AP metro: FROM OCALA.COM

Legislature to consider class size, replacing FCAT

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO Associated Press Writer

Published: Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 6:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 6:00 a.m.

( page all of 3 )

MIAMI - Measures to ease class-size amendment requirements, replace the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test with end of course examinations and require teachers in the state's pre-kindergarten program to hold a bachelor's degree are all up for consideration as the Legislature goes into session next week.

Florida voters approved an amendment in 2002 to ensure smaller classes, the requirements of which have been gradually implemented over the last eight years. The final phase are scheduled to take effect next fall, when every class must meet a specific grade-level cap, rather than calculate a school or districtwide average.

The issue has split along political lines, with two Republican senators proposing an amendment that would keep counts at the school-wide average and permit the addition of a few extra seats where necessary.

Gov. Charlie Crist has expressed his support for the bill, saying Florida has successfully reduced class size by two students each year and that the state needs "a more reasonable approach that does not overburden taxpayers."

The state has spent about $16 billion on class-size reductions so far, and Crist estimates the proposed changes would save $350 million a year. Proponents of the bill say that if the class-size requirements go forward in its present format, districts may have to bus, rezone and, in the process, will disrupt student learning.

Democrats and the Florida Education Association, the state teachers union, meanwhile, argue the requirements have yielded positive results and should go forth as approved by voters.

"I think it's time the Legislature keep the promise to the voters and make sure we have a school system that is high quality, well funded and able to compete in a global economy," FEA president Andy Ford said.

Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, will need a three-fifths vote in the Legislature for the bill to be placed on the November ballot. Voters would then need to approve it by a 60 percent majority. Previous attempts have succeeded in the House but failed in the Senate.

"If we don't act now to right size the class size amendment, massive rezoning, forced busing, ongoing chaos and unnecessary expense will play out in the communities across Florida," Gaetz said.

Teachers and school administrators have expressed concerns about the ramifications if it doesn't pass.

"I don't know one secondary school principal that is not fearing for their life right now," incoming principal Rocky Hann of Leon High School in Tallahassee said. She said a chorus teacher may have to teach science, and a band director may have to teach math. "My teachers haven't had a raise in three years. And my biggest job as a high school principal is their morale, where they don't walk up to school every morning, look like they just sucked a lemon for breakfast."

Among the other bills legislators have proposed so far:

- Revise graduate requirements to eliminate the FCAT and replace the standardized exam with subject area assessments in grades 3 through 5, and subject tests and end-of-course exams for students in grades 6 through 12. The bill was introduced by Democratic Rep. Dwight Bullard. Supporters say such a move would place greater emphasis on mastering content that will prepare them for college, rather than taking a cumulative test.

"We're teaching how to take a test rather than absorb content and analyze," Rep. Bill Heller, the House Democrats' ranking member on education policy.

- Require teachers in the state pre-kindergarten program to hold a bachelor's degree by July 2013. Democratic Rep. Janet Long has filed the bill for the third consecutive year.

The concept has been supported by business leaders, with the Florida Council of 100 recommending the state consider requiring post-secondary teaching credentials and provider accreditation in a recent report. And Crist's education spending proposal has called for a $44.8 million increase in the program for 4-year-olds.

A 2008 report by the National Institute for Early Education Research concluded that while Florida is a national leader in providing pre-kindergarten classes, the program lags in quality and spending.

Studies have shown early education provides important economic and academic benefits.

- Expand private school vouchers. Rep. Will Weatherford has introduced a bill that would expand and provide more accountability to Florida's Tax Credit Scholarship Program. Education Commissioner Eric Smith has expressed his support of the bill, saying it will, "prove vital in helping low-income students secure learning opportunities that fit their needs."

Leaders have also discussed raising qualifications for the Bright Futures scholarship program, which provides college grants to top high school grads, and making teacher tenure more difficult to get.

Crist has proposed a $2.7 billion spending increase in the next year's budget, including a modest increase for all levels of education. However, many consider the governor's proposal to be overly optimistic and doubt it will be passed in its current form. Stimulus money which has helped buoy public education will end next year.

**********************

School districts fret over class-size mandates, budgets

By Iricka Berlinger • DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER • February 25, 2010

A handful of school superintendents met Wednesday with local legislators and shared their concerns about their individual school districts. As superintendents from Clay, Gadsden, Hamilton, Jefferson, Leon and Wakulla counties talked, it was clear that looming budget cuts and the proposed new class-size amendment were two key concerns.

The class-size amendment that will be brought before legislators this session would not repeal the earlier mandate for smaller classes, but change the standards of school-wide averages rather than requiring limits on every room. Schools would get flexibility to exceed the cap by three students in pre-K through third grade and five students in grades four through 12.

"Class size reductions are not a money issue, it's an academic issue," said Bill Montford, former Leon County Schools superintendent and current CEO for the Florida Association of District School Superintendents.

The superintendents were in favor of the amendment that will allow the districts, especially the rural counties, some flexibility in their schools.

Wakulla County Superintendent David Miller explained that he can't justify having eight or nine ESE students. Without the amendment, he will have to have 18 students in that one classroom.

District leaders also were concerned about what will happen when stimulus money from the federal government is no longer available to supplement their budgets.

Ben Wortham, superintendent in Clay County, said that he once had more than $31 million in reserve, but with all the recent budget cuts, he is down to only $6 million.

"If we had to go to class to class to be sure we are meeting the required number, I would have almost 500 employees with fear in their heart over their jobs," Wortham said.

