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Tallahassee, FL – A circuit judge has ruled for a proposed constitutional amendment that would loosen class size caps. The new proposal was put on the ballot by the Legislature, which said it would be too expensive, but as Lynn Hatter reports, the state teacher's union sued to block the measure.
There's a saying that goes something like this. Anytime someone says it's NOT about money it usually is. The battle over a proposed constitutional amendment to loosen class size caps is one such case. Under the original 2002 measure, there can only be 18 students per class in kindergarten to third grade, 22 in grades four through eight and 25 in high school. For the last three years, lawmakers have tried to loosen those caps, saying money used to build new schools takes away from dollars that would otherwise go directly into the classroom. Their proposal failed twice in the Legislature, so early this year, they made it into a constitutional amendment to put before voters in November. The proposal was blasted by the Florida Education Association. President Andy Ford says it should be tossed, because it's misleading when it comes to the money.
"I'm thankful that the Attorney General's Office doesn't teach our children," said Ford, "because obviously they can't do math. If you're having a change in the cap, you're obviously going to have a change in the funding formula and that's what this is all about. The Attorney General's Office missed that point completely."
The union says the ballot summary of the amendment doesn't tell voters that loosening the hard caps would result in a decrease in education funding. Jonathan Glogough is defending the amendment for the Attorney General's Office. He said the proposal should stay on the ballot, because the union can't prove such a move would take money away from schools. He cites the original 2002 court case that says building schools isn't the only way to reduce class size.
"Rather than restricting the Legislature, the proposed amendment gives the Legislature latitude in designing ways to reach the class size goal articulated in the ballot initiative, that places the obligations of compliance on the Legislature, not the school boards," said Glogough. "Once again, there is no requirement that the Legislature appropriate any particular amount of money."
But Ron Meyer, who is representing the Florida Education Association says the Legislature is trying to go back on the will of the people.
"There's room here for legislative action," said Meyer, "but they don't want to do that. Why? They want to save money. You know, this is an amendment, Amendment 8, is an amendment to enable the Legislature to continue to fund education on the cheap. That's what it's about."
The state has spent close to $19 billion on class size since the current amendment was enacted. That money has gone largely to build new schools and hire new teachers. Under the Legislature's proposal, school-wide averages could be used in place of the hard caps.
Lynette Estrada is a parent and Special Education teacher in Miami. She sides with the union.
"In the years I've been teaching, where's the money?" asked Estrada. "Everyone keeps saying where's the money, where's the money? I want to know where the money is. We don't see it in the classrooms, we don't see it in the schools. They have the principals and school districts getting creative in how they're handling the children and this is what it's all about- the children."
School districts have struggled this year to meet the state's hard caps, and several of them have gotten creative. Some schools have combined grade levels, and others have said they won't make it and are preparing to accept financial penalties. Education Commissioner Eric Smith says the department will wait and see what the court says.
"And then looking forward to what the voters say in November," Smith added. "So, were here to do what the voters ultimately want and we'll follow that direction."
Any decision made by the lower court will most likely be appealed to the Florida Supreme Court.