REPORT: Public Education Funding Crisis Threatens Kids, Teachers
Florida – A comprehensive new report finds across the broad failures in public education, with funding levels degrading student achievement and causing teacher wages to become stagnant and non-competitive.
But the report, Financing a High-Quality System of Free Public Schools for Florida’s Children, offers hope, with a series of key recommendations that offer an achievable roadmap to improve student success and retain quality educators.
University of Miami professor Dr. Bruce D. Baker, a renowned expert in public school finance, authored the report. Neither the Florida Coalition for Thriving Public Schools nor its members commissioned the report, but its findings support the coalition’s mission.
“Florida’s schools and teachers are being asked to do more with less every year,” Baker said. “The courts may refuse to enforce the state’s constitutional promise, but that does not relieve the legislature of its duty. The data show clearly that Florida can afford to meet its constitutional obligations — if it chooses to.”
Added Mina Hosseini, the executive director for Coalition-member P.S. 305 and a member of the Florida Coalition for Thriving Public Schools: “This report dispels the myth that Florida is adequately or increasingly funding its public schools. Florida has the capacity to fund a high-quality system — but state leaders choose not to. Instead of increasing support, the state has drained more than $60 billion from public schools over the last decade by refusing to maintain its own past level of effort, while funneling $3.8 billion a year into vouchers for families outside the public system. Floridians now face a choice: stand up for every child’s right to a strong neighborhood public school, or allow the state’s underfunding to continue eroding our future.”
The report identified several troubling trends, including:
- Abysmal state fiscal support for K-12 education.
- Per-pupil spending is lower now than 30 years ago, when adjusted for labor and cost.
- Teacher wages aren’t competitive, while workload has increased and staffing dropped.
- Student achievement is down.
- School funding does not meet student needs, particularly in under-served areas.
- Charter schools exacerbate the inequities by serving fewer low-income students, English learners and those with disabilities.
- The $3.8B in universal school voucher spending yields a far lower return on taxpayer investment than if funds were used in public schools, all while 70% of the funding supports students who have never attended public schools, debunking the myth that school vouchers allow students in poor-performing schools to receive a better education.
Report recommendations:
- Establish statewide School Funding Commission to define “high quality” education and calculate true costs to achieve it.
- Reform school finance formula and significantly increase state funding.
- Pause charter school expansion, including Schools of Hope, until equity and quality issues are addressed.
- Freeze voucher program expansion and redirect resources to public schools.
Significantly, the report notes that Florida could quickly enact reforms. If lawmakers returned Florida to funding levels in the 2000s, public school funding would be 28% higher than it is now.