Leon County Superintendent Jackie Pons, who hosted the meeting, said he fears that if teachers have to be reorganized to meet class-size requirements, other classes like fine arts might have to be cut. Other districts including Hamilton County already have cut music and art.

Local state Reps. Marti Coley, Alan Williams, Leonard Bemby and Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda listened as the superintendents shared their concerns.

"At the end of the day our goal is the same," Rep. Coley, R-Marianna. "We will take everything directly to heart."

*************************************
Class-size limits may get 2nd legislative look

Proposal would relax rules voters approved in 2002

By LINDA TRIMBLE and JIM SAUNDERS, Daytona News Journal. Feb 14, 2010 
Education Writer

Theresa Hobbs' daughter will start kindergarten in August, just in time for voter-approved limits on class sizes to take full effect.

Hobbs was one of 2.5 million voters who supported a 2002 constitutional amendment that is supposed to prevent her daughter's kindergarten class from having more than 18 children.

But after years of Florida making progress on smaller classes, she's disappointed that top lawmakers -- amid a severe budget crunch -- want to pull back from strictly limiting the number of children in each public-school classroom.

"We did vote on it. As far as not being able to afford it, I think they could dip into the lottery a little bit more than they do," said Hobbs, who lives in South Daytona. "There's definitely no reason it can't be done."

With the 2010 legislative session ready to start March 2, Republican leaders are making a priority of trying to change the state constitution to provide wiggle room on class sizes.

The idea still has a long way to go: Lawmakers would have to approve placing a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot where, ultimately, voters would have final say.

But along with backing from Republican legislative leaders, the proposed amendment has the support of Gov. Charlie Crist, politically powerful business groups and many school superintendents and school board members.

Lawmakers and school districts have gradually reduced class sizes since the 2002 amendment passed. The proposed changes, however, stem from a deadline to fully comply with classroom-by-classroom limits during the upcoming 2010-11 academic year.

The legislative proposal would largely lock in this year's class-size requirements, which are based on average numbers of students in classrooms. That would be far easier to meet than complying with caps on each classroom.

Volusia County Superintendent Margaret Smith said the proposal is a reasonable approach that the state can afford.

"I truly believe Florida has come a long way in reducing class size and I think we're at a level where we have increased student achievement," Smith said. "I don't think further reduced class size will really help."

TEACHERS SEE IMPROVEMENT

Despite the fierce objections of then-Gov. Jeb Bush, the 2002 amendment passed amid frustration in parts of the state that children were being crammed into classrooms.

Beginning with the 2010-11 school year, the amendment calls for teachers in pre-kindergarten through third-grade classes to have a maximum of 18 students. Teachers in fourth- through eighth-grade classes would have a maximum of 22 students, and teachers in ninth- through 12th-grade classes would have a maximum of 25.

The proposed amendment would keep those numbers of 18, 22 and 25 students but is designed to give schools more flexibility by using class-size averages. As an example, a high school could comply by having an average of 25 students in a class, though some classrooms might have more than 25 and some might have less than 25.

While the 2002 amendment has been controversial, several Volusia County teachers interviewed recently said they have noticed a difference since it passed.

"It was night and day," said Dennis Sallade, a science and geography teacher at Deltona Middle School.

Sallade and other teachers said the smaller classes allow them to tailor instruction better for individual students' needs and to provide better feedback about how students are doing. They've also seen fewer discipline problems.

Phillip Ransbottom, a biology teacher at Pine Ridge High School, said it is an insult to students and voters that lawmakers want to back away from the final step of capping class sizes.

"These kids are being told by the legislators 'we don't care about you,' " he said. "We voted in what we wanted; now all of a sudden they're going to come back and say 'you can't have it.' Did they not hear us?"

HIGH COST IN HARD TIMES

But supporters of changing the class-size requirements say fully complying could be a logistical nightmare -- along with costing hundreds of millions of dollars at a time when the state faces budget shortfalls.

Volusia County may need to hire an additional 177 to 369 teachers, depending on how the projections are calculated. Smith estimates the final number might be around 250.

That would carry a price tag of $14.5 million for pay and benefits in a year when school officials expect little extra funding from the state, an enrollment decline of 600 students and higher prices for necessities like health insurance.

Flagler schools are expected to need an extra 50 teachers to meet the amendment's requirements, Assistant Superintendent Janet Valentine said. That would cost about $2.5 million.

Smith, Valentine and other supporters of the proposed change also point to problems in complying with the strict caps, such as how schools would handle students who move during the year.

As an example, school officials said they might have to hire an additional teacher and redistribute students if a new student transfers into an elementary school where all of the classes in his grade are maxed out.

Sen. Don Gaetz, a Niceville Republican who is sponsoring the proposed constitutional change, said the strict class-size limits could force districts to even take steps such as busing children away from neighborhood schools. He said his concerns are "not a money issue.

"For me, it's an educational problem," said Gaetz, a former Okaloosa County superintendent.

But Ron Meyer, a lawyer for the Florida Education Association teachers union, said he doesn't think the proposed constitutional amendment is necessary.

Meyer said lawmakers could change state law -- without requiring a constitutional amendment -- to deal with the issue of students moving into schools. He said, in part, that schools could receive flexibility to exceed the limits by a few students during the middle of a year, so long as they made adjustments to comply during the next academic year.

In the end, Meyer said he thinks the proposed constitutional change results from lawmakers not wanting to spend the money to fully comply with the 2002 amendment. One estimate indicated the state might need to spend an additional $353 million next year to comply.

"It's about money," said Meyer, who has worked on the class-size issue for years. "There's no secret we're short of money."

linda.trimble@news-jrnl.com

jim.saunders@news-jrnl.com