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Berfield school flier adds fuel to fiery race

It says she supports a class spending rule. Her primary foe calls it a lie.

By MELANIE AVE
Published September 1, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - The flier shows Kim Berfield standing in front of a school bus against the backdrop of an A-graded math assignment.

"Kim Berfield makes the grade," says the mailing, recently sent to thousands of Pinellas and Hillsborough voters. Inside it says Berfield, a Republican candidate for the Senate District 16 seat, "supports plans to constitutionally require 65 percent of our education dollars to be spent in the classroom."

But in the spring, as a House member, Berfield voted against a 65 percent classroom spending plan.

Berfield defended the flier Thursday, saying it was accurate despite her no vote. The provoucher All Children Matter group paid for the campaign advertisement.

"I do support the 65 percent concept," Berfield said. "I voted against that piece of legislation because I didn't feel the definition was as clear as it should have been."

A 35-year-old advertising consultant, Berfield was one of only a few Republican lawmakers to oppose the classroom spending bill, which aimed to weaken the 2002 voter-approved class size amendment.

The bill would have given school districts more leeway in enforcing strict class sizes and required them to spend 65 percent of their budgets in the classroom.

Berfield said the bill was not specific enough on how the money should be spent.

But Frank Farkas, a St. Petersburg chiropractor who faces Berfield in Tuesday's primary, called the controversial flier "a lie."

"She can't have it both ways," said Farkas, who voted in favor of the classroom spending bill. He believes lower class sizes work well in younger grades but offer a "mixed bag" in higher grades.

It was one of the few votes where the two candidates differed, a Times analysis of the two House members' voting records shows.

All Children Matter is a Michigan group that supports school vouchers that send poor children to private schools. Much of its funding comes from the families of the founders of the Amway Corp. and Wal-Mart.

In Florida, the group has spent more than $90,000 this year. It has supported House District 54 Republican candidate Jim Frishe and Senate District 38 Republican Frank Bolanos.

The head of All Children Matter in Florida is Tampa venture capitalist John Kirtley. He did not return a message Thursday seeking comment.

District 16, which covers eastern Pinellas and western Hillsborough counties, has become one of the toughest - and ugliest - legislative campaigns in the state. It features three House members vying to replace outgoing Republican Jim Sebesta, who is leaving office because of term limits.

The district's registered voters are almost evenly split between Democrats and Republicans.

Tuesday's winner will face Democrat Charlie Justice, a 38-year-old academic adviser from St. Petersburg, in the Nov. 7 general election. While Farkas said Berfield's campaign literature has been wrong, she said the falsehoods are coming from her opponent's direction.

[Last modified September 1, 2006, 05:53:51]