Public schools throughout Florida started the first day of school for the year Monday under a law that will only permit so many students in an individual classroom, just as the state’s teachers’ union is gearing up for a fight to keep it that way.
Lawmakers and school administrators are pushing a proposed constitutional amendment that would relax the class size requirement put into the constitution by voters in 2002. As of Monday, individual classes were capped at 18 students for kindergarten through third grade, 22 in fourth through eighth grade, and 25 in high school, with the limits having been phased in since the amendment was passed.
The proposed amendment on the November ballot would allow class sizes to be calculated in a more lenient fashion. If passed, the class size would be calculated at a grade-level average, not an individual classroom cap, allowing some classes to go above the limit.
Administrators say the hard caps are too cumbersome and allow for no flexibility. They say they fear schools will either be in violation of the law or face financial consequences if all of their classrooms are at maximum capacity and a new student moves into the district. They also say that with the economic downturn, schools just can’t afford to implement the class size requirement as originally envisioned.
Representatives for the state’s school administrators could not immediately be reached for comment.
But the state’s teachers union and some of its supporters say changing the law is simply giving the Legislature the easy way out on funding Florida’s public schools.
“I think that’s just disgraceful and deceitful and I want people in the state of Florida to understand what they’re voting for,” said state Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, who broke with many of his Republican colleagues on the issue and is spearheading the campaign against the amendment.
There is the possibility that a campaign won’t even be needed. The Florida Education Association has filed a lawsuit to toss the proposal, Amendment 8, from the November ballot, arguing that it is misleading. Arguments in circuit court are slated for Sept. 8. If the court rules in favor of the FEA, it is likely that the state could appeal immediately to the Florida Supreme Court for final judgment. Until then, the group will mount a public campaign against the amendment.
“We think it’s important, irrespective of the litigation, that the public really understands what’s going on here,” said FEA lawyer Ron Meyer. “Classes will get larger and the budget will get smaller from the state and that’s just bad for education.”
Neither side will really address their campaign strategies, though Villalobos acknowledged it would be a “heavy lift” to explain the issue to voters. It is likely, at least from the union’s perspective, that television advertising will be used.
A Ron Sachs Communications/Mason-Dixon poll released in May showed that voters were virtually divided on the issue. The poll found that 44 percent of voters favored the change and 39 percent opposed it, while 17 percent were undecided. A proposed amendment must get 60 percent to pass and an FEA spokesman said to his knowledge there had been no additional polling.
Ron Sachs’ firm has done a little bit of volunteer work on behalf of lawmakers advocating Amendment 8. They helped organize a press conference in the spring and have said previously that they expect to be involved in some capacity during the fall election cycle.
By Kathleen Haughney
The News Service of Florida
