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Wallace pitches his plan for schools
By DIANE RADO © St. Petersburg Times, published September 26, 1998 All seven of the kindergarten classes at her school had 30 students -- despite the Legislature's push to reduce class sizes to 20. As state House speaker, Wallace started that effort. Now, as a Democratic candidate for education commissioner, Wallace makes the issue a priority in his "Schools First Plan," which would pour more money into public schools. In addition to smaller classes, Wallace would spend more on textbooks, pre-kindergarten, teaching training and school safety. He doesn't know exactly what it would cost, but he thinks Florida can afford it as long as the economy is good and legislators make education a priority. But Wallace was willing to talk taxes. "In the past, I have advocated raising taxes for education," Wallace said. "Right now, there isn't any need to do it. I'm not here to take a pledge (against raising taxes for schools.)" Lt. Gov. Buddy MacKay, who is running for governor, is also advocating more money for public schools, but he made a no-new-taxes pledge early in his campaign. The Schools First Plan was announced Friday, less than a week before a runoff election between Wallace and former Palm Beach County Commissioner Ron Howard. Wallace, a Harvard-educated lawyer who represented St. Petersburg in the Legislature, has received newspaper endorsements and the backing of teacher unions. But he faces a candidate with high name recognition: Howard shares the name of the actor who played Opie on The Andy Griffith Show. Howard got more votes than Wallace in the first primary. Here are some highlights of the Schools First Plan: Fundamentals. Wallace would push the Legislature to make sure every student has a textbook for every subject. Now, it's common for students to share, so they can't bring books home for homework. The Senate Education Committee is doing a study on the extent of the problem, but it could cost a lot to fix. The average book costs $40, so it could cost $276-million to give each of Florida's 2.3-million children three new books. Wallace would also seek more money for alternative schools for disruptive students. Now, about $50-million goes to safe school programs. Instructional excellence. Wallace would continue a program that pays most of the cost for teachers to go through a national certification program and gives raises to teachers who complete it. The Legislature put $12-million into the program this year. Readiness to learn. Wallace would ask lawmakers to accommodate children waiting to get into pre-kindergarten programs. He said he believes that would cost $108-million for 27,000 children. Smaller classes. Cost estimates vary, but Wallace said it could take $400-million over several years to reduce kindergarten through third-grade classes to 20 students. The Legislature started the program with $40-million in 1995 and has since put in $100-million a year -- but class sizes have barely budged. Technology. Wallace would push for every classroom to have a computer and Internet access.
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ALLAHASSEE -- While visiting a Palm Beach County school, education commissioner candidate Peter Rudy Wallace heard bad news from a kindergarten teacher:
