“… by virtually every empirical evaluation by Democrats and Republicans alike, we are spending on a recurring basis 2 to 4 billion annually on class size that has little or no impact on student achievement. Now I actually think that class size for district averages probably makes some sense and we ought to lock it in there but not each school site and certainly not each individual classroom itself. It’s so inflexible as to be not only impractical but counterproductive in educating each and every child.”
–Dominic Calabro, President and CEO FloridaTaxWatch
March 2nd, 2009
“I think we need to bring education funding back up. If we’re going to be competitive economically, we have to have a world class education system. We had a very conservative governor who thought education was important and thought that a 72 billion dollar education budget was necessary for this state. Now we’ve cut down to the low 60’s. We’ve cut too low and we must bring it back.” –State Senator Thad Altman (R- Melbourne)
On seeking a higher education: “Because if you think in your own families, your own lives, who was the first person in your family, the very first, who decided they would seek higher education? Maybe it was you, maybe it will be your children, maybe it was your father or your grandfather or mother or grandmother. But the moment that Rubicon was crossed, the moment that someone in your family decided they were going to advance themselves to a different level, your entire family changed, forever. And guess what? So did your community, when it happens in multiples and so did your city.and so did your county and your state and your nation.” –State Senator Dan Gelber (D- Miami Beach)
February 27th, 2009
