Save Access

Note: Another casualty of state-wide franchising in Florida.

from: Tampa Book Buzz

Help save the education channel
July 29, 2007 at 2:30 pm | In Books, Tampa Bay Area |

The Education Channel needs our help. Please read the three emails below and call or email your Hillsborough County Commissioner.

Received via email on July 26:

If you live within Hillsborough County, please respond to this urgent request:

IMMEDIATE CALL TO ACTION

The Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners is debating the existence of THE EDUCATION CHANNEL and whether or not it should continue to serve the people of our community. Currently, the County Administrator has recommended eliminating all funding to Tampa Educational Cable Consortium which would cripple the essential services of The Education Channel and The Explorer Channel. The motivation as insinuated by a Tampa Tribune article (Public Access Cuts Set Stage For Slams By Ellen Gedalius, The Tampa Tribune, July 25, 2007), to save general funds (i.e. property tax) serves as a thin disguise for the real underlying intent of appropriating The Education Channel’s programming. The BOCC has flagged our organization for further discussion. While the County gives itself raises, they dismantle important educational and cultural infrastructure cultivated over a period of 20 years.

Please call or email your commissioners today. They will be meeting again on Tuesday July 31, to decide whether to add our organization into the ‘08 budget or eliminate it entirely.

Calls are very important, but emphasize that the BOCC should continue to support the organization, not just the programs. As I said, they are very interested in usurping the programs we’ve already created and for which we are nationally recognized.

District 1 Rose Ferlita, 272-5470, ferlitar(at)hillsboroughcounty.org

District 2 Ken Hagan, 272-5452, hagank(at)hillsboroughcounty.org

District 3 Kevin White, 272-5720, whitek(at)hillsboroughcounty.org

District 4 Al Higginbotham, 272-5740, higginbothama(at)hillsboroughcounty.org

District 5 Jim Norman, 272-5725, normanj(at)hillsboroughcounty.org

District 6 Brian Blair, 272-5730, blairb(at)hillsboroughcounty.org

District 7 Mark Sharpe, 272-5735, sharpem(at)hillsboroughcounty.org
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Received via email July 28:

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/jul/28/na-public-access-tv-seems-irrelevant-in-era-of-onl/

The Tampa Tribune Saturday editorial gets it wrong! Voters consistently say they want more education, less government. And what does the County cut — education instead of government! The Education Channel is so much more than school board meetings. And you certainly can’t find anything like it online! Comparing educational content to videos placed on YouTube is insulting at the very least. And although the county administrator has been asked to cut some fat from the budget—of 3 and 3/4 billion dollars, employees will still be receiving raises this year. The real issue is that the government-run TV channel can not meet the minimum standards of 10 hours of programming per day required by the new state cable franchise law with over 24 employees! What’s wrong with that picture?Please write a letter to the editor TODAY. This editorial is very damaging. We need to refute it before Tuesday’s vote.

You have all been so wonderful to speak up for The Education Channel. I can’t say it enough… Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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Received via email July 29:

Your emails and phone calls are helping! Thank you!!

The Commissioners flagged our budget item last Tuesday and will vote on whether to reinstate some funding for TECC next Tuesday, July 31. Please keep up the pressure until then. Some Commissioners suggested that they eliminate funding, appropriate TECC programming and air it on the government’s HTV22, so please urge the Commission to support the channel, not just the programming. I guess they don’t understand that it’s the people — the staff, the board, the educational community — who make the programming. It doesn’t just magically appear and it won’t just magically transport to a different channel with a different mission.

If you haven’t called yet, please call. If you haven’t emailed yet, please email. Please forward this to your friends, family and coworkers and urge them to voice their support for keeping this important and successful educational resource alive and in the hands of educators. Tuesday’s meeting is very important. Please contact them before then.

Sample script:

Commissioner, I’m concerned that the county is considering cutting all funding for The Education Channel. This is a valuable community resource that is important to me and my family. I understand you have to make budget cuts, but The Education Channel should not be completely eliminated. Please reinstate funding for The Education Channel.
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I don’t want to lose Book Talk, the lecture showcase, the Independents’ Film Festival and all the other programming that The Education Channel provides. Do you?