Education-supporting business groups are backing the class-size amendment that would soften caps on the number of children in each classroom.
The Consortium of Florida Education Foundations, an organization of business-backed groups that support education with offices in all 67 counties, announced Thursday that a survey of its members revealed 84 percent of them support Amendment 8.
We do think thats pretty significant, Mary Chance, executive director of CFEF, said of the results.
The survey, conducted in August by Dewey & Associates, a St. Petersburg consulting firm, also focused on how the state will pay for education if the class-size amendment does not pass.
It asked the 171 respondents what they would be willing to cut in order to find the $4 billion needed to meet the class-size caps next year. Nearly half (48 percent) were not willing to cut anything, while others sought cuts in transportation, environmental protection, criminal justice, health care services or cuts to salaries and benefits to state employees.
While supporters of the amendment claim it will save the state as much as $1 billion, Amendment 8 opponents are skeptical any savings will be used for education.
State Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, who helped initiate the amendment in the state Legislature, said that is not the case.
Where do you want to spend your money? Do you want to spend it building classrooms or do you want to spend it on 21st century education? Weatherford said Thursday during a conference call with reporters. He added that some of the savings would go to teacher raises.
The original class-size amendment was passed by voters in 2002, but this year was the first year schools had to comply with the caps. The Florida Education Association, the largest teachers union in the state which is vehemently opposed to Amendment 8, fears layoffs of teachers recently hired to meet the requirements. If passed, Amendment 8 would allow local administrators to use averages instead of hard caps to determine class sizes.
I dont think anybody would lose their jobs, Weatherford said, but cautioned that the amendment would take effect immediately if passed and staffing and teacher hires would be determined on a case-by-case basis at the local level.
With less than three weeks to go before Election Day, Weatherford, who kicked off the Right Size Class Size campaign last month to push his message to voters, is hopeful Amendment 8 will pass.
We have an opportunity to (pass it) with 20 days to go, Weatherford said.
But he is facing an uphill battle. A Mason-Dixon poll last month showed just 35 percent of voters were in favor of Amendment 8, which needs 60 percent of the vote to pass.
Weatherford may also not have as much time as he needs to get the word out to voters. Early voting begins Monday.
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Reach Gray Rohrer at grohrer@sunshinestatenews.com, or at (850) 727-0859.
