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The truth about funding

Save Duval Schools believes that the core requirement for successful student performance is to provide sufficient resources. They include the highest quality teachers and school leadership with enough classroom time to meet the needs of our students. We believe that Jacksonville rejects state micro-management of our schools and supports authentic reform of state funding for our students.

Why should you care if you don't have children in public schools? Simple - because the quality of public education affects your quality of life. It contributes to the economic standard of our community, can attract high paying jobs, can increase your property value, and will help lower our crime and poverty rates. We live in a county with the highest violent crime rate in the state and one third of our city budget goes to public safety.

Florida Constitution, Article 9: SECTION 1. Public education.

(a) 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. Adequate provision shall be made by law for a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools that allows students to obtain a high quality education and for the establishment, maintenance, and operation of institutions of higher learning and other public education programs that the needs of the people may require.

Did you know...

• Florida spends $20,000 per year to incarcerate each prison inmate but less than $7000 per year to educate each public school student (state general revenues and local levies combined)
• Florida is ranked 50th in school funding spent per $1,000 of personal income (US census data, 2005-06 school year)
• Florida passed new education initiatives such as class size reduction, voluntary pre-K, and the Bright Futures Scholarship program however they did not provide any dedicated funding sources
• Duval County has experienced a 90% cut in discretionary lottery funds since the lottery's early years
• The Florida Lottery provides Duval County with only $9 million and mandates how to spend $6 million
• Public School funding has been moved to the backs of local property taxpayers over the past decade. In 2008 Duval property owners contributed 42% of the county's educational funding
• In 2009, Duval County cut 11% of its district staff to survive state budget cuts
• 85% of Duval County children attend public schools
• One third of Duval County's ninth graders don't make it to graduation
• A high school dropout is 5-8 times more likely to be incarcerated than a college graduate. ("Crime and the Costs of Criminal Justice" Pew Center)
• The Alliance for Excellent Education estimates that if the 1.2 million high school dropouts from the Class of 2008 had earned their diplomas instead of dropping out, the U.S. economy would have seen an additional $319 billion in wages over these students' lifetimes
• Duval County has cut an hour of instruction from its school day for most high school and middle school students in order to survive state budget cuts
• Because of state budget cuts, Duval County high school graduates receive four fewer credit hours at graduation
• For the past 30 years, Duval County adults with a college degree has remained at under 25%
• Florida gave away $25 billion in tax cuts over the past decade, while cutting public school funding by 11%
• For every dollar invested in high-quality, comprehensive programs supporting children... there is a $7-$10 return to society in decreased need for special education services, higher graduation and employment rates, less crime, less use of the public welfare system, and better health (Chicago Longitudinal Study)