Our views: Kids come first

Everyone has heard of the Tea Party, a grassroots coalition in Florida and other states fueled by voters’ anger at government policies.

Get ready for the Milk Party, which deserves the support of Brevard County residents across the political spectrum.

The Milk Party is the short name for the Children’s Movement of Florida, a nonpartisan initiative whose goal is to make the health and education of children the state’s highest priority.

The movement also is rooted in anger — a righteous anger that the state of Florida’s children, by almost every measure, is appalling.

A few damning facts:

• The state ranks 49th in the nation in percentage of uninsured children. Some 800,000 Florida kids go uninsured, including about 7,500 in Brevard.
• Florida ranks 47th in the percentage of pregnant women who get prenatal care in the first trimester and has high rates of babies born underweight or who die in the first year.
• Screening and treatment programs for children with special needs are woefully inadequate.
• Florida’s voluntary pre-K program meets only four of 10 national benchmarks for quality and ranks 34 out of 38 state in per-pupil funding.
• Florida ranks in the bottom half of states in per-pupil funding for K-12; its high school graduation rate is among the lowest in the nation.

Those realities reflect a longstanding failure of commitment to the well-being of children by state leaders and represent a huge threat to the future of Florida’s workforce and economy.

And are what led a bipartisan group of political heavy hitters to found the Children’s Movement.

They include David Lawrence Jr., retired publisher of the Miami Herald, and former Florida Senate President and Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings, a Republican who served under Gov. Jeb Bush.

There’s also former House Speakers Jon Mills, a Democrat, and Allen Bense, a Republican.

The group is holding rallies across the state to educate politicians, business and civic leaders and parents about putting children first, including Sept. 14 in Orlando and Sept. 15 on the Treasure Coast.

No event is scheduled for Brevard, but it’s possible a mini rally could be held if enough interest is expressed, according to Children’s Movement communications director Martin Merzer.

More information is available at the organization’s website at childrensmovementflorida.org, or by e-mailing Central Florida Area Manager Pamela Whitmore at pamela.whitmore@gmail.com.

Brevard residents concerned about improving the lives of Florida children should get involved, as the Milk Party movement has great potential to benefit local children and children’s programs. That includes the Healthy Start Coalition of Brevard, which provides prenatal care to poor women and services for needy children.

“We all need to recognize that health care, prenatal care and children need to be a priority. The more organizations that bring these issues to the forefront, by way of educating the community, state leaders or by getting the media’s attention by serving cookies and milk, can only benefit the cause,” says Executive Director Jennifer Floyd.

The Legislature cut $12.6 million statewide from Healthy Start and child abuse prevention agency Healthy Families this year. That follows a shameful pattern of repeated cuts to education and health services for the state’s most vulnerable residents while deep-pocketed special interests are spared.

That’s why it’s up to citizens to step up as strong voices for the voiceless in the halls of power. Other organizations have tried to storm the gates in Tallahassee in support of children and been beaten back.

With its political clout and ability to draw on a broad coalition of advocacy groups, the Milk Party may be the last, best chance for change.

Read the full article here.