From office of State Sen. Rosalind Osgood:
Tallahassee, FL – In response to HB 1259 – Education passing in the Senate today, Senator Rosalind Osgood (D-Tamarac) released the following statement:
“HB 1259 will cause great financial hardship on our traditional public schools. I support all schools, traditional, public, charter public and private schools. However, I believe we can fund educational opportunities in the State of Florida without taking money from one and giving it to the other.
Capital funds are neither collected nor spent on a per student basis but based on facility needs. This bill is regressive and problematic in many ways. HB 1259 will make it impossible for school districts to fund five-year facility plans required by State statute. School districts will not be able to meet debt obligations for new construction.
Broward County Schools will lose approximately $56,023,741 over the next five years. I encourage the Governor to veto this bill and allow a task force of Traditional Public School Superintendents and Charter School Operators to work together to propose a more fiscally appropriate solution.”
