State: Election on class size is rejected

Election on class size is rejected

Gov. Jeb Bush's call for a special election dies in the Senate, but the issue of repealing Amendment 9 another way remains.

By ALISA ULFERTS, Times Staff Writer

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush's proposal to call a special election on the class size amendment was declared dead at 8:40 a.m. Wednesday.

That's when all 14 Democrats in the state Senate voted against the idea, killing any chance it had.

"We find it appalling that the governor would so readily dismiss the will of the people," said Senate Democratic Leader Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton.

Bush's plan to ask voters to repeal the class size amendment, or raise taxes to pay for it, won't fly without Democratic support.

He needs 90 votes in the House and 30 votes in the Senate to put the class size question back before voters in a special election. That means he would have to get every Republican in both chambers, plus four Democrats in the Senate and nine Democrats in the House.

Bush said he hopes lawmakers will see things his way after trying to come up with a plan that spares other services and doesn't raise taxes.

"I think when reality sets in up here more and more people will realize this is the proper thing to do," Bush said.

He suggested Wednesday that a compromise with lawmakers could be possible, such as repealing the class size amendment and replacing it with a scaled-down version that focuses on kindergarten through third grade. Voters would be told which of their taxes would go up, Bush said.

"I don't think it's disrespectful to the voters of this state to suggest that they relook at this," Bush said. "I think the voters deserve the chance to look at the full implications," Bush said.

That isn't likely to happen, at least not in a special election.

Senate President Jim King said it would be "impossible" for him to deliver 30 votes to Bush, even if he wanted to. King won't vote for a special election.

"I don't think I could deliver all 26 Republican votes," King said.

Even senators who did not support the original constitutional amendment, which capped class sizes over a period of eight years, said they can't support a special election to repeal it. A little more than 52 percent of voters approved the amendment.

"It sets a terrible precedent," said Sen. Rod Smith, D-Gainesville. Smith opposed the amendment -- "I thought it was the wrong solution to the wrong ill" -- but said Bush's attempts to override voters' wishes is equally wrong.

Yet King refused to shut the door entirely on Bush's plan, leaving open the possibility that a repeal amendment could go on the 2004 ballot, which would require just 27 votes in the Senate and 72 in the House.

And even the Senate Democratic caucus made it clear that members were voting against a special election, not putting the question to voters in subsequent elections.

House Speaker Johnnie Byrd Jr., R-Plant City, repeated that the House is more interested in doing what he called "something positive," such as raising teacher pay. Byrd said the House would wait and see what happens in the Senate.

A special election to repeal constitutional amendments is "not our focus," Byrd said.

"That's something the governor needs to work with the Senate on. I'm going to spend my time trying to come up with a good education plan," Byrd said.

Byrd said he thought many House members would support Bush's repeal idea, but he stopped short of saying he could corral the votes for Bush.

He said the cost of a statewide special election in a tight budget year, estimated at several million dollars, was a "good question" that he hadn't considered.

Rep. Doug Wiles of St. Augustine said his caucus would take a stand against the repeal of the amendments as soon as today.

"I'm working the members now," Wiles said.

-- Times staff writers Lucy Morgan and Steve Bousquet contributed to this report.