The ruling not to count co-teachers in class-size caps is seen by many as politically motivated by amendment opponents.
By RON MATUS, Times Staff Writer
Published July 15, 2005
Meeting the demands of the class-size amendment just got tougher for Florida schools.
State education officials have decided that co-teaching - using two or more teachers in a single classroom, mostly to help disabled students - cannot be counted in determining whether a school district is complying with class-size caps.
The abrupt policy change could cost billions statewide. Removing the additional teachers from class-size ratios could force the construction of hundreds of new schools statewide, or require districts to add portables or double-time sessions.
About 832 classrooms in Hillsborough, 375 in Pinellas and 790 in Pasco are taught by two or more teachers, according to Department of Education figures. The statewide total is more than 8,000.
"As far as I'm concerned, it's the perfect example of bureaucrats making decisions about things they know nothing about," said Peter Kennedy, director of exceptional student education in Pasco County, which would be among the hardest-hit districts.
Other critics, however, say the decision speaks of politics.
Gov. Jeb Bush and Education Commissioner John Winn have not hidden their dislike of the class-size amendment, which they say will divert scarce education dollars away from teacher pay and other needs. In the spring, Bush backed a legislative proposal to water down the amendment, but was rebuffed by the Legislature.
Now, many observers see the shift on co-teaching as a way to increase financial pressure on districts, laying the groundwork for amendment opponents to make another move in next year's legislative session.
"There are those who claim that the reason this was done was to create some pain," said David Mosrie, chief executive officer of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents.
The state Board of Education made the policy change in late June, deciding that the counting of co-teachers wasn't in keeping with the spirit of the law.
The decision caught many by surprise. Neither the board nor the department had expressed any concern earlier that the practice might be out-of-bounds.
"It was accepted," Mosrie said.
Co-teaching was not listed as an agenda item at the June meeting. And the issue was discussed only briefly before board members made a decision, citing recent advice from their attorney as grounds for the change.
Board Chairman Phil Handy did not return a call for comment Thursday. Department officials did not respond to a request for additional information.
The decision could increase costs by hundreds of millions of dollars for school districts in the Tampa Bay region.
In Pinellas, the potential cost is unclear, but the impact will be "fairly significant," said district spokesman Sterling Ivey. "We don't have a lot of vacant land to rush out to build more classroom space," he said. "We'll have to see what our options are."
In Pasco, educators worry that the policy change could undo efforts to include students with disabilities in classes with their nondisabled peers.
Pasco leads the state in pairing special education teachers with regular classroom teachers, part of a push that began in the late 1980s to use inclusion as a means of better meeting the needs of its special education students.
Now the district has to reduce the rate at which it places disabled students into mainstream classrooms, or suffer the financial losses that come with not complying with the class-size law, said Kennedy, Pasco's exceptional student director.
"It's outrageous," he said after firing off an angry e-mail to the education department. "It's a political decision without any attention paid to what's good for students."
The class-size amendment sets limits of 18, 22 and 25 students per class, depending on grade level. Currently, districts use countywide averages to determine if they are meeting the requirement and most are.
But beginning in 2006-2007, the average will be calculated at the school level, leaving less wiggle room.
Damien Filer, who served as spokesman for the coalition that led the charge for the class-size amendment, said the state's latest interpretation of the amendment is the correct one. But he slammed the state for making the change for all the wrong reasons.
The governor's office and the education department knew all along districts were cutting corners in their calculations, Filer said. But they were willing to look the other way to avoid paying the true cost of the amendment while at the same time claiming progress.
Times staff writer Rebecca Catalanello contributed to this report. Ron Matus can be reached at 727 893-8873 or matus@sptimes.com
