Supporters of Amendment 8 kicked off the Right Size Class Size campaign Tuesday, hoping to convince Florida voters that relaxing class-size restrictions is the reasonable, most cost-effective and least-disruptive way to serve a changing student population in the Sunshine State.
The amendment would ease class-size caps originally passed by voters in 2002 as a constitutional amendment. The new amendment would instead allow local administrators to use average class sizes as a ruler, giving them greater discretion to assign students to classes.
All were saying is, lets have some flexibility so when that 19th kid shows up we dont have to bus him off to another school, said State Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, who originally proposed the amendment along with Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Destin.
Current law forces schools to set caps of 18 students in kindergarten through third grade, 22 in fourth through eighth grade, and 25 in ninth through 12th grade.
Weatherford spoke Tuesday at a morning press conference in Tallahassee. Unlike the original class-size amendment in 2002, which passed with 52 percent of the vote, Amendment 8 needs 60 percent of the vote to become law.
What we are doing is starting a campaign. This is a true grass-roots campaign, Weatherford said, adding that "Right Size Class Size" will have a footprint in all 67 counties.
The campaign is being funded in part by Protect Our Constitution, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to using amendments to guard against the erosion of the Florida Constitution, according to its Facebook page. But Weatherford believes other large business groups like Associated Industries of Florida and the Florida Chamber of Commerce will get behind the campaign.
They recognize that as a state, when you need to invest in education, invest in it the right way, he said.
Weatherford was flanked by local school administrators across Florida who support the amendment.
We need the flexibility at the local level, said Florida School Boards Association Executive Director Dr. Wayne Blanton. There is not a single principal in the state of Florida who has not said to me, I need more flexibility, he added.
Wakulla County Superintendent of Schools David Miller highlighted the need for easing the class-size restrictions.
I had to eliminate a physics class this year. These are college-bound kids who need that class, Miller said.
Amendment 8 is opposed by the largest teachers union in the state, the Florida Education Association. The union claims easing class size restrictions is an attempt by lawmakers to thwart a vote of the people that will result in lower test scores from students.
The FEA's campaign to defeat the proposal is called Vote No On Eight. In a press release issued Tuesday, a spokesperson for FEA said of Amendment 8, "Heres the bottom line Amendment 8 is a loser for public education and for our kids.
The FEA has asked the state Supreme Court to invalidate the amendment. The court, however, is unlikely to deal with the question until the middle of October.
Meanwhile, the measure's supporters will continue to maintain that great savings will come about as a result. As much as $1 billion a year, according to Florida Tax Watch, would be used to enhance learning in classrooms instead of building new ones.
This money should go to education, but it should go to things that improve learning, Weatherford said.
Reach Gray Rohrer at grohrer@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
