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Class-Size Plan Under Review

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By ADAM EMERSON

aemerson@tampatrib.com

Published: March 7, 2009

As school budgets shrink, so does the state's ability to reduce the size of classrooms.

Forced by the state Constitution to bring classrooms to their smallest level yet, Florida lawmakers are preparing to delay the pain while figuring out a way to stop it.
School superintendents are eager to help now that the financial strain on public schools is getting worse. The state is facing a $5 billion deficit, but schools would have to spend as much as $1.7 billion more in the next two years to meet the law's demands.

Hillsborough County would have to spend $7 million just to hire enough teachers.

"We always said there will come a time where we wouldn't be able to afford it," said Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel.

The law states that schools must by 2010 reduce class sizes to no more than 18 students in kindergarten through third grade, 22 in grades four through eight and 25 in high school.

Currently, a school can meet those limits on average, and Weatherford wants to keep it that way.

He and Sen. Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville, each have filed bills asking voters to reconsider the decision they made seven years ago to reduce class sizes to such stringent levels. Instead of maintaining the limits in every class, the measure would let schools meet them on a building-wide average.

As the Legislature debates that action, lawmakers also say they likely will delay the full implementation of the law until the start of the 2010-11 school year, regardless of what voters decide.

Asking voters to overturn their wishes won't be easy, however. If Wise and Weatherford succeed and the Legislature puts the issue on the ballot, at least 60 percent of the voters would have to make the change.

And not everyone agrees that schools need to slow down.

The Florida Education Association, the state's teachers union, opposes any move to delay placing the final caps on classrooms, and it doesn't want to ask voters to reconsider.

"We understand there are financial considerations this time around," said Mark Pudlow, the union's spokesman. "But in a state where we seriously under-finance education, this is a way to present real value to the students."

When voters placed classroom limits in the Constitution in 2002, Florida's population was growing and the state was flush with tax revenue. Now, the tax base is shriveling and state economists are warning of worse days to come.

Schools may have to cut as much as 15 percent from their budgets next year, which for Hillsborough County schools comes to about $196 million.

Florida already has spent about $12.5 billion to reduce class sizes from kindergarten to the 12th grade since 2003, and school officials say there are real benefits to the smaller classrooms.

What they want now is flexibility.

Hillsborough schools Superintendent MaryEllen Elia noted one problem administrators would be forced to deal with: What happens when an elementary school classroom reaches 19 students?

Do schools have to hire a teacher to educate the one child that exceeds the classroom limits?

"Voters obviously wanted to have smaller classes," Elia said, adding that schoolwide averages would meet that demand and give schools the flexibility they need.

Otherwise, the penalties could be severe. Under the law, if school districts exceed the class caps, they might lose control of the money they have. They might, for instance, be forced to transfer money from their operations into classroom construction.

School leaders already are lobbying to dampen the impact of those penalties. A local group advising Elia on class-size measures worked up a report last week for the superintendent to consider when talking with legislators in Tallahassee.

Among its suggestions: Lesson the severity of the penalties and give schools the flexibility they need to meet class sizes should schools exceed their caps after the school year starts.

"Regardless of when, at some point, we're going to have to implement this," said Melissa Erickson, a committee member and parent of a student at Williams Middle Magnet School.

Reporter Catherine Dolinski contributed to this report. Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285.

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