Class-size jeremiad

So far, the financial impact of the class size amendment is less than one-fifth the amount Education Commissioner Jim Horne claimed it would be. Supporters have not been fooled by his doomsaying.
A Times Editorial

© St. Petersburg Times
published August 22, 2003


The Constitution ought not prescribe how many students are assigned to each school classroom, but the state Board of Education is losing the credibility to advance that argument. The very budget that has prompted the board to renew its battle with voters shows why.

Last fall, when voters were faced with a citizen initiative to reduce school class sizes, Education Commissioner Jim Horne toured the state with a dire financial warning: "In addition to the $9-billion needed for new schools, annual operating costs will be $2.5-billion." He also argued, in no particular order, that: schools would have to rezone students and put them on buses, operate in double sessions and use portable classrooms; 45 counties would be forced to increase their sales tax to 8.5 or 8.9 cents per dollar; inequities between counties would require another $1.2-billion to remedy.

By way of contrast, the budget recommendation the board adopted on Tuesday apportions $517-million to class size reduction for 2003-04. This year, the amount is $468-million. In other words, the financial impact so far is less than one-fifth the amount Horne argued was necessary just 10 months ago. Snip>
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/08/22/Opinion/Class_size_jeremiad.shtml