State: Senator targets class sizes

A parent of one of these students happens to be high-profile state Sen. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, who is now leading the charge to fix crowded classes for his daughter and other students in Florida.

Meek is proposing an amendment to Florida's Constitution that would force the state to reduce class sizes to 16 students per teacher in prekindergarten through third grade, 20 students per teacher in grades 4 through 8, and 25 students per teacher in high school. Those numbers would have to be reached by the 2010 school year, and the Legislature would begin funding the effort in 2003-2004.

"I'm talking about a class size where teachers can teach, children can learn and parents can be satisfied," said Meek, who has risen to prominence for opposing Gov. Jeb Bush on affirmative action and other issues.

Meek was joined by state Rep. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, D-Miami, a former school principal, and state Rep. Loranne Ausley, D-Tallahassee, in announcing the joint resolution to put the class size issue on the ballot in November 2002.

If he can't get the required two-thirds approval for the amendment by the House and Senate, Meek thinks he can easily get the thousands of signatures needed to place the issue on the ballot through a petition drive.

Key Republican lawmakers said Tuesday they oppose Meek's proposal, citing the unknown cost involved as well as the idea of putting such an issue into Florida's Constitution.

In addition, not everyone agrees with the various studies on how much impact smaller classes have on different students. Florida may be better off carefully targeting class size money to certain areas, said state Sen. Don Sullivan, R-Largo, who chairs the Senate's education budget committee.

"Not every school is crowded, and not every class is crowded," Sullivan said.

However, Republican Education Commissioner Charlie Crist said Tuesday that he supports Meek's goal to reduce class sizes and may even support the idea of a constitutional amendment on the issue after studying it. "It's not something I would close the door on. Maybe he's right," said Crist, who is frustrated by what he sees as a lack of progress on solving the school crowding problem.

With education a top priority of voters and the 2002 elections growing closer, Crist isn't the only one feeling frustration.

Pushed by Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles and angry parents, the Republican-led Legislature held a special session in the fall of 1997 and approved a $2.7-billion plan to build more schools and reduce the thousands of portable classrooms housing students. In addition, the Legislature has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to reduce class sizes -- an effort begun by former House Speaker Peter Wallace in 1995-96.

But the landscape has changed little as school districts struggle with an influx of students and try to build schools fast enough to house them. More than 22,000 portables still blanket the state -- about the same as when lawmakers held the special session -- and class sizes haven't budged.

In 1999-2000, the average class sizes ranged from 23.3 students in grades K-5, to 27.5 students in high school classes. In 1996-97, the figures had ranged from 23.8 students in K-5 classes, to 27.6 students in high school classes, according to Department of Education statistics. Some school districts have acknowledged using class-size money on other needs.

Top Republican lawmakers now are proposing a controversial voucher program to deal with the problem -- giving parents of children in seriously crowded schools a $3,000 grant to transfer their children to another public school or a private school.

Meek shot back Tuesday with the proposal to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to reduce class sizes. He does not know how much his proposal would cost. But a Senate study in 1999 estimated that it would cost $482.4-million to cut class sizes for classes in grades K-3. Even that kind of money would be tough in this budget year, when lawmakers want to continue tax breaks for citizens but are dealing with a deficit in Medicaid and fewer new revenue dollars than in previous years.

The Senate's education budget committee is proposing what Sullivan describes as "horrendous" cuts in school programs. The proposals would eliminate or cut extended school year programs that add 30 days to the school year, $100 stipends for teachers to buy classroom supplies, teacher bonus and training programs, library and science lab materials, school computers, as well as autism programs at various universities.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk