PROVIDE QUALITY AND AFFORDABLE EDUCATION

Platform: Democrats know that every child, no matter who they are, how much their families earn, or where they live, should have access to a high-quality education, from preschool through high school and beyond.· 

Local Priorities

Give Duval schools their fare share of property taxes

Duval/Jacksonville schools are in poor condition. Many voters know our teachers are underpaid; getting only $47,200/year or $9,000 less than those in nearby Camden County, Georgia. What few know is we have "some of the oldest schools in the State, with an average age of 60 years." Our School Board estimates it will take $2 billion to restore its infrastructure (see here) and has proposed a referendum for a half-cent sales tax to fund this (see FTU article). This turns a blind eye to the root cause: the City Council has shorted public schools by shavings their share in property taxes, or millage rate, for most of this century. 

The City Council had little to do with the loss through 2009, which began as a State-mandated rollback of property taxes even though Duval was not among the "abusive" Counties. (See page ix of the City's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for a succinct explanation.) This hit the City as well as schools. Since then, however, the City Council has repeatedly hiked its property tax or millage rate and disguised about half by shaving our schools' share in "combined millage". The dotted lines in Figure 1 show how School and City rates would have gone if the City had been fair about how to recover from Tallahassee's earlier intrusion into local decision-making. 

The City essentially clawed back $600 million (in 2018 dollars) from property tax revenue that could have gone into new schools and better pay for teachers.

Unless the City agrees to restore schools' pre-2010 share in the combined millage rate, further shaving of millage rates can offset any gain from a new sales tax. And if the City were to agree to reverse course, a new sales tax would not be needed!  Our consolidated government should accept its responsibility for the poor condition of our schools, given its past expropriation of school millage. Yet, despite eight years as Mayor Curry's aide, Steve Wilson (now President of the City Council) has the chutzpah to be quoted in an FTU editorial as claiming "he knows little about the school system [and has] a clear lack of information on the subject."

Reverse policies eroding the role of public school systems

Shaving property taxes indirectly promoted private schools, with uncertain effects on education since they are not subject to State testing. The recent spurt in Charter Schools (publicly funded but independent) raises issues because tests show Duval charter school grades below state, district marks. To make matters worse, a recent Folio article details "maneuvers by city powerbrokers (see Florida Rep. Jason Fischer's new local bill) and veiled signals by the incoming CRC [Charter Revision Commission] members, Duval public schools now appear to be at greater risk of takeover than before." The article calls attention to upcoming CRC meetings that "will determine areas of study by individual committees, whose recommendations will be presented to City Council in the first quarter of 2020."

Solution: Create a Joint Task Force on School Infrastructure

If the President of our City Council can feign ignorance on our school system, we need elected officials at all levels who can speak truth to power. Ideally, we will begin shifting the combined property tax or millage rate towards schools, to fund a new school infrastructure bond issue. A Joint Task Force, with School District and City representatives, would be a way to explore such options--and ensure our schools get their due if the President's US infrastructure plan is realized.