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Willy-nilly meddling gums up our Constitution
© St. Petersburg Times You will be asked in the Nov. 5 election to insert a requirement for smaller public-school class sizes into our state Constitution. Maybe you've heard some of the debate about this. Mostly that debate has focused on education and budget policy. Are smaller classes really better? Have they worked elsewhere? How much would they cost? On the other hand, not much of the debate has been about constitutional policy -- whether it is wise to use our Florida Constitution for this sort of thing. There is a good argument that it is not so wise. This ought to be a separate debate. There ought to be room to oppose Amendment 9 on constitutional principle without feeling like an enemy of education. A state constitution is a noble and useful thing when it comes to: (1) Creating an overall structure of government, and assigning its powers -- a governor, a Legislature, a Supreme Court. (2) Spelling out and guaranteeing the rights of the citizens against the power of that government. (3) Establishing overarching principles, such as Florida's tradition of government in the sunshine, its ban on a state income tax, or its homestead tax exemption. On the other hand, a constitution is a lousy way to make shorter-term, operational decisions. We cannot possibly govern ourselves day-to-day with a constitution alone. That's why we have laws, passed by the Legislature, and rules written by lesser agencies. We already have cluttered our Florida Constitution with many things that should have been mere laws. (This objection to Amendment 9 also applies to Amendment 10 on the November ballot, which deals with the protection of pregnant pigs.) Neither should we use a constitution as a permanent shopping list for the state's spending priorities. That's the purpose of our annual state budget, determined by the current needs and political judgments of the citizens through their representatives. Deciding how to allocate the public's money is at the heart of the political and legislative process. The result varies from year to year, depending on conditions, and depending on the political desire of the people. There have been years, especially following the crack-cocaine-driven crime wave of the 1980s, in which the people of Florida suffered and cried out for public safety. That was more important to us than any other issue. There have been years (sadly not many) in which social services, the protection of innocent children, or a crisis of public health, won the headlines and our support for new resources. Some governors and Legislatures, with the support of public opinion, have decided it was time to rededicate ourselves to protecting Florida's environment. And yes, in some years such as this one, the polls have indeed shown that education is the foremost topic on the public's mind. Amendment 9 ignores all of that. Amendment 9 says this: The elected representatives of the people may never again have an entirely free hand to decide the year-to-year needs of the state. No matter if we suffer a new crack-cocaine crisis, or a new AIDS or some other public-health crisis, or transportation crunch, or unknown opportunity . . . No matter any of that, the Legislature would be barred from giving any other need of the state the slightest priority over these permanent, arbitrary class-size goals. I have this day-mare in which a hurricane has leveled the state. By the millions we are gathered around the water trucks, sunburned and parched and mosquito-bitten. The roads are gone. The power is out. There is not a roof or a building left standing. But, by God, we have rebuilt enough tiki huts to make sure no more than 18 third-graders are standing underneath each one. Some of those who put Amendment 9 on the ballot have noble motives. But some of its backers mostly relish the idea of sticking it to Gov. Jeb Bush and the Republican-led Legislature, relish the fun of watching Bush squirm. That, too, is a terrible basis for constitution-writing. Go ahead, call me a party-pooper.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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Times columns today Ernest Hooper Howard Troxler Gary Shelton Sara Fritz From the Times Metro desk |
