Superintendents from around the state are petitioning Gov. Rick Scott to hold a special session to address what they feel is a paltry increase to K-12 schools’ per-student funding.
Education officials say billing the budget’s $101 dollar per-student increase as "unprecedented" is misleading. They insist that absent school security and mental health money, schools are left with an increase that amounts to only 47 cents per pupil.
Now, Robert Runcie, who is superintendent of Broward County and president of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, is asking Gov. Rick Scott to hold a special session.
Runcie writes that his organization hopes to push for an increase to the base student allocation that is a “realistic amount,” and asked students, teachers and community leaders to echo their request.
Runcie says Scott’s original recommendation called for a $152 dollar increase to the BSA, which he says superintendents “fully supported.”