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To Whom It May Concern As a parent of a Flagler County student, I am very concerned about the cuts for the current 2008-2009 fiscal year budget, as well as next year’s budget (2009-2010). It seems to me that the most important things in this budget are the prisoners and the rebuilding of prisons. What happened to NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND! Our children should be the most important thing, PERIOD! If these budget cuts are made, our children will not get the proper education they need. If our education system declines, then the chance that more and more of our youth will eventually turn to a life of crime increases. If we allow that to happen, then we’ll definitely need those extra prisons. We need to educate our children and give them the best possible chance to avoid a life of crime. In times like these, the last thing we should do is make cuts in education! Our children are our future! They will lead this country one day! And the people who were elected to represent the people and CHILDREN of Florida seem to care more about giving the convicts of this state a home, rather than giving the Children and future leaders of this State a chance at success. I request that in the midst of this crisis you support the following in order to mitigate a small portion of the impact on students! 1) Freeze the implementation of Class Size Reduction at the current levels for 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 with all penalties for non-compliance waived; 2) Allow total district flexibility with the current state mandated allocations including reading, SAC funds, Teachers Lead and School Recognition; and 3) Repeal sales tax exemptions on non-essential items. 4) Find additional sources of revenue in the existing budget. While education was being cut $332 million, we found enough money to fund new prisons ($309 million), incentives to lure businesses to Florida ($95 million), Tax Watch “Turkeys” ($109 million), and Corporate Vouchers ($30 million). 5) Generate additional revenue. $20 billion in tax cuts is no longer acceptable and has hurt our State. It takes courage to look at areas such as cigarette taxes, liquor taxes, or an Internet sales tax. I urge you to consider carefully these concerns in all future decisions concerning the state education budget. OUR CHILDREN ARE COUNTING ON US! Sincerely yours, Cristina Maiahghthhy Palm Coast, FL Put our children first, then we will not need to build more prisons. Florida is facing extreme school budget cuts. Post your ideas, discussions and solutions here. Try to keep it positive. Our kids are too important to leave behind. media type="youtube" key="4o3vk_ZZHPY" height="344" width="425" Watch the Information Express Video and print the handout here: http://www.flaglerschools.com/blog/post/view/446

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