Florida voters sent mixed fiscal signals when they overwhelmingly approved a nonbinding referendum calling on the federal government to balance its budget.
That demand to rein in public-sector spending flew in the face of voters' failure to pass Amendment 8, which would have lowered costs for Florida's public schools by easing the class-size reduction mandate.
Unfortunately for taxpayers, the Amendment 8 decision is binding, and the Florida School Boards Association now estimates that the public will have to pay up to $1 billion more this year to comply with tighter class-size formulas.
The defeat of Amendment 8, which would have returned the state to last year's class-size formulas, means schools will have to hire more teachers and add more classrooms to meet stricter class-by-class caps. More flexible schoolwide averages for pupil-to-teacher ratios no longer apply.
Ironically, Amendment 8 garnered a majority of the vote -- 55 percent -- but that fell short of the 60 percent required for passage.
Even more ironically, more Floridians voted for Amendment 8 than they did for the original class-size measure in 2002. Whereas 2.7 million voters approved Amendment 8, just 2.2 million voted for class-size to begin with.
If the 60-percent rule had been in effect back then, the class-size measure would never have become law because it garnered just 52 percent of the vote.
Based on the comparative tallies, state Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, concluded that this month's election was not really an affirmation of the 2002 class-size amendment.
"Instead, it proved a majority of Floridians support a common-sense approach that promotes class-size flexibility while protecting taxpayers," he said. The lawmaker, a member of the Full Appropriations Council on Education and Economic Development, went on to warn this:
Floridas inflexible requirements on class size will continue to pose tremendous challenges for our schools. The result of the election has not changed the need to create flexibility for our students, parents, teachers, principals and school district leaders.
"It has also not changed the harsh reality taxpayers will face when paying higher taxes to achieve class-size compliance."
Yet in its never-ending quest to hire more teachers (i.e., dues-paying members) the Florida Education Association liberally funded the no-on-8 campaign. Despite a lack of consensus on the scholastic value of class-size initiatives here and nationally, the FEA remains committed to additional spending, by any means necessary.
Henceforth, high school classes must have no more than 25 students, middle school classes are capped at 22 students, and elementary classes may have no more than 18 pupils. Per the law's latest iteration, any time an extra student shows up, an entirely new class must be formed.
County school boards, which voted twice to support Amendment 8, note that the price of class-size regimentation is climbing even as the state shoves more costs down to the district level.
Having already spent $18.7 billion on class-size reduction, the Legislature can be expected to keep stepping up districts' "required local effort." That, in turn, will force more school boards to increase local property taxes, which already account for roughly half of most county tax assessments.
Adding insult to injury, districts that fail to comply with the latest class-by-class caps face stiff monetary fines under the law.
Adding to the fiscal crunch, lottery revenues, which fund a portion of the annual K-12 education bill, are slumping amid a weak economy. Yet somewhere, somehow state and local officials will have to find the extra cash to pour into the class-size maw.
Volusia County School Board Chairwoman Candace Lankford said that despite her district's efforts, Volusia was over the per-class limit this fall in 32 different subject areas -- without the financial ability to hire 32 new teachers to comply with class-size rules.
"We have bent over backward to implement the class-size amendment, and we're simply not there," she told the Orlando Sentinel.
With both incoming Gov. Rick Scott and defeated Democratic rival Alex Sink supporting Amendment 8's flexibility, there appears to be bipartisan interest in pursuing more fiscally sound alternatives legislatively.
One possible fix would be to apply the class-size caps only at the start of each school year. Additional students could be enrolled throughout the year without districts incurring a penalty.
Other legislative repairs may be out there.
"The Legislature will go back ... and make the changes to make it workable," pledged state Sen. Alex Villalobos, a Miami Republican who opposed Amendment 8.
In any event, Weatherford says something has to give.
"Until Florida law is changed to provide our schools with more flexibility in managing class size, the endless stories that have played out since the start of this school year will become an annual occurrence," Weatherford concluded.
--
Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or (772) 801-5341.
