The governor says the money going to build classrooms could have increased teacher pay.
By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published December 18, 2003
TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday his next budget will upset some Florida school districts that failed to reduce class sizes as required by a voter-approved constitutional amendment he opposed.
"You'll begin to see the painful experience of not complying with reducing class sizes shortly," Bush said.
The governor said up to $1-billion of school money will be budgeted to build classrooms to meet the amendment's requirements.
"That's a lot of money that could be used for higher teacher pay," Bush said.
Thirty-two of Florida's 67 school districts failed to meet at least one of three class size requirements in the first year of the seven-year program. Under state law, those districts could be forced to use some state money exclusively for construction.
Bush made the comments during his annual year-end interviews with reporters in which he sounded familiar themes:
He opposes new taxes and the elimination of sales tax exemptions.
He will look for new ways to reduce taxes and wants to expand privatization of government programs.
He favors repealing the class size and high-speed rail amendments.
"Kill it. Put a stake in it. Bury it," Bush said of the bullet train amendment that rode into the state Constitution in 2000 with the support of 2.9-million voters.
House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, however, said Wednesday he is not keen about trying to repeal the high-speed rail amendment. "If it's part of the constitution, it's just as much a part of the constitution as freedom of speech," Byrd said. "As long as it's in there, we're going to have to make a good-faith effort to comply with it."
Byrd said the class-size amendment is a much bigger threat to the state budget. "It looms large compared to the high-speed rail," he said.
A spokesman for the state teacher union said Bush's comments about education spending are part of a broader political strategy to repeal the class size amendment.
"This is all part of a carefully thought-out devious plan to get class size overturned," said Mark Pudlow, a spokesman for the Florida Education Association.
The Legislature balked this year at Bush's call to repeal the amendments.
Instead, lawmakers are studying ways of making it more difficult for citizens and interest groups to amend the constitution.
Next year, his sixth as governor, Bush will continue to emphasize improvements in Florida's public education system, especially reading. As reading improves, Bush said, more students will want to attend community colleges and universities, putting added pressure on a higher education system that already is struggling to meet demand.
Increasing demand for higher education is a good problem to have, Bush said. "I want to give that problem to the next governors of our state," Bush said.
Known for his workaholic ways and demanding attention to detail, Bush said he plans to start paying more attention to his own well-being. He has a role model in his presidential brother, who is known for delegating responsibility, staying fit and going to bed early.
"I admire him greatly," Bush said of President George W. Bush. "I love his temperament, I love his character, his balance in his life. He's someone to emulate."
