Governor wants more classrooms

Jeb Bush offers a plan, criticized by Democrats, in the face of a November ballot initiative on class size.

By STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 20, 2002

TALLAHASSEE -- After months of criticizing a popular but costly ballot measure requiring smaller classes, Gov. Jeb Bush on Thursday offered his own plan: a $2.8-billion borrowing program to build 12,000 new classrooms over the next five years.

Bush called his proposal Classrooms for Kids. Democrats called it a "desperate plan" by a governor facing a tough re-election fight against Bill McBride, who supports the class size amendment.

Bush and Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan couldn't guarantee the plan would reduce class sizes. That depends on myriad factors, including how efficiently local school districts spend money, they said.

The Republican governor would finance the plan by borrowing against future growth in a sales tax on cellular and business phones, cable TV and satellite service. The money would be repaid over 20 years. The concept requires approval by the Legislature and is similar to a five-year plan by former Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles and the Legislature in 1997 that used lottery money.

As if to underscore the importance of class size as a campaign issue, Bush unveiled his plan while on a campaign swing in Daytona Beach, one anchor of the politically crucial I-4 corridor.

"Here is a thoughtful alternative that can be done without raising taxes or cutting spending," Bush said. "The class size initiative, I believe, guarantees both."

But Bush's plan increases the state's debt, which tripled in the decade ending in 2000. At a Nov. 29, 2000, Cabinet meeting, Ben Watkins, the state director of bond finance, warned that an economic downturn could cause most of the state's remaining debt capacity to "quickly evaporate."

In other words, Bush told Watkins, if someone "came up with a new-fangled way to solve a public policy problem by using debt . . . we would have a very difficult time doing it."

"Correct," Watkins said.

Bush adamantly opposes the class size measure, Amendment 9 on the Nov. 5 ballot, and has cited a study that found no correlation between smaller classes and learning. He has suggested that students would have to be bused longer distances to meet mathematical limits on class sizes.

The amendment would limit classes to 18 students in grades K-3, 22 in grades 4-8, and 25 in high school. The mandate must be phased in by 2010 and the Legislature would have to provide the money. Estimates have varied wildly from $8-billion to $27-billion, and Bush has accused McBride of being vague on how the Democrat would pay for it.

McBride has proposed reviving the Chiles model by using $100-million in lottery money as collateral for a $1-billion construction program. He also would earmark $300-million annually for smaller classes, with the money coming from a reduction of lawmakers' pet projects and elimination of unspecified tax exemptions.

Bush would reward school districts for raising taxes and for using "efficient" construction methods and giving priority to the lowest grades.

McBride, meeting with fundraisers in Tampa, took pleasure in what he called Bush's "conversion" on class size reduction.

"I think it's got more to do with my campaign than a change of heart," McBride said.

The Florida Democratic Party called Bush's plan "politically driven" and said: "This is a desperate plan by a desperate governor who knows his job is at risk."

Sen. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, chairman of the Coalition to Reduce Class Size, said in a statement: "This is another politically motivated attempt to turn voters against real class size reduction. Floridians won't be fooled by this 11th hour act of desperation."

Bush's proposal assumes interest rates will remain low, keeping borrowing costs to a minimum. But even Dominic Calabro of Florida TaxWatch, who has praised Bush's fiscal stewardship, said the proposal contradicts Bush's reluctance to increase the state's debt.

"It's contrary to everything Florida TaxWatch has said and everything Gov. Bush has said," Calabro said.

Bush and Brogan say voters will favor their plan over the Democrats' initiative. "The horrible political miscalculation they are making is that they are putting so much emphasis on promises they can't keep," Brogan said.

Sen. Jim King, the Jacksonville Republican who is expected to become the Senate president in November, said he likes Bush's proposal more than the alternative. "Anything that keeps me from facing the Armageddon created by the class size amendment is a plus for me," King said.

A statewide group representing school superintendents praised Bush's proposal, but said the money has to be there to hire 12,000 more teachers, too.

"We really appreciate the approach of building more classes and we recognize there is going to be a need for teachers to fill those spaces. So we're looking for a corresponding commitment to operational issues," said David Mosrie of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, a group that opposes the class size amendment.

Mosrie said the five-year school building program in 1997, known as the Smart Schools Act, failed to keep pace with the need for classrooms because experts underestimated the number of new students across the state.

"Past is prologue," Bush said, explaining that he and lawmakers will appropriate enough money to staff the new schools.

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