In the midst of an ambitious building plan, the government schools in Duval County claim they are short of money.
The new superintendent says it is necessary to cut $97 million from the budget.
The school budget this year is almost $1.5 billion, so the task is to trim it by about 6.5 percent, perhaps difficult but not an insurmountable task.
| School Year | No. of Students | population | Pct. students |
| 2019-20 | 130,299 | 982,080 | 13.3 |
| 2020-21 | 126,815 | 1,016,809 | 12.5 |
| 2021-22 | 128,948 | 1,033,533 | 12.5 |
| 2022-23 | 129,801 | 1,051,278 | 12.3 |
| 2023-24 | 129,094 | 1,061,000 | 12.2 |
As the chart above shows, the school system is losing customers.
When businesses lose customers, they lay off employees and shut stores.
Once school choice became more widely available to parents, they began moving their children from failing schools or schools with high crime rates.
The school administration has made noises about shutting schools but there has been little progress. There have been no reports of teacher positions being reduced.
Fortunately, the superintendent now has a new School Board to advise him.
There is now a conservative majority on the board, so there is finally an interest in good fiscal management.
Actually, the fact that the board has gone from a liberal majority to a conservative majority in four short years proves an important point.
The former board looked at children as cash cows and their parents as busybodies, sticking their noses into the education business.
At one time, government schools had a monopoly and could afford to have that outlook.
But the widespread outrages of the past few decades not only changed the board’s composition but helped change the nation.
Just a few years ago, it was local school policy to allow boys in girls bathrooms.
Critical race theory and diversity, inclusion and equity permeated the schools. Gender confusion was promoted and then encouraged by “affirming.:”
Discipline in some schools was lax.
Books with pornographic content, including graphic photos instructing boys how to perform oral sex on other boys, were in school libraries.
Parents who spoke out about these things at board meetings found little sympathy.
When parents read aloud from books their small children could read, they were silenced because the material was too obscene for adults.
School choice and persistent parental pushback from groups such as Moms for Liberty and Citizens Defending Freedom brought about change at both the state and local level..
The voters had their way.
We expect the new board to lead the way toward changes that will lower costs and improve educational outcomes.
