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Judge: Class Size Amendment 8 To Remain On Ballot
September 11, 2010
A proposal to relax limits on school class sizes will remain on the November ballot, a judge ruled Friday.
Following up on promises of a speedy ruling, Leon County Circuit Court Chief Judge Charles Francis ruled that Amendment 8, a Legislative attempt to eliminate strict enrollment caps, was neither misleading nor ambiguous and can be included on the ballot with other proposed amendments.
The amendment, approved by lawmakers earlier this year, was challenged by the state’s largest teachers union, which argued that voters would be largely unaware that the proposal could result in reduced funding for public schools. In a 10-page ruling, Francis disagreed.
“The court finds the ballot and title summary are very clear and unambiguous as to what the amendment purports to do in reference to the changes in class size,” Francis wrote. “It revises them as plainly and simply as the title so indicates.”
The Florida Education Association, which filed suit to strike the issue from the ballot, plans to appeal, according to a statement issued by its attorney shortly after Francis released his ruling.
“The Legislature tried to ‘hide the ball’ from Florida voters by misrepresenting the chief purpose of Amendment 8 – which is to reduce the state’s obligation to adequately fund public schools,” FEA lawyer Ron Meyer said.
Facing stricter class standards that kicked in at school districts around the state this fall, lawmakers earlier this year approved changes to the 2002 class size amendment that gives school administrators flexibility in assigning students to classes. The FEA argued that it should be thrown off the November ballot because voters may not realize the proposal could change how much money schools receive from the state.
If approved by 60 percent of voters in November, the proposal would allow school officials to use averages instead of class by class totals when complying with class size requirements Currently, the caps are set at 18 students in kindergarten through third grade, 22 in fourth through eighth grade, and 25 in high school.
During a hearing before Francis earlier this week, Assistant Attorney General John Glogau argued the union could not produce any concrete figures as to how funding would change over the next few years.
School administrators have argued the tight caps have made it more difficult to set schedules and have resulted in some classes being cancelled and difficulty when they are at capacity and new students enroll in the district.
The Escambia County School District held two public workshops to lobby for a “Yes” vote on Amendment 8. Click here for that story.
“The hard caps on class sizes this year have forced superintendents to make what they consider to be academically unsound decisions for students,” said Bill Montford, CEO of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents. “They need the flexibility to make reasonable and sound decisions that reflect what is best for the students from an academic standpoint.”
Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, argued that strictly adhering to the more inflexible caps would necessitate cuts elsewhere.
“The current hard caps on class size amount to a fiscal straightjacket on the wallets of hard-working Florida families,” Weatherford said.
U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, who spearheaded efforts to pass the 2002 cap, decried the ruling in a statement, saying the Republican-led Legislature’s proposal is an affront to the voters who only eight years earlier made it clear they wanted more money spent on schools.
“Amendment 8 is a misleading attempt to trick Florida voters into watering down hard-fought class size limits and reduce funding for our schools and children,” said Meek, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate. “Backers of Amendment 8 are full and active participants in the culture of special interest bidding that has gone on for too long.”
By Michael Peltier
The News Service Florida
Comments
6 Responses to “Judge: Class Size Amendment 8 To Remain On Ballot”
“Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, argued that strictly adhering to the more inflexible caps would necessitate cuts elsewhere.”
So Republicans want larger classes and to cut back teachers?
REGARDING;
” money was no object”
Money should always be an object. People should object when it is squandered, even though they don’t. Money left in the pockets of the people allows them to better their lives. Any money taken from them for public purposes should be taken only as needed and used to best benefit. Instead people saddle the future with their burdens by borrowing and hoping to be dead by the time the bills come due.
David for longevity
REGARDING:
“Unions, unions, unions, are the death of this country. ”
A union is just an organization of workers speaking with a common voice and looking after their own interests. They tend to form where there is the perception of unfair treatment and they tend to shrink where the workers have the perception of fair treatment. They may be reasonable or unreasonable depending on the individuals and the particular situation. They have the same danger of corruption as any organization. They may be weak or strong. The First Amendment guarantees their right to exist in this country under freedom of assembly and freedom of speech. In many cases they have made it simpler for employers to move to other countries where they have more reasonable situations. It all depends.
David thinking unions exist only when needed
Unions, unions,unions, are the death of this country. All they do is casue trouble and nothing ever gets done. All they do is want more money and not to solve anything else.
If you are having a budget problem I have an idea. Why not change the summer holiday to the end of June through September. That way the schools will save a huge amount on power bills trying to keep these hundreds of schools cool during the hottest month of the year (August), Plus, there is no break in between August and December (2 days for Thanksgiving is not a break) which is a huge amount of time especially for Kindegarten and lower grades,who have short attention spans.
Schools have a skeleton crew during the summer so you can set the temperatures a little higher then usual, which will all know how a few degrees can save a bundle on our own power bills. Just imagine how many thousands if not Millions of $ it would save this county a year!
Why are they always trying find way to get more instead of trying to save? Oh , that’s right, tax payers our know for their deep pockets of free money they have to waste!
Class size is not going to save money, giving teachers more pay is not going to make our kids smarter. But a smaller class size always shows kids benefit better in the long run. Lower your power bill, more money to hire all these qualified teachers who can’t find work. Problem solved.
I wish someone could explain this bill where the common person could understand it. I have volunteered in the class room and know that the teacher can have a very hard time with a class of more than 20, especially the younger children. I saw a difference when the class sizes were lowered. The requirements for the teachers are so different now than they were just a few years ago. We put more on the teachers and want to give them more children to teach and then wonder why the children do not do well when tested!
Rep Meek should realize that 8 years ago the economy was a lot different. Everything seemed to be rolling along so well with that false economy we were living in that money was no object.
If this amendment passes a few teachers may lose their jobs so the union is up in arms.
It seems reasonable to give our administrators flexibility to make better decisions regarding students and the money available to teach them.