Wasserman Schultz says school spending cuts fail kids

Kids are back in school across the country, but according to The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the public schools’ children are going back to have endured record state-level spending cuts

Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) highlighted five education points and facts that question Florida’s education system.

According to Wasserman Schultz:

• School capital spending has been cut by 71%
• K-12 funding is more than 20% below the most recent pre-recession levels.
• There are 3,500 teacher vacancies
• Florida ranks 46^th in the nation for average teacher pay
• Florida ranks 43^rd in the U.S. for per student spending

"Florida deserves better," stated Wasserman Schultz.

Yikes!

“These cuts compound the widespread cuts in general state funding for schools over the same period, which have resulted in lower teacher salaries and older textbooks, among other problems, and have left students with more crowded classrooms often taught by under-qualified teachers who lack the resources needed to succeed.

Thirty-eight states cut school capital spending as a share of the state economy over the 2008-17 period, in many cases drastically; Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Delaware, and Connecticut cut it by more than half. Arizona and Florida, the states with the sharpest cuts, both slashed capital spending by a whopping 71 percent as a share of the economy.

States overall spend $46 billion a year less than they should building and repairing K-12 schools to provide healthy, safe, modern facilities, according to a 2016 report from the 21st Century School Fund, National Council on School Facilities, and U.S. Green Building Council.”-CBBP

According to this CBBP graph, most of the cuts to Florida’s education came under Republican Gov. Rick Scott.