We’re living in a dark time.
There isn’t a student across the state of Florida who hasn’t felt the impact of the economic crisis. Our Bright Futures scholarships that we were guaranteed in high school don’t go as far as they used to. Many of the academic programs that brought us to the UF in the first place are getting slashed left and right. High unemployment and a soft job market have most of us apprehensive about our plans after graduation. And now UF’s administration is talking about increasing tuition by 30 percent and implementing a block tuition system that would force students to pay for classes they don’t take.
This is our reality, and it’s about to get worse if we don’t stand up.
Right now, our Florida state government is debating our fate in Tallahassee. Our extremist governor, Rick Scott, and his legislature are proposing $1.75 billion in cuts to public education, along with $100 million in cuts to Bright Futures, which the state began funding when the lottery couldn’t pay for it alone.
Students aren’t the only victims of Rick Scott’s budget cuts. For decades, Florida’s state legislature has targeted our teachers, firefighters, police officers, nurses and other public servants by attacking their unions. Now, Scott wants to deal public employees a death blow and take away their right to collectively bargain for fair contracts altogether.
When Scott says that he needs to make these devastating cuts to solve Florida’s budget crisis, you need to remember two facts: One, we don’t have a budget crisis in Florida. We have a constitutional amendment that prevents us from deficit spending. We don’t have a looming public debt like other states.
And two, students didn’t crash the economy. Gainesville’s courageous firefighters didn’t force people out of their homes through foreclosures. The hardworking teachers at Eastside High School didn’t rip off the country through Ponzi schemes. And the pensions of the nurses at the local Veterans Affairs hospital, earned through years of public service, are not the reason for the country’s multi-trillion-dollar debt.
Billionaire Gov. Rick Scott says we have a budget crisis, cuts taxes for corporations and the wealthy and then expects to balance the budget on the backs of the middle class.
Enough is enough. We didn’t create this crisis; it was the banks, the corporations and the politicians they hand-picked.
The people of Wisconsin are fighting back. The people of Ohio are fighting back. And today at 5:30 p.m. on the Plaza of the Americas at UF, Gainesville will join 12 other cities across the state of Florida and fight back.
Come out and demand a Florida state government for the people, not against them. Visit our website, fightbackflorida.com for more information.
