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Schools Could Face $31 Million In Fines For Missing Class Size Goals
January 20, 2011
School districts in Florida — including Santa Rosa County — could share in $31 million in fines for failing to comply with the state’s class size law.
House Speaker Dean Cannon told reporters Wednesday that the House Education Committee will likely examine the fines that schools must pay if they do not comply with the state’s class size law.
Escambia County was among 32 of Florida’s 67 school districts that met the mandate that dictates how many students can be in certain classes at each grade level, but Santa Rosa County had a total of 393 classes not in compliance, according to a state report.
In 2002, voters approved a constitutional amendment that capped classroom sizes at 18 students in a classroom in lower grades, 22 in the middle grades and no more than the current cap of 25 students in a high school classroom. The caps were phased in over the last few years, but this was the first school year where schools had to fully comply with a hard cap on a per classroom basis.
About 5 percent of the state’s schools could not meet the caps, according to the Department of Education.
The State Board of Education this week recommended $31 million in fines for districts across the states, which will now go before the legislative budget commission for final approval.
Cannon said Rep. Bill Proctor, R-St. Augustine, who chairs the House Education Committee, is looking at that issue and it will probably be one of many education issues on the legislative agenda this spring. There is no set form on how the issue will proceed though.
“And again, it depends I think in large part to degree, to the extent that most districts worked very, very hard to come close to compliance,” Cannon said. “I think they should get credit for that. But it may have to be done on a case by case basis.”
Comments
11 Responses to “Schools Could Face $31 Million In Fines For Missing Class Size Goals”
Who actualy pays for the fine,where does the money change hands ?
Let’s not forget that the only reason there are class size limits and penalties is because WE the VOTERS passed an amendment to the state constitution requiring these limits and penalties.
The general idea that brought about the change in how teachers were supposed to treat the students was that certain things were unacceptable. It somehow morphed into a much different idea.
It was supposed to stop things like when a 1st grade teacher (yes 1st grade!) told my daughter that she would never amount to anything and that she was a loser. This teacher marked things wrong on her worksheets that were not wrong, talked to her like she was dirt and in general, treated her like her worst enemy. She even had the nerve to say to me that my child was “not a good candidate for regular school environment. She will need to be placed in a school for children who have difficulty learning.” Well, guess what? My daughter has been tested and is well above average with an IQ that qualifies her as “gifted”. WHY would any teacher say that to any child and especially to one so young? That was insane! The school board agreed with me but they still allowed this teacher to retire with full benefits which I thought should not have been done.
That type of thing is what we were trying to stop. Instead, just like with the Dept of Children and Families telling us we can’t discipline our kids, it was taken to an extreme….to the detriment of all.
hummmm
You said it all.
I agree with you on everything including your job and dicipline today.
It’s a sorry state of affairs.
As to this article you were right on about that also.
Government AND American schools are just becoming a big joke.
Well the joke is on US and the next generation will pay.
Well stated Crystal! It is all about making sure that the student feels good about everything even if it involves a total disregard for accountability. It is a sad situation. And it is going only get worse as the cycle continues. We are so worried about offending someone and hurting feelings that we have lost sight of what education is really about. We are just continuing to contribute to the downfall of this country.
Yes it is just like solid waste charging other county entities for dumping, so lets see if the fines will make smaller class sizes easier with even less money, it is ridiculous. The government fining the government. We need to start over with all new elected officials, thier pay and benefits need to be greatly reduced, it has all gotten out of hand, all of these congressmen and thier spouses are set for life after serving for less than 7 years, while we work ourselves to the bone to support them.
When I was student teaching, we were told to make accomodations to the students. Everything now is about making the student feel good–even when they are doing wrong. Teachers are held accountable for everything. I’ve seen students roll their eyes when told to complete an assignment. If you chasten a student, then you’ve damaged their psychological development. Students in today’s day & age have no sense of responsibility or accountability. I agree with the person who spoke of lack of discipline. You see it everywhere.
The class size average is all the classes including there planing period added all together then divided. So there plaining period is a zero number along with some and antithetical small class they may have. That’s how they beat the system with the average.
I like the comment about the government taxing the government. That thought never crossed my mind. Why in the world would you tax yourself? That money they are being fined could be used for helping the students and decreasing the classroom size by hiring more teachers. This is so outrageous.
Class of 65: The problem in schools is that we are so focused on being politically correct and “dumbing” down education that we have lost focus of what education is supposed to do. Our education curriculum is so watered down so that everyone can “succeed”. Look at our nation compared to others in this world. Discipline in schools is the biggest joke today. If discipline was something taken seriously instead of being a huge joke it would not matter about the class size. Someone has even made it their job to try to control discipline in the home. So, we have homes that are have no discipline and schools following suit. No wonder we have so many people in jail and mooching off the government. I have been an educator for almost 11 years and it scares me to think about what the face of education will be by the time I reach retirement. It also angers me at how my hands are tied when it comes to holding students accountable for their actions and for their own education.
Back to the topic of this article, it is so sad to think that a state government is actually serious about penalizing a school system in order to fill their own pockets for funding of other “causes”. They are really robbing Peter to pay Paul and robbing the future of this country. What a sad country we are and are becoming.
How is it that Mrs. James, Mrs. Stone, Mrs. Shaver, Mr./Mrs. McKay, Mr. Padgett, and so on had classes with at least 32 students and there were no complaints that the class rooms were too large and nothing they couldn’t handle. Was it because you had the backing of the principal AND the parents that if a kid was unruly & caused disruption in the class room that he/she got a paddln’ from Mr. Kizer or Mr. Dumas at school and then got another one when you got home.
Has the curriculum changed so much that it’s harder to teach? How is that? We now have so much more modern technology (perhaps too much) that’s supposed to help with the learning for the kids. Maybe schools should go back to the drafting table of reading, writing & arithmetic. Especially the reading & writing from what I see today.
Granted, I admire that there are now counselors, special classrooms etc., in the schools to help children with learning disabilities as opposed to years ago when you were labeled and stuck in the back of the classroom.
I just don’t get the being fined for having too large of a classroom. That $31,000,000.00 could go a long way toward helping the schools instead of trying to hurt them.
I also don’t understand what happened to the defense for having a lottery was that the lottery money would go toward schools & roads. It doesn’t look like too much of that is happening.
Never thought getting older would sound that good, but I’m very glad the days of having to deal with the school system is over for me, although I still pay school taxes. Didn’t quite get that either.
The Goverment has gone crazy. They are starting to tax themselves. Have you ever wonder why all branches of government have to buy tags for thiere vehicles. And yes the branches of Government do have to pay for these tags. Government taxing Government
Its gone crazy and only getting worst
The Government should not charge or fine another part of the Government for work or anything else. We the taxpayer in the end will pay for this and “O” how we pay
I said we need to run all out of office and put some common sense back in Government and get rid of the crooks!!!