August 20, 2003

Florida Board Backs Retreat on Class Size

IAMI, Aug. 19 — Florida's top education officials are seeking a partial repeal of a disputed plan to lower class size, a move that could cost state taxpayers billions of dollars.

The State Board of Education voted unanimously today to advocate sharply scaling back the plan, which voters approved as a constitutional amendment last fall. All seven board members are appointees of Gov. Jeb Bush, who fought the amendment on grounds that it was too expensive and not educationally sound.

The plan would impose the most restrictive limits in the nation on class sizes in public schools, capping them at 18 students in kindergarten through third grade, 22 in the fourth through eighth grades and 25 in high school, by 2010. School districts have scrambled to meet the first-year requirement of the amendment — lowering the average districtwide class size by at least two students. Among other problems, that has meant frenzied hiring — Palm Beach County needed 570 new teachers — and a run on portable classrooms.

The board wants to eliminate the new requirements for all grades but kindergarten through third, which research suggests benefit the most from small class size. Its vote was symbolic, because only the public can repeal the measure through a second referendum. But the board action puts pressure on the State Legislature, which could place a repeal question on the ballot in the November 2004 election with a three-fifths vote from each house.

Some lawmakers said today that such a vote was unlikely, because many Democrats and even some Republicans support the original plan.

"I think probably a lot of members, both Democrat and Republican, don't want to insult voters, as some of the leading elected officials are doing right now," said Ron Klein, Democratic leader of the Republican-controlled State Senate. "We've got to give this thing a chance and see if it works."

But James E. King Jr., a Republican who is president of the Senate, said legislators would probably embrace the idea of a partial repeal.

"All but the most doubting of doubting Thomases would say that in the sixth, seventh, eighth years of this thing, we don't know where you get enough money to do it," Mr. King said.

Mr. Bush has said the amendment would cost $27 billion over eight years. Democrats have predicted that it would be closer to $8 billion.

The Board of Education decided to seek a repeal a day after Education Commissioner Jim Horne told it that the measure would cost nearly $1.6 billion in the first two years. Mr. Horne, also an appointee of Mr. Bush, told a board meeting here that the expense was "a hurricane that will swamp the boat," according to The Associated Press.

The experiment is under a microscope, because overcrowded classrooms are a persistent plague in urban and suburban schools. The plan figured prominently in the race for governor last year, with Mr. Bush's Democratic opponent, Bill McBride, attacking him for opposing it. Mr. Bush won in a landslide, but the amendment passed narrowly; 52 percent of voters supported it.

In his campaign, Mr. Bush, unaware that a reporter with a tape recorder was present, said in a private meeting with backers that he had "a couple of devious plans if this thing passes." But in a televised debate later, he said he would carry out the plan, raising taxes if necessary. Today, Mr. Bush released a statement saying, "In light of the tremendous cost and minimal return on investment for students, the best solution is to allow voters a chance to repeal this obstacle to quality education in Florida."

The statement also said, "Repealing this amendment before the 2004-2005 school year" could free up hundreds of millions of dollars in education money. That suggests that the governor does not want to wait until November 2004, when his brother, President Bush, faces re-election, to put the question to voters.

An alternative would be to hold a special election this year. That would require a three-fourths vote from each chamber of the Legislature.

The Board of Education member who proposed the vote today, William Proctor, said in an interview that the plan would diminish the quality of instruction, not improve it.

"With pre-K to third grade, it may be worth doing," Mr. Proctor, a former teacher and school superintendent, said. "But to have 25 people instead of 28 in a high school chemistry course, I don't think is worth spending that much money."