Rallying for Florida's children

Drawing inspiration from the tea party, the Children's Movement of Florida is seeking to ignite a grassroots movement that will make children the priority for Florida decision-makers. This is a cause both conservatives and liberals should rally behind.

Almost two years after former Miami Herald publisher David Lawrence launched the movement, an impressive bipartisan steering committee and others have built the foundation for what they hope will lead to unprecedented attention to children's issues. To that point, Lawrence has hosted "milk" parties throughout the state, including one in Tampa last week.

The movement's message is vital. Tallahassee lawmakers all give lip service to children's health and educational well-being, yet in proportion to our size and wealth, Florida ranks dead last in per-child state spending among the 50 states. More than 18 percent of Florida's children, for instance, do not have health insurance - double the national average.

The neglect not only damages young lives but generates huge costs for society and taxpayers. Research shows children with better health earn and save more money, are more productive and less dependent on public subsidies.

"While I do see from time to time a report indicating some signs of improvement, it is inescapably clear that the situation overall is getting worse," Lawrence said at the Tampa gathering. "This is so sad. So sinful. Surely we are a better people than to accept things the way they are, especially when we have so much evidence of the way things must be for our state to have the healthy, well-educated people we must have for the 21st century."

Things can change, however, if the next governor and new Legislature decide to make children the priority in Florida. And that's what the movement is about: motivating elected officials to action.

It's a steep climb admittedly, but with the power represented on the steering committee, which includes former House Speaker Allan Bense and former education commissioner and University of South Florida president Betty Castor, and with the support of Floridians, it can happen.

In that regard, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink has accepted an invitation to debate children's issues in Miami next month. The focus will be on the health, education and well-being of kids. Republican nominee Rick Scott has been invited but has yet to accept his invitation. It will be revealing if he ignores it.

The initial focus as the movement grows will be on five areas: getting health insurance for every child; ensuring early screening and treatment for kids with special needs; improving pre-kindergarten education programs; teaching best practices to develop high-quality mentors; and developing best practices for parenting programs.

It shouldn't cost taxpayers a lot of money. Lawrence believes some state money could be reallocated, and he raised $1 million in private money this summer in the middle of a soft economy.

The return on investment should be considerable. The Washington Economics Group estimates that every dollar spent by Florida to improve the well-being of children creates $4.55 in economic output, a return of 455 percent.

Stay tune to the movement. It has issued a challenge we hope people will answer.

As Lawrence said: "We must make our children the state's highest priority - higher than bullet trains, higher than prisons, higher than roads, higher than anything."

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