Orlando Sentinel: Too devious
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board
Our position: It's time for Gov. Bush and lawmakers to give up on class size.
Remember the villains from the old Bullwinkle cartoon show? Boris and Natasha always had some devious plan to do in the intrepid moose and his sidekick, a flying squirrel named Rocky.
The plans failed. Hilarity ensued.
If only real life were that funny. When it comes to Republican-led efforts to overturn the class-size caps voters approved in 2002, the devious plans aren't likely to be any more successful.
And no one is laughing.
Another opinion survey published this week in the Orlando Sentinel and other Florida newspapers shows that 51 percent of voters polled oppose raising the class-size limits while 40 percent support the idea that would, in effect, repeal the 2002 vote.
Sooner or later, Gov. Jeb Bush and Republican lawmakers will get the message that voters knew what they were doing four years ago when they approved the caps and wrote them into the state constitution. No issue attracted as much attention then, and few issues have attracted more attention since.
During the heat of the 2002 campaign against class-size caps, Mr. Bush quipped that he had some "devious plans" to upend the amendment should it pass. Obviously Mr. Bush wasn't kidding.
For the second time in four years, Mr. Bush is urging the Legislature to place another constitutional amendment on the ballot to repeal class size to squeeze more students into classrooms.
In 2004, Mr. Bush tied the idea to raising teacher pay. The measure passed the House, but state senators didn't bite. This year, Mr. Bush is back with an even more specious idea -- linking the repeal to a dubious proposal to require districts to spend 65 percent of their budgets "inside the classroom."
How would districts pay for school buses, food service, guidance counselors and a host of other "outside-the-classroom" items? No one is saying.
The gullible House bought this hook, line and sinker, so it is again up to the Senate to reject this bad idea.
We, too, urged voters to reject the costly amendment that gives districts until 2010 to cap class sizes at no more than 18 students in pre-kindergarten to third-grade classes; 22 in fourth- to eighth-grade classes; and 25 in high-school classes.
But the voters spoke. Since then, Mr. Bush, the Legislature and local districts have tried a number of ways to get around the law. If as much attention were put on meeting the requirements as overturning the will of the voters, Florida would be further along in attaining the smaller class sizes voters demanded.
Voters took matters into their own hands in 2002 because they had no faith their leaders would do anything about Florida's crowded classrooms. If lawmakers want to regain the trust, they will enforce the law and stop these cartoonish attempts to subvert it.
Source: Orlando Sentinel
Our position: It's time for Gov. Bush and lawmakers to give up on class size.
Remember the villains from the old Bullwinkle cartoon show? Boris and Natasha always had some devious plan to do in the intrepid moose and his sidekick, a flying squirrel named Rocky.
The plans failed. Hilarity ensued.
If only real life were that funny. When it comes to Republican-led efforts to overturn the class-size caps voters approved in 2002, the devious plans aren't likely to be any more successful.
And no one is laughing.
Another opinion survey published this week in the Orlando Sentinel and other Florida newspapers shows that 51 percent of voters polled oppose raising the class-size limits while 40 percent support the idea that would, in effect, repeal the 2002 vote.
Sooner or later, Gov. Jeb Bush and Republican lawmakers will get the message that voters knew what they were doing four years ago when they approved the caps and wrote them into the state constitution. No issue attracted as much attention then, and few issues have attracted more attention since.
During the heat of the 2002 campaign against class-size caps, Mr. Bush quipped that he had some "devious plans" to upend the amendment should it pass. Obviously Mr. Bush wasn't kidding.
For the second time in four years, Mr. Bush is urging the Legislature to place another constitutional amendment on the ballot to repeal class size to squeeze more students into classrooms.
In 2004, Mr. Bush tied the idea to raising teacher pay. The measure passed the House, but state senators didn't bite. This year, Mr. Bush is back with an even more specious idea -- linking the repeal to a dubious proposal to require districts to spend 65 percent of their budgets "inside the classroom."
How would districts pay for school buses, food service, guidance counselors and a host of other "outside-the-classroom" items? No one is saying.
The gullible House bought this hook, line and sinker, so it is again up to the Senate to reject this bad idea.
We, too, urged voters to reject the costly amendment that gives districts until 2010 to cap class sizes at no more than 18 students in pre-kindergarten to third-grade classes; 22 in fourth- to eighth-grade classes; and 25 in high-school classes.
But the voters spoke. Since then, Mr. Bush, the Legislature and local districts have tried a number of ways to get around the law. If as much attention were put on meeting the requirements as overturning the will of the voters, Florida would be further along in attaining the smaller class sizes voters demanded.
Voters took matters into their own hands in 2002 because they had no faith their leaders would do anything about Florida's crowded classrooms. If lawmakers want to regain the trust, they will enforce the law and stop these cartoonish attempts to subvert it.
Source: Orlando Sentinel
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