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Voters favor class-size amendment
By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 30, 2002
Florida voters are ready to approve proposed amendments to limit class size and provide pre-kindergarten classes for 4-year-olds, a new St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald poll has found.
The class size amendment, though, could be in trouble if opponents can convince voters that the initiative would cost billions of dollars and lead to higher taxes or budget cuts.
Support for the class size cap stands at 70 percent, with support particularly strong among minorities and in south Florida, home to some of the bigges classes in the state. But support drops to 49 percent when voters are told the official state cost estimate was $27-billion over eight years.
How much the price-tag factor will hurt the popular initiative is unclear.
Opponents lost their best shot at undermining the initiative when the Florida Supreme Court rejected their attempt at putting the price tag on the ballot. Now the opposition has to mount an ambitious campaign to defeat a measure voters reflexively embrace.
The other education amendement, which would revive a state board to oversee Florida's universities, is on shaky ground. Fifty-two percent support it, but 27 percent are undecided, so many might not understand it.
An amendment to ban smoking in indoor workplaces, including bars and restaurants, has overwhelming support.
Further coverage in Monday's St. Petersburg Times.
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