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Opinion: Wake Up, Florida
What does it mean to be a Floridian these days? Is it just about how small we can shrink our government, how low we can make our taxes, how we can continue to postpone addressing critical community problems like health care, education and community safety?
What has happened to the basic conviction that we must invest in order to reap? Where have the statesmen gone - the ones who were willing to sacrifice their popularity to do the best for our state?
It's time to wake up, Florida. We have been lulled into a complacent, decade-long sleep by the reassuring rhetoric of egocentric politicians, who have played a charming game of sleight of hand with us. They have assured us we could build a great education and health system on the cheap. That we could take care of children and families by giving out tax breaks and providing corporate tax exemptions. That we can afford to lock up all the criminals and throw away the key. This politically popular but double-dumb strategy has resulted in Florida spending three times as much on prisoners as on our students.
It's been a disaster for the economic future of our state and the potential of our children.
Florida has over 800,000 children who have no health insurance. Florida has 3.5 million family members who have no health insurance. Our overall health system is ranked 48th among the states. Florida has one of the worst, if not the worst, high school graduation rates in the country as well as one of the worst teen felony and incarceration rates.
We invest far more in prisons than in high schools and colleges. Our pay for teachers, our pupil-teacher ratios, our funding for early education, K-12 and higher education are embarrassments compared to other states. Our rate of infant deaths, number of homeless children and children living in poverty are all shockingly higher than the national averages.
We are rapidly becoming a crowd instead of a community; the distance between those who have opportunity and those who do not is widening. We are losing our talented young professionals to our neighbor states as they seek better jobs and better schools for their kids.
It's time we came together to move our state from worst to first.
"Worst to First" has been formed to unify the voices of those who are passionately demanding an end to this horrendous leadership void. We have assembled more than 50 important groups that have agreed to rise above their own organization's needs and interests to fight together to change this terrible state of affairs. Among them: United Way, March of Dimes, 50th No More, Healthy Start and Head Start, Children's Service Councils, Juvenile Justice organizations, Ounce of Prevention and others.
"Worst to First" will educate, inform, inspire, and involve advocates and concerned citizens in order to build a force for change. Through our Web site ( www.worsttofirst.org) and those of our partners, we will provide the clear and indisputable facts that Floridians must know to be moved to take remedial action.
Further, "Worst to First" will clearly tell you how the state is spending federal stimulus money. For example, is it being used to balance a budget based on misdirected priorities, or is it being spent to enhance our education monies?
It's time for Florida to lead again as we once did on tobacco cessation, early education, juvenile justice and health insurance coverage. It's time to change from "Worst to First."
