Sarasota County Civic League Endorses one mill Extension for Schools
On March 14, 2006, the voters of Sarasota County will be asked to decide the following issue:
Shall the Sarasota County School District ad valorem millage increase of 1.00 mill per year adopted by the voters in March 2002 for fiscal years beginning July 1, 2002 and ending June 30, 2006 be continued for the fiscal years beginning July 1, 206 and ending June 30, 2010 for operating expenses necessary to maintain the quality of Sarasota County’s public school system?
Last month at our luncheon, we heard from Carl Weinrich in his capacity as a representative of Citizens for Better Schools. His primary argument was that the moneys raised over the past four years have addressed previous shortfalls allowed certain enhancements such as increased salary for teachers. The 1.00 mil extension is needed so that Sarasota can continue to compete for quality teachers, and support Superintendent Gary Norris in his ambitious "Next Generation" learning that the League heard about this summer.
In deciding whether to endorse passage of the referendum, the Civic League attempted to determine whether there was any serious and thoughtful opposition that should be considered. If there is, we could not detect any. All of the members in attendance at lunch, as well as the unanimous consensus of the Board of Directors, was that the Sarasota County Civic League should endorse passage of the referendum on March 14, 2006.
Several questions have been raised. The questions include: How will the new funds be managed and spent? Could passage of the extension affect our funding by the State of Florida? I would direct interested persons to this web site:
http://www.sarasotacountyschools.net/Referendum/
A lot of information may be found there, especially under the 2006 referendum Q and A.
Shall the Sarasota County School District ad valorem millage increase of 1.00 mill per year adopted by the voters in March 2002 for fiscal years beginning July 1, 2002 and ending June 30, 2006 be continued for the fiscal years beginning July 1, 206 and ending June 30, 2010 for operating expenses necessary to maintain the quality of Sarasota County’s public school system?
Last month at our luncheon, we heard from Carl Weinrich in his capacity as a representative of Citizens for Better Schools. His primary argument was that the moneys raised over the past four years have addressed previous shortfalls allowed certain enhancements such as increased salary for teachers. The 1.00 mil extension is needed so that Sarasota can continue to compete for quality teachers, and support Superintendent Gary Norris in his ambitious "Next Generation" learning that the League heard about this summer.
In deciding whether to endorse passage of the referendum, the Civic League attempted to determine whether there was any serious and thoughtful opposition that should be considered. If there is, we could not detect any. All of the members in attendance at lunch, as well as the unanimous consensus of the Board of Directors, was that the Sarasota County Civic League should endorse passage of the referendum on March 14, 2006.
Several questions have been raised. The questions include: How will the new funds be managed and spent? Could passage of the extension affect our funding by the State of Florida? I would direct interested persons to this web site:
http://www.sarasotacountyschools.net/Referendum/
A lot of information may be found there, especially under the 2006 referendum Q and A.
posted by Adam Tebrugge | 5:03 PM
