The Florida Education Association is working hard as part of a broad labor coalition to defeat a property tax cut amendment that appears on the Jan. 29 primary ballot. Opponents estimate that Amendment 1 would cut state funding to schools by about $3 billion over the next five years. In Broward County, where the Broward Teachers Union has organized an aggressive anti-amendment campaign, the cuts could amount to $20 million this year alone, potentially resulting in hundreds of layoffs of school staff.

"While the state continues to waste hundreds of millions of dollars in state revenues on luxury tax breaks for such items as charter fishing boats, yachts, aircraft and stadium skyboxes, our union's members are suffering," says BTU president Pat Santeramo, who is also an AFT vice president. Among the more visible members of the labor coalition are the police and firefighters unions, which are arguing that reduced property tax revenues will endanger funding for the vital public safety services they provide.

Meanwhile in California, the Feb. 5 primary ballot includes a funding initiative that the California Federation of Teachers strongly supports. Proposition 92 is focused on issues of community college funding and affordability. The measure would reduce student fees, guarantee a stable funding stream for community colleges, and establish a governance structure for community colleges similar to what exists in the state university system. "The initiative will establish community colleges as a full-fledged partner in public education," says CFT secretary-treasurer Dennis Smith, who is a community college professor.