Pew Report Cites Florida as Financially “Stressed,” Only 12% of Floridians See Higher Ed as High Priority

October 11, 2010. A message from UFF-Florida State Chapter President Jack Fiorito
(Received October 8, 2010)

Dear FSU Colleagues,

A recent report from the Pew Center for the States includes Florida as one of five financially “stressed” states.  A summary in yesterday’s Tallahassee Democrat noted that 49% of Floridians support tax increases for universities and colleges, but 50% oppose such increases.  Another summary by the same writer (Bill Kaczor) said that only 12% of respondents rank higher education as the “most important” priority to protect from budget cuts.  With projections of a state budget deficit on the order of $800 million to $2.5 billion, it seems certain that FSU, faculty, staff, and students will be facing another challenging budget year.

Links related to this include:

Pew Center Report (pdf of 92 page doc):  http://www.uff-fsu.org/art/PewStudyFiveDistressedStates2010.pdf

Kaczor’s AP Story (pdf, summary):  http://www.uff-fsu.org/art/Kaczor-AP20101006.pdf

UFF Membership:    https://uff-fau.org/?p=16

Don’t be just a spectator.  We can do together what you cannot do alone.

Best regards,

Jack Fiorito, President

UFF-FSU Chapter

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *