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I’m wondering how much of it is going to keep teachers’ pensions funds above water....

Note to Pres. Trump and/or anyone from the WH:

Requiring detailed uniform budgetary reporting available to the public along with mandatory outside audits of school systems would be a big help for parents and local taxpayers.

DOE working hand-in-glove with the American Federation of Teachers, the largest national public-employee labor union, with their hands in everyone's pockets.

In 2024 the AFT came to town in Tampa FL and rolled over Governor DeSantis, the Hillsborough County Commission, and the Hillsborough County School Board, by grabbing hold of the election day ballot and ramming through a Referendum to increase property taxes on homeowners (770,000 of them) to cover pay increases for 15,160 county public employee school teachers of $6,000 per year effective for 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2028.

This for a contractual public school work year which in Hillsborough County spans only 10 months, and in addition to eight weeks of vacation, provides for dozens of fully-paid off-days and "bad weather" days which effectively reduces school attendance to a four-day week.

The Referendum passed, in large part because it was packaged to voters (unfamiliar with how millage rates translate into increased tax dollars) as being "For The Children". Total new taxes to be collected: Over $419 Million.

This money is exclusively for increased teachers pay which in Hillsborough already averages $45-$75K annually for any teacher with even minimum tenure, far above the median income level for county non-government-employed resident homeowners.

This in a county where, according to U.S. News & World Report's annual National Student Performance survey, only 41% of students score at or above the minimum standard for reading and math comprehension. Which means almost 60% of them can't solve math problems--and cannot read.

County public employees (which includes teachers) already have iron-clad local government employment guarantees. They are basically fire-proof, even without union representation. With it, the teachers are the largest and most protected and least effective left-wing, Democrat-voting special interest group of public employees in America today.