The Echo

Fla. justices take class size amendment challenge


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Supreme Court has accepted jurisdiction of a challenge to a proposed state constitutional amendment that would loosen class size limits.

The justices Wednesday set oral argument for Oct. 6.

The Florida Education Association, the statewide teachers union, wants the high court to block votes on Amendment 8 from being counted as it's too late to take it off the ballot.

A trial judge has rejected the union's claim that the proposal's ballot title and summary are misleading because they don't say the measure's chief purpose is to change school funding.

Critics of the existing class size amendment that voters passed in 2002 say it's too expensive and too rigid.