For Manatee County, Florida Class Size Amendment is No Simple Issue

BRADENTON – This fall, Florida voters will once again decide the issue of class-size requirements for public schools. In 2002, a constitutional amendment was passed by voter referendum to limit the number of students in each class. The resulting law phased in hard caps on the ratio of teachers to students. This year is the first in which schools must be in full compliance. For the 2010-11 academic year, classrooms could have no more than 18 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 3, 22 students in grades 4 through 8, and 25 students in grades 9 through 12. Schools that fail to come into compliance face stiff fines.

However, while the fines can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, coming into full compliance can cost millions more. Because the state has not fully funded the law's implementation, financially-strapped school districts are having to weigh out their options, often choosing the fines -- an unintended and never-imagined consequence of the policy. While nearly everyone agrees that a low student-teacher ratio is desirable, the debate has shifted to the question of whether such ambitious standards are practical, given the current state of our economy.

Remember that the original amendment was passed in 2002, when growth was sound and no one imagined a scenario where property values would even slow down in their ascent, let alone plunge in the opposite direction. Fast forward to 2010 and the state's coffers have been wiped clean, while school districts face year after year of decreasing revenues. The proposed Amendment 8 is a response to those fiscal realities, but the state of the economy also makes education a very sensitive subject. If Florida is to prosper in a more competitive global economy, it will need a highly-educated workforce of which the educational system is the foundation.

Tim McGonegal, Manatee School District Superintendent

For Manatee schools, the amendment has had profound effects. School District Superintendent Tim McGonegal has had to juggle fines and compliance costs with the responsibility of providing the best education possible for students. McGonegal said that the district has used a variety of approaches including additional teachers, coupling two grade levels in one classroom, the use of co-teachers (which raises the per room cap) and redistricting schools to balance under and overpopulated facilities.

"It's been a challenge," McGonegal told me. "It costs $3 billion a year and a lot of people don't realize that 29% of their school tax bill pays for class-size compliance." McGonegal said that the district has not taken a position on the amendment, but wants to provide as much information to the public as possible. "If the repeal passes, it would certainly give us more flexibility in delivering education," McGonegal said. "If it doesn't, people are probably going to see an increase in their taxes."

McGonegal's point is perhaps the root of the actual debate – how much are Floridians willing to pay for a lower teacher-student ratio? The superintendent pointed out that the original amendment took root in the Miami area, where class sizes were and continue to be a major problem, while other parts of the state, such as the panhandle, had fairly low student-teacher ratios. South Florida schools were unable to get a handle on class sizes and pushed for the referendum as a solution. It wasn't difficult to gain statewide support for a measure that has obvious benefits, at least on the surface. There is a plethora of studies indicating class size as one of the most important factors leading to academic success.

But at what cost should we impose such standards? When the practicality of meeting the requirements pushes schools to adopt policies like grade coupling, which educators are quick to admit is not the optimum way to deliver education, is it doing more harm than good? McGonegal seemed to think so. Even after all of the juggling, Manatee schools will still have to pay fines as the district simply cannot afford full compliance. Money spent on fines is money diverted from other places where it is badly needed.

If Amendment 8 passes, the repeal would not abandon requirements altogether. First, it would return to class size averaging, which schools had a much easier time meeting during the phase-in period of the current law. There would still be an absolute maximum of 21, 27 and 30 students per teacher for the three grade ranges respectively. This would allow schools to decide where class size is most important and deploy their resources in the manner that they believe will lead to maximum academic success. McGonegal likes this.

"If we've got an art class with say 26 students in it, that teacher can certainly handle a group that size, whereas in a remedial math class, we might want to go with 15-18 students," explained the superintendent.

Even a repeal will not make Manatee County's problems disappear. Reduced revenue and shifting populations are compounding the challenges of meeting any class size requirements and still present obvious problems on their own. During the boom years the district was proactive, building new schools based on growth trends. However, while the county population has remained relatively flat, a massive housing inventory has allowed for and encouraged migration, especially when depressed values allowed families to move into better neighborhoods they were once priced out of. As a result, some schools are over their stated capacity, while others are far under. Last year, the district had over 7,000 empty seats. But while a school like Bayshore High had 700 openings, Lakewood Ranch High was over its capacity by 367.

This year, the Manatee did more redistricting, but still says it may have to ultimately close and consolidate some schools for the sake of cost effectiveness. It may seem like an easy fix, but it is costly to bus students to schools further away and such expenses can put a major dent in the savings achieved by reducing physical plant costs and support personnel. In east county – where thousands of homes sit empty and foreclosed units have been resold and converted to more affordable rentals, all while developers are continuing to build – the impact is likely to get much worse.

"We can't build more schools out there. The money just doesn't exist," McGonegal quickly pointed out. For voters, the question of Amendment 8 might not be whether or not they support smaller class sizes, but rather – is the current mandate practical and what further implications can it have in future years if it remains as is? The only thing that seems certain is that the law is not having its intended effect of improving the delivery of education to our students, which is at least one very good reason to give Amendment 8 a serious look.