State: How much will it cost to shrink class sizes?

How much will it cost to shrink class sizes?

All the numbers aren't in. But for starters, the education secretary wants $628-million next year.

By ANITA KUMAR, Times Staff Writer

TALLAHASSEE -- Education Secretary Jim Horne never thought voters would approve an amendment last month to reduce class sizes in Florida's public schools.

Now, he's scrambling to come up with a price tag.

In his first meeting with the Board of Education since the election, Horne told members Tuesday he will need $628-million next year to hire 7,832 new teachers and pay for other operating costs involving the amendment.

But he doesn't have an estimate for the cost in capital improvements, such as building new schools, which is expected to cost billions of dollars.

Horne wants to wait until all 67 counties send him an inventory of their classroom space before he determines what more is needed. Schools districts were required to send that information to the state last Friday, but several large counties including Pinellas did not.

"I'm not going to willy nilly come out with a number," he said. "I'm going to make sure we get all the data. I'm going to do it right."

But he said the initial information from the 43 counties that turned in their information doesn't paint as bleak of a picture as he expected. He plans to have an estimate by January or February.

The amendment requires that by the year 2010 no more than 18 students be assigned to each teacher in prekindergarten through third grade, 22 students in grades four through eight, and 25 in high school classes. Schools must make incremental progress toward that goal starting next school year, reducing classes by an average of two children per year.

State officials have struggled with how to implement the amendment but board chairman Phil Handy said the growing consensus is that class size reduction can be measured as a district average rather than a school or state average.

Cost estimates range from $8-billion to $27.5-billion over the eight-year phase-in period. No one knows yet how the state will pay for it, or what incremental steps must be taken before the 2010 deadline for full implementation.

"We've got time. We don't have to figure this out today."

Horne borrowed his estimate -- $628-million for the first year -- directly from the state's Revenue Estimating Conference, a group of economists from various state agencies that in June determined how much the amendment could cost.

"We accepted their number for now," Horne said. "I'm not necessarily comfortable with 628-million but its the most logical number to use at this time."

Horne included the operating costs for the class size amendment in the budget he presented to the Board of Education on Tuesday. The seven-member board accepted his recommendations, which include a $1.1-billion boost in spending, and will forward the budget to the state Legislature.

The $1.1-billion increase, which will mostly pay for more students and the class size plan, will be paid for in part by the growth in local property tax rolls. That increase is expected to bring in about $434-million.

Gov. Jeb Bush, who will make a budget recommendation to the Legislature, said the money needed for schools may have to come from other services.

"It'll be tough to achieve without making major cuts in other programs," Bush said.

But Horne will wait to make a recommendation on capital costs for the class size amendment until he receives more information.

The information local districts sent to the state will serve as an inventory of all the space in the schools. That's a start, but it doesn't tell the state how much it will cost to build all the new classrooms needed to comply with the class size amendment.

Still, some local school districts have offered rough estimates. Pasco has estimated it will cost about $80-million over eight years to build all the new classrooms it will need, according to superintendent John Long.

Hillsborough County estimates it will cost roughly $480-million to build the 3,000 new classrooms it thinks it will need, according to deputy superintendent Jim Hamilton.

Hillsborough's estimates are based on certain assumptions that may not be shared by other districts. For instance, Hillsborough assumes that all the classrooms will be permanent structures, not portables, and that the new classrooms will be built at existing schools, so it won't require the purchase of additional land.

-- Times staff writers Steve Bousquet and Stephen Hegarty contributed to this report.