Associated Press
Class size limits could be eased for Florida’s schools under a bill now moving in the Florida Legislature.
A House committee approved the measure Thursday.
A 2002 state constitutional amendment limits classes in core subjects to 18 students in kindergarten through third grade, 22 in fourth through eighth grade and 25 in high school.
The state now penalizes districts for every class over those limits. The bill (HB 665) would impose penalties only if a school’s average class size violates the limits.
That’s the way the penalties were applied during a phase-in period from 2006 through 2010.
Since 2003 the state has spent nearly $30 billion on class size requirements. Most of that money has been used to hire additional teachers.
Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
