State Senate Bill Loosens Class Size Caps
Friday, March 25, 2011
By: Tom Parkinson

March 25, 2011 | WMFE - A bill to relax Florida's class size limits cleared a key senate education committee Thursday. The bill would allow schools to exceed the limits by 3 to 5 students per class.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Senator David Simmons of Altamonte Springs, said his proposal is a common sense approach to easing the class size strain on schools.
“Under these circumstances,” Simmons said, “we have permitted the school districts to have some flexibility and rationality in the implementation of the smaller classroom amendment”                 
A similar bill unanimously passed the House three years ago but stalled when the Senate refused to hear it.
Senators said class size limits could only be changed through a constitutional amendment. Lawmakers put an amendment on the ballot with similar language, but it was rejected by voters last November.