Ideas from FREEPers NEEDED: How can Florida pay for this expensive Class Size Amendment? (HELP!)

FREEPers everywhere ^

[Recovering_Democrat]

AMENDMENT 9

ARTICLE IX, SECTION 1

Section 1. Public Education.-

The education of children is a fundamental value of the people of the State of Florida. It is, therefore, a paramount duty of the state to make adequate provision for the education of all children residing within its borders. Adequate provision shall be made by law for a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools that allows students to obtain a high quality education and for the establishment, maintenance, and operation of institutions of higher learning and other public education programs that the needs of the people may require. To assure that children attending public schools obtain a high quality education, the legislature shall make adequate provision to ensure that, by the beginning of the 2010 school year, there are a sufficient number of classrooms so that:

1. The maximum number of students who are assigned to each teacher who is teaching in public school classrooms for prekindergarten through grade 3 does not exceed 18 students;

2. The maximum number of students who are assigned to each teacher who is teaching in public school classrooms for grades 4 through 8 does not exceed 22 students; and

3. The maximum number of students who are assigned to each teacher who is teaching in public school classrooms for grades 9 through 12 does not exceed 25 students.

The class size requirements of this subsection do not apply to extracurricular classes. Payment of the costs associated with reducing class size to meet these requirements is the responsibility of the state and not of local school districts. Beginning with the 2003-2004 fiscal year, the legislature shall provide sufficient funds to reduce the average number of students in each classroom by at least two students per year until the maximum number of students per classroom does not exceed the requirements of this subsection.

[ApesForEvolution]

Deal with the teachers unions like the drunken bureaucrats they are...problem solved. Better education...as good as government education could functionally be anyway.

[ApesForEvolution]

$5,000 or $10,000?

[aruanan]

Ideas from FREEPers NEEDED: How can Florida pay for this expensive Class Size Amendment? (HELP!)

Use the tobacco money?

[Cold Heat]

Raise taxes!

LOL!

[ovrtaxt]

"$.10 tax on every 3 oz. tube of Jointritis"

HA! hehehehehehe

[KDD]

School all year long.

[dalereed]

$2500 should empty the schools to the desired class size.

[Amore]

Works for me! That at least put the cost where it belongs.

People who don't pay their fair share of taxes shouldn't be allowed to vote to raise the taxes of others.

[Amore]

Yeah, get McBride to fork over his share of the tobacco money. That's what? $200 million, something like that? At least it's a start.

[ApesForEvolution]

Interesting.

[cksharks]

I talked with two County chairman yesterday about this very thing. My suggestion to them was to use portable classrooms for two years and then put on the ballot in 04 three amendments. (1) raise taxes by a State income tax. (2) cut all services by the amount to pay the bill every year. (3) scrap the amendment! Let the idiots who voted this in tell him (Jeb) how to pay for it. Then they caint blame him for it later.The teachers union and the construction trades union pushed this pig with lipstick on it thru.Let the people tell us how they want to pay for it.

[Truth Addict]

maybe there will be a huge increase in the number of applications to FL for "charter school district" status, with all these school districts asking for a waiver from this new state law.

Is it really possible for all or most of the districts to achieve charter status, and legally be exempt from the amemdment? It seems to me that the courts would eventually strike this down as a ploy to avoid the law.

Barring this approach, I think the only hope is for districts to use portables for the short term until the matter can be put before the voters again after we learn the actual costs, and let them decide to either scrap the idea or approve a new funding source.

Even though I support vouchers, I don't think they would help much in funding this amendment since even if many students leave for the private sector, there would be little savings to the public school by their departure since the per pupil costs will rise dramatically, and the state would also have to foot the added bill for the vouchers.

BTW, Orlando is in Orange County, not the other way around. ;-)

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Let McIdiot pay for it. He's a lawyer and his wife a banker. I am sure they will put money into their own pockets on the deal, somehow.

[FreeLibertarian]

Legalize and tax the sale of Marijuanna, that would pay the bill and supply a surplus to fund a tax cut.

[stainlessbanner]

Good point on the CA stuff. We tried year-round schooling in FL after it failed in CA. Maybe we ought to take notes from other states.

[Lurking2Long]

Kick illegal aliens out!!!

THEN, take the money that has been paid to them to support them on welfare, health care, etc. and put that into education!

[Lurking2Long]

Hey!

Isn't your picture next to the word "idiot" in the dictionary?

[Petronski]

Each year he is in office, complete the following three steps:

(a) Suggest the $22 billion dollar tax increase.

(b) Remind voters that it was their idea.

(c) Suggest as alternative, a repeal of the referendum.

[HEY4QDEMS]

That's exactly what I meant.

[TankerKC]

Sell the Panhandle to Alabama.