FL Teachers Get Grassroots Support
(Posted May 11, 2011 10:30 am)
ORLANDO,
FL - Florida teachers have organized hundreds of rallies
and demonstrations to support teachers, public workers
and students they claim are under attack by state
lawmakers.
The Florida Legislature cut budgets, increased class
sizes and slashed salaries in an effort to bring a
deficit in check - but the
Florida
Education Association says the damage to the state's
public education is horrific. Proponents of the cuts say
educators are trying to save a system that is overfunded
and outdated, but Stephanie Porta, who heads the new
grassroots group Awake The State in Orlando, says the
public needs to know the truth.
"We think it's important for folks to know what the
legislators did, and so a lot of this is going to be
basic education: Tthis person voted for this, and this,
and this - and this is how you're going to be affected
by it."
Awake The State claims the recent legislative session
went after a lot of programs that support the middle
class, from public worker pensions to medical care for
the disabled and elderly.
Porta says voters need to know who really got the short
end of the vote under the Capitol dome this session.
"At this point, they have to face their voters and their
constituents, and we have a long hot summer awaiting
us."
Few teachers are going to want to teach in Florida,
which ranks near the bottom of the national pay scale,
Porta says. Students will suffer in the short term, she
says, and in the long term Florida's efforts to
revitalize the job market could be affected.