Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 11-6-18

Sentinel Recommendations
Investing An Our Students And Our Community
U. S. Senator
Bill Nelson
Congress District 12 Congress District 15 Congress District 16
VOTE DEMOCRAT
Governor/ Lt. Governor
Andrew Gillum/Chris King
Attorney General
Sean Shaw (D)
Chief Financial Officer
Jeremy Ring (D)
Comm. Of Agriculture
Nikki Fried (D)
State Senator Dist. 18
Janet Cruz (D)
State Senator Dist. 20
Kathy Lewis (D)
State Rep. Dist. 57
Debbie Katt (D)
State Rep. Dist. 58
Phil Hornback (D)
State Rep. Dist. 59
Adam Hattersley (D)
State Rep. Dist. 60
Debbie Bellanti (D)
State Rep. Dist. 63
Fentrice Driskell (D) OR Shawn Harrison (R)
State Rep. Dist. 64
Jessica Harrington (D)
Sheriff
Chad Chronister (R)
Board Of County Comm. Dist. 2
Ken Hagan (R)
Board Of County Comm. Dist. 4
Andrew Davis (D)
Board Of County Comm. Dist. 5
Mariella Smith (D)
Board Of County Comm. Dist. 7
Kimberly Overman (D)
Retain Justice Alan Lawson Retain Judges Anthony K. Black, Darryl Casanueva, Edward D. LaRose,
Susan K. Rothstein-Youakim
Circuit Judge 13th Judicial Group 25
Jamey Moody
County Court Judge Group 2
Greg Green
County Court Judge Group 8
E. Michael Isaak
School Board Dist. 1
William Person
School Board Dist. 6
Henry “Shake” Washington
AMENDMENTS:
Vote YES on Amendments: 3, 4, 9, and 12;
vote NO on all others.
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY REFERENDUMS
No. 2 Countywide Transportation and Road Improvements – YES
No. 3 1/2-cent Sales Tax For Public Schools YES
You’ve heard about the challenges facing children in our schools: Class- rooms that are too hot as aging air conditioners struggle, roofs that leak, and school safety systems that need upgrades. Plus, career and workforce training classrooms that aren’t up-to-date and can’t get our students com- pletely ready for careers in our community.
The final item on most voters’ ballots—called the “No. 3 Hillsborough County Referendum” — would create a half-penny sales tax for schools last- ing 10 years to fix these challenges. The Education Referendum would em- power our county to cre- ate the right learning environment for all our students. When students have the right learning conditions, they have bet- ter academic results. And as those results rise, our entire community rises.
A typical family in our county, with an annual in- come of about $52,000, would pay $63 per year for the half-penny sales tax, based on IRS tables. It is not charged on necessities like groceries or medicine, on doctor bills, insurance, or most of the things we buy every day. Tourists would also pay a portion, but our county’s children get all the benefits.
Those benefits include at least half a million dol- lars invested at every pub- lic school. A total of $131 million each year for 10 years would fund needed improvements, including 203 air conditioner re- placements, 63 aging roof replacements, $23 million in safety and security im- provements, and $25 mil- lion classroom technology upgrades to prepare our children for careers in the modern workforce.
An independent, out- side Citizen Oversight Committee will review all spending. The unpaid committee includes mem- bers with a wide range of political, geographic, eth-
nic, and professional backgrounds. Citizen members cannot work for our school district and cannot profit from the ref- erendum projects.
This is not a big, open pot of money. The over- sight committee will make sure the money is respon- sibly spent on 1,785 spe- cific projects to improve schools. You can see the list yourself at hillsbor- oughschools. org/referen- dum.
The project list is based on need and every neigh- borhood in our county will see major benefits. By law, money from a half-penny sales tax cannot be spent on salaries or benefits.
Many people ask me, “Can’t Lottery money pay for this?” In short, no, it can’t. While it started with bold promises, the Lottery only provides a small frac- tion of our funding. For every $1,000 in our dis- trict’s budget, just $3 comes from the Lottery. And nearly all that money is locked into specific pro- grams, with no flexibility.
The power of the Edu- cation Referendum to pre- pare students for the future and strengthen Hillsborough County’s economy is why some of our most prominent local organizations are support- ing it, including the NAACP Hillsborough County Branch, League of Women Voters, Greater Tampa Chamber of Com- merce, Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Asso- ciation, United Way Sun- coast, PTA Hillsborough County Council, and more.
As Superintendent, I won’t ask you to vote a particular way—I only ask that you review the infor- mation available to you re- garding the No. 3 Hillsborough County Ref- erendum for schools and carefully consider the im- portant question asked at the very end of your ballot.
JEFF EAKINS, Hillsborough County Superintendent
PAGE 4 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2018