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Coverage of Florida Constitutional Amendments: Number 8
10/31/10 00:48, by OGRE / (Jeff), Categories: Welcome, News, Background, In real life, On the web, History, Politics, U.S. Economy Over the next couple of days I'm going to put in my two cents on the Florida ballot.
Florida Constitutional Amendment Number 8 as written on a sample ballot:
NO. 8
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
ARTICLE IX, SECTION 1
ARTICLE XII, SECTION 31Revision Of The Class Size Requirements For Public Schools
The Florida Constitution currently limits the maximum number of students assigned to each teacher in public school classrooms in the following grade groupings: for prekindergarten through grade 3, 18 students; for grades 4 through 8, 22 students; and for grades 9 through 12, 25 students. Under this amendment, the current limits on the maximum number of students assigned to each teacher in public school classrooms would become limits on the average number of students assigned per class to each teacher, by specified grade grouping, in each public school. This amendment also adopts new limits on the maximum number of students assigned to each teacher in an individual classroom as follows: for prekindergarten through grade 3, 21 students; for grades 4 through 8, 27 students; and for grades 9 through 12, 30 students. This amendment specifies that class size limits do not apply to virtual classes, requires the Legislature to provide sufficient funds to maintain the average number of students required by this amendment, and schedules these revisions to take effect upon approval by the electors of this state and to operate retroactively to the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year.
This amendment represents a retraction of the class size limits enacted back in 2002. Obviously the legislature underestimated the cost of implementing the class reduction plan, now they want a way out.
I would consider releasing some control at the state level to be a good thing. History has proven that when control of a complex system is centralized its efficiency and quality decrease. I'm sure that more teaching jobs would be filled if the class size limits were left as they are now, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the level of education will increase.
The general lack of quality public/government education throughout the entire country is a direct result of the centralization of power within the school system. When a standard is set, what do most people do? They meet the standard. Since there is no incentive to surpass the standard; you end up with a large bloated system devoid of improvement. Or in the case of Florida you end up with teachers who teach kids how to take tests, not subject matter.
In other words; the entire government school system is poorly structured and inefficient. Class sizes, outside of extremes, will have no effect on this whatsoever.
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2 comments
You should read this book called "Freakonomics" by Stephen Levitt. It's some fantastic stuff and it takes an unconventional look at the world of economics and society. I have the pdf file if you'd like.I went to a public school, UNF, and graduated. Classes were about 30+. Bad idea. The more students in the class, the less learning that goes on.
I now go to JU, a private school for my MBA. There are 20 of us and that seems to be the magic number. Small groups encourage discussion and critical thinking. Most of the time, the textbooks aren't even used. I think the problem lies right there. The educational system needs to be reformed so that students are giving critical thinking skills and develop those, as book knowledge will get you nowhere. Anyone, regardless of actual ability can pass a standardized test, if it is drilled into their skulls incessantly. Ask them how to solve a problem with dynamic variables in which there are several right ways to do things and they will scratch their heads and give up to go smoke some more weed.
As impractical as this might seem, I'm all for reducing the class size to 15 and doing away with the tests. Is it going to cost a lot? Sure it is! But education is the single best investment that anyone, and we as a country can do. Can some be successful without education? Sure they can. The days of unskilled straight out of high school prosperous middle class jobs are over. When are people going to accept this instead of asking the government to give them jobs?
Rob:Class sizes definitely has an impact on the interaction between students, but I don't think that it always results in a better educational experience. I was amazed when I went to FCCJ/FSCJ. The people who were in class were actually there to learn. I think that makes the greatest difference. I think individuals actually wanting to learn is what you saw. I think that the size of the class was not the leading cause; the individuals making up the class made the difference.
You said, “...education is the single best investment that anyone, and we as a country can do.” I agree, so I think education should be privatized. If the government wants to subsidize the cost through vouchers for individuals or some similar system; so much the better.
With a completely government run system the end customer is NEVER the objective. The objective is remaining employed and doing what it takes to secure your job. Take the DMV for example, as it often is... I think the DMV is filled with employees who know that they don't have to answer to the people they serve (their customers). The end result is a system that works at the absolute minimum standard. If as a customer I have an issue; is there anyone I can actually go to that is going to do anything about it?
When the student is in grade school the customer is really the parent. The parent is obligated by law to make sure that their child is educated. Public school is like the DMV of the education. It might be horrible, and in the end there is nobody you can go to who can change anything. In a privatized system concerned parents would remove their children from poorly performing schools.
I need to post another one of the posts from my older blog on here. I did one about school choice in New York. People were pissed at the idea of having to choose where to send their kids! Can you believe that!?
I'll post it now... http://tinyurl.com/23jomb4
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