|
MIAMI-DADE SCHOOL BOARD ASKS STATE TO PAY MIAMI – The State of Florida should pay for the cost for constructing new student seats needed to comply with the class size amendment, the Miami-Dade School Board urged Wednesday. Board Members used the annual task of certifying participation in the Classrooms for Kids Program to remind state officials of their obligation under the constitutional amendment passed in November 2002. In a letter to Florida Department of Education officials, Miami-Dade School Board Chair Frank J. Bolaños and Superintendent Rudolph F. “Rudy” Crew estimated the cost of meeting the amendment’s requirements at more than $600 million. They also noted the state’s obligation to assist in that funding and the relatively small amount of assistance that has been provided so far. To date, the State has provided only about $55 million to help meet class size amendment costs in Miami-Dade, the nation’s fourth largest school District, with more than 356,000 students enrolled. The allocation for 2005-2006 is $4,116,344, which will only fund one modular project at one of the District’s 340 schools. The class size amendment passed by Florida voters requires school class sizes to be capped by 2010 at 18 students in grades K-3, 22 students in grades 4-8 and 25 students in grades 9-12. # # # 05-LJG/080/JJS |
