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Posted on 10/04/2002 7:42:45 AM PDT by windchime
Voters Should Reject Costly Class-Size Amendment
Published: Oct 4, 2002
During this year's regular legislative session, Sen. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, tried unsuccessfully to get a bill passed that would limit the size of classes in Florida's schools. When his efforts failed, he started a citizen ballot initiative that, if passed, would amend the state constitution to allow classes of no more than 18 students in kindergarten through third grade; 22 in fourth through eighth grade; and 25 in high school. It would phase in between 2003 and 2010, requiring the state Legislature, not local governments or school boards, to cover costs. It's Amendment 9 on the Nov. 5 ballot.
This amendment is a classic example of why citizens' ballot initiatives are often without merit and why they should not be so easy to bring about.
For starters, there is no conclusive evidence that reducing class size improves education. Last year the journal Education Week made a strong point about a problem elsewhere:
``Over the past decade, the state of Nevada has spent almost $500 million to keep class sizes under 20 students in the early grades. While four evaluations of the program have been conducted since 1993, officials at the state education department still have little proof that the long-running initiative is really improving student achievement.''
In 1996 the California Legislature mandated class-size reduction and authorized $3.7 billion to cut class sizes from an average of 30 students to 20. An evaluation of the effort four years later showed only modest improvements in classroom performance and noted that ``rapid implementation may have increased underlying inequities in the state's educational system that may threaten the state's ability to reap the full rewards of this huge investment.''
Worse, California's class-size reduction program may have increased inequities for low-income urban schools by the forced hiring of new teachers, many of whom were inexperienced and possessed inferior credentials. According to the study, ``The already weaker qualifications of teachers serving poor and minority students are now dramatically worse'' because of the rush to expand the number of classrooms.
There is little evidence that outcomes would be different in Florida, where, as in California, rapid population growth forces even newly built schools to use portable classrooms and strains a teacher pool that seems thinner every year. It is estimated that Florida will admit an additional 72,000 students next school year.
From an administrative standpoint, one Florida principal told the Tribune editorial board that she did not want her hands tied by such an amendment. She described how she might have one class with six students who need the attention, but another classroom may have 33 gifted students who interact well with one another. If the initiative passes, that gifted class would have to be cut off at a preset number, to the exclusion of students who might otherwise benefit.
Then there is the question of where the money for this initiative is going to come from. Budget constraints forced the Legislature to make some painful cuts in education earlier this year. Although the Florida Supreme Court struck down a law requiring a price tag on proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution - leaving voters to decide in November on such a requirement - the question of cost still remains.
National Teacher Shortage Already Severe
Citizens signing petitions to mandate reduced class sizes probably didn't make the connection between the goal and the cost. Estimates run between $12 billion to $27 billion to build additional classrooms and hire 31,000 more teachers during the next eight years.
And with a nationwide shortage already, where are the additional teachers going to come from?
Voters and petition signers also need to be reminded that the state already has special classes for students considered ``at risk'' and in need of the attention a smaller class is theoretically designed to provide them. Additionally, federal programs such as Title I often cover students that state programs don't. While there is room for improvement, the poorest of the state's students are not being neglected.
The sponsors of this class-reduction initiative may have the best intentions, but its effectiveness is questionable and its cost likely to be prohibitive. We urge Floridians to vote no on Amendment 9.
Even the Miami Herald has printed this: Voters favor class-size plan -- but not cost, Sept. 29, Miami Herald. Voters overwhelmingly support the "class-size" amendment until they hear the cost. Other papers..?
Florida Freepers master ping. Fla. press fairness alert.
Please let me know whether you want on or off the "'til election day" Fla. ping list.
If this "class-size" scam hasn't arrived in your state PKM...it will, although Oklahoma could win this war for the rest of the nation...hold out against the NEA-VLWC. You need us, just ping. (^;
"The evils of vouchers were by far the preeminent topic throughout the convention. Neither of us heard as much as one sentence that portrayed vouchers as anything but a right-wing scheme to destroy public education, or a snare and a delusion for the unwary. Other than vouchers, internal affairs and national politics, the focus was on racism, discrimination, homophobia, higher federal appropriations, and more teacher benefits and protections."NEA-NAACP, these are "non-partisan" tax-free organization?
During this year's regular legislative session, Sen. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, tried unsuccessfully to get a bill passed that would limit the size of classes in Florida's schools. When his efforts failed, he started a citizen ballot initiative that, if passed, would amend the state constitution ...
Voters Should Reject Costly Class-Size Amendment , Oct. 2002.
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