A committee of the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission today narrowly approved a measure that would ask voters to amend the class-size amendment, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.
The proposal would stop the class-size limits at a school average - where they are currently - rather than moving them to classroom counts, as the amendment ultimately requires by 2010-11. A recent St. Petersburg Times poll indicates that Florida voters might not look too kindly on that change, which groups including the Florida Education Association have opposed.
The concept next moves to the full TBRC, where it must receive at least 17 votes of the 25-member board to go before voters. The group, which meets once every 20 years, can put measures on the ballot without legislative approval or voter petitions. It must make its ballot recommendations by May.
Get inside the world of Florida education with St. Petersburg Times staff writer Jeffrey S. Solochek and the rest of the Times education reporting team. We'll bring you up-to-date information about the latest education trends, fads and news and dig deep into Tampa Bay area school issues.
Class size amendment- THANK YOU!! It is much easier to teach, remediate, and extend with 22 students rather then 28-30 we once had.
For those of you who may wish to stick with the class size, rather then school average per grade- keep this in mind...
What happens when you change schools only to find out there are "no openings" for your child? What happens if there is room for your third grader but not your first grade student? Do you split them up or switch schools?
I support class size, but think when you look at the big picture and the possible complications that can arise from staying STRICTLY to PER class size, trouble will brew. I hope that voters will look at the big picture and vote (if it gets that far) for grade level or school level averages.
Posted by: g8trbull | February 25, 2008 at 08:04 PM