FORT MYERS - Education Commissioner Jim Horne urged Board of Education members to push lawmakers to repeal the state's class size limits Tuesday, saying the voter-initiated amendment to the state Constitution will prevent teachers from getting pay raises.
The board has already voted to ask lawmakers to get the issue back on the ballot. Voters approved the amendment last year.
The $517-million being spent this year to reduce class sizes is enough to cover a quarter of the state university budget and nearly half of the community college budget, Horne said.
He said the estimated $1.4-billion that will be spent on class size in the next two years is enough to bring Florida's teacher salaries, now averaging about $40,500, up to the national average of just under $46,000.
Horne's appeal echoes the opinion of several state officials, including Gov. Jeb Bush and House Speaker Johnnie Byrd.
The amendment requires the state to give school districts enough money to lower class sizes from kindergarten through high school over the next eight years to reach caps that take effect in 2010.
