High School Sports: Another Florida Budget Problem
Get rid of sports? That seems to be the idea here in Orange County, Florida. The State of Florida is in an educational crunch, and with money very short, the powers that be have an idea on how to start saving money. Start cutting current programs like guidance offices, arts, and of course athletic programs.
While the majority of children would survive this unscathed, my concern is for those who don’t have the support system to keep them afloat. For many of inner city children, high school sports is a way to avoid the harsh realities of their neighborhoods and the gang life that come along with it. Unfortunately, Orlando has quickly become one of the deadliest cities in the United States. Gang violence is out of control. And the schools located in these neighborhoods are fighting tooth and nail just to keep these influences away from their campuses.
As an attorney for the indigent, I deal with a lot of these families on a day to day basis. And in my opinion, you rarely see someone who is 19-20 years old getting mixed up with the law for the first time. Unlike many middle to upper class children, the odds of their families being able to afford private athletic programs to offset these influences is very low. And when the school bell rings at 3pm, these kids will be released to the gang ridden neighborhoods with nothing to do. School athletic programs don’t always prevent someone from hanging with the wrong crowd, it does at least create a line of defense to shield them from the harsh realities of the streets.
With a vote this afternoon, county officals have a tough call to make. Money is short and cutting athletic programs, or scaling them back could save a projected 7 million dollars.
I know schools are created to educate, their goal is to educate, and education should always be the number one priority. But ask yourself this, while it might not be an academic subject per se, the athletic programs at least educate some of these kids that there is something better out there. Removing them will only prevent these kids from seeing that.
Popularity: 9% [?]
in this regard, $7 million is not really a lot of money.
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Couldn’t all the pro athletes that have come out of Orange County come up with $7 million to donate?
/assuming alot of pros have come out of Orange County
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Do you f’ing homework!!
Coming from suburbia, I know nothing of the wants or needs of inner-city yoots. But I think it’s the parents responsibility to raise their children properly. If the parents are at work, they need to instill(?) proper values to their children to avoid drugs / gangs when they can not supervise then. I know, easier said than done.
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Much easier said than done. Kids start getting influenced by gangs around the age of 7-8 years old. They provide protection, and sadly something to do.
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we know that parents need to take responsibility, and these parents want their kids participating in after school programs, and that is what they should want.
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@ John, Orlando has more professional athletes than most cities in the US.
It would be nice.
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Serious question: Is Trey a drug lawyer?
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About a 1/3rd of my cases are drug charges.
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Are you employed by drug dealers? Are you paid in crack? Heroin? We need details!
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I agree, $7mil is nothing, and would give idle hands something to do.
/Trey probably charges $7mil an hour. Bloodsucking lawyers.
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what would you cut out instead of sports then?
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art and lunch.
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Nah, I’m a public defender. I am court appointed to those who cannot afford an attorney.
@jb, no education should be cut. There are hundreds of other areas the state can cut spending.
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yeah, cut the lunch. kids are too fat these days anyway.
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I’m drafting a petition right now.
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Yes, Sparty!!
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I’d cut algebra. Who the hell ever uses algebra in real life?
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Miz.
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I use my algebraic skills quite often…not all of them of course.
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you rang?
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I’d say cut English…if they can’t read by then, tough shit.
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not the guy who does Studs and Duds.
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If the schools were more effective they’d be able to figure out a way to do it without cutting stuff. Maybe they should cut funding from whoever it is that is supposed to be teaching them that because those guys are clearly failing.
/lawyer’d
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I’m sure Mickey has $7 mil worth of loose change in his pocket he could give.
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Miz uses algebra.
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algebra is my friend.
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Miz needs better friends.
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twenty cent excise tax on every passenger who takes off or lands at MCO = $7M (35.6M Passengers Annually)
An estimated 48.7M Tourist Annually and youre telling me that Orlando cant figure out how to keep sports in schools?
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Mikey for Mayor of Orlando!
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Mikey, I emailed you the other day, did you get it?
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yeah i gotta 9k coming in this week so ill do it
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cool. thank you!
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Everybody keeps missing the point. High school sports really end up either costing very little or making money for the schools. Most sports arepaid for through fundraising/booster club. The only thing that the individual schools pay for are the coaching suppliments and that is generally taken care of through ticket sales and concessions. The real problem starts with the bloated Federal Government and the unnecessary Dept of Education and it trickles down to the bloated and overpaid Orange County school board. For each State the average return for every dollar that we send to the DOE is 50 cents! Thats EVERY dollar we sent to the DOE we get back on average 50 CENTS! This was a part of the Republican platform until 1988 (getting rid of the DOE). Think before you vote people! Dont let the media decide who’s in office or who is “electible”. Wake up!
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