, etc.)  This could be the case with others as some internet providers may have a spam filter, preventing names they don’t recognize from coming through. Click on the following links for the latest legislative information:

This Week in Washington

No Child Left Behind (latest issue)

Latest info on NCLB

PTA’s Parent Involvement Legislative Initiative for the

Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.