More important information, from school teachers to the rest of Florida's school teachers. If you know a school teacher in Florida, forward this letter/e-mail to them:
From FEA Teachers in Marion County to Fellow Teachers of Florida:
Why Florida Educators Must Support Amendment 4…
Our own union, the FEA, is in Concert with Our Anti-Union Opponents!
Teachers! Remember how Senator John Thrasher, state lawmakers and the Florida Chamber of Commerce ganged up to snatch our pensions, strip away our credentials, fire thousands of our colleagues, and privatize schools?
And remember why they did this? It was, in part, because they wanted an easy way to finance the shortfall in funding for schools and other social services caused by the recession.
What caused Florida’s Big Recession? It was Florida’s Sprawl Machine which flooded the state with massive and unneeded subdivisions and retail centers. And its financially-backed friends, posing as elected officials helped by approving these unpopular land-use changes.
Because of this reckless over-building, 350,000 vacant Florida homes are now rotting and driving down property values. This means property taxes are also sinking—money that’s not being used to support schools and libraries andother government services.
Governor Crist stopped them with a veto. But they’ll be back —soon.
Sadly, there’s more troubling news for educators.
Our own union, the FEA, is now aligned with Thrasher and Company on the issue of Amendment 4—a citizen initiative designed to clean up the mess that Big Sprawl caused. Union officials in Tallahassee, without input from teachers/members, decided to line up with our anti-union opponents to kill Amendment 4. (see list of anti-union forces funding the “NoOn4” campaign below!)
Why would they do this? Because, as FEA officials will tell you, the AFLCIO wanted them to. Sure, as a labor union, the AFLCIO is understandably concerned about construction jobs, but they obviously didn’t think A4 all the way out. If they had, they’d understand that Floridians are out of work because something like A4 wasn’t in place.
Amendment 4 appears on the upcoming November ballot, because many FEA educators and other hundreds of other Floridians worked hard to put it there. If passed, it will let voters support or veto the decisions of local officials, if these politicians decide to make land-use changes to our comprehensive growth plans.
This amendment gives citizens a say in how their local communities develop. It will also help prevent the old boom-bust cycle that has cost millions of Floridians, including many teachers, their jobs.
Despite what critics say, A4 doesn’t take away property rights and has no impact on zoning. It affects only land-use changes — major designations such industrial, agricultural, rural, residential--that communities hammer out in public meetings to plan how their communities can grow in an orderly, affordable way. And voters will decide on changes at the next scheduled election -- no special elections needed.
The Sprawl Machine—using federal bailout money--is frantic to kill our right to vote. Right now their huge war chests of money enable them to control local and state governments, allowing them to build wherever they please, and ignoring environmental, traffic, tax, and quality-of-life concerns. They don’t want to give us this power.
It’s crazy to continue to base funding for Florida’s public schools on irresponsible, runaway growth, which is what we’ll continue to do, unless Amendment 4 passes. Until then, those responsible for the Big Recession will blame everyone except themselves, and make you and me pay for their disaster. Check the facts at http://www.floridahometowndemocracy.com.
What you can do. Approach you local FEA membership. Ask to speak to the building reps or the executive committee and ask them to do the following:
1) Endorse Amendment 4
2) Send this letter or one of your own to the entire union membership.
Locals are free to make their own decision like this. We, the undersigned FEA teachers in Marion County, hope you will join us today.
John Dunn - Forest High School
Tom Lakin - Forest High School
Ron Woodard - Stanton-Weirsdale Elementary School
Gene Hotaling - West Port High School
Guy Marwick (retired) - former social studies teacher and Director of the Silver River Museum
ANTI-UNION FORCES WHO ARE
FUNDING THE “NO ON 4” CAMPAIGN:
ABC OF FLORIDA
BANK OF TAMPA
FL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
FLORIDA EAST COAST RAILWAY, LLC
FLORIDA HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION, INC.
FLORIDIANS FOR SMARTER GROWTH (THATCHER’S GROUP)
LYKES BROS., INC.
MACY'S
NORTH AMERICAN MINING
PROGRESS ENERGY
PUBLIX SUPER MARKETS, INC.
UNITED STATES SUGAR CORPORATION
WACHOVIA
WALGREENS
WAL-MART STORES, INC.
WASTE MANAGEMENT
[Please note the union label on the Amendment 4 signs and bumper stickers, you won’t find that on the No on 4 materials!]
Pd. Pol. Adv. By FloridaHometownDemocracy, Inc. PAC, P.O. Box 636, New Smyrna Beach, FL
Tea Parties for Amendment 4
