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A Suncoast Tiger Bay luncheon hears Sen. Kendrick Meek and former House Speaker John Thrasher spar over the amendment.
By STEPHEN HEGARTY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 15, 2002
After all the gloom and doom predictions over the proposed class size amendment, Sen. Kendrick Meek began his speech Monday before the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club with reassurances.
"I just want to let everyone know," Meek said, "the world will not end tomorrow."
Then the gloom and doom started.
Meek's opponent on the issue, former House Speaker John Thrasher, said the proposal to reduce class size will mean "art, music and band would have to be eliminated" at schools. He asked, "Is it possible that a state income tax . . . will have to be considered?"
Meek had troubling words of his own.
"We are ranked 50th," he said. "We are behind Mississippi. We are behind Alabama. We are behind Arkansas . . . in terms of what we invest in our public schools."
He characterized the class size debate as a struggle between "the middle class and the special interests."
Meek and Thrasher, the most prominent spokesmen on opposing sides of the hotly debated class size initiative, provided lively theater for the more than 100 in attendance at the Suncoast Tiger Bay luncheon Monday. Some in the audience abandoned any pretense of neutrality, groaning at some comments by Thrasher.
Tiger Bay member Greg Wilson said he believed the class size initiative was popular with voters because "there was a failure of leadership" in Tallahassee. Who, Wilson asked, should be held responsible for that failure? What would be the charge? What would be the punishment?
Meek blamed conservative lawmakers and suggested "they should be unelected" as punishment.
Thrasher -- a lobbyist who used to be a key conservative lawmaker -- said he would hold "local school districts" responsible, saying "they have acted irresponsibly."
That elicited an audible groan from the audience, which included two Pinellas School Board members.
Board member Carol Cook said later that she agreed with Thrasher that Pinellas and other responsible school boards probably will end up subsidizing the class size efforts in other counties.
"But," Cook said, " you've got to know your audience. I think we do a good job here in Pinellas County. That was kind of a turning point" in the debate."
The conversation began agreeably enough.
"One positive thing about this amendment," Thrasher said, "it has created a dialogue in the state of Florida that is unprecedented."
Meek responded, "We need to have more than a dialogue; we need to have action."
While in the Tampa Bay area Monday, Meek opened another phone bank -- in Tampa -- where volunteers will call voters to tell them about the amendment. Last week, he opened a phone bank in St. Petersburg.
Though the opposition's campaign has yet to make a big splash, Thrasher said he was confident the campaign would take off soon with television spots. When reminded that the election is only three weeks away, Thrasher smiled and said, "All it takes is a week."
During the luncheon Monday, the two speakers repeated many familiar arguments for and against the amendment, which would limit class sizes from prekindergarten through 12th grade. But as the November election nears, the arguments are getting more pointed.
In a not-so-veiled allusion to Thrasher, a prominent lobbyist, Meek characterized the opposition as the "special interests" that resist tax reform and "people are trying to protect what's good in Tallahassee right now -- the status quo."
Thrasher reminded the audience of the state's official cost estimate for the class size reduction: $27.5-billion during the eight-year phase-in. Speaking of Meek, he said, "When he uses the code word "investment,' he's talking about tax increases."