Although Jeff Greene has made much in recent days about Kendrick Meek's lack of productivity in Congress (a press release issued Wednesday blasted Meek for sponsoring 80 bills and not having any become law), one thing that the Miami Democrat has always been proud of is helping to pass the class size amendment back in 2002 when he was still in the Florida Legislature.
So it's understandable that he's not in favor of Amendment 8, which aligns him with the state's biggest teachers' union, the Florida Education Association, but against many local school boards, such as in Hillsborough and Pinellas. Wednesday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Meek spoke passionately to maintain the current legislation, where the final part of the bill, mandating hard caps on class sizes, begins in a few weeks.
"It’s really important that you vote against rolling back the class size amendment," he told the audience at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club at a Tiger Bay event. "This is Governor Jeb Bush's 'devious plans,'" he said, referring to the 2002 quote by the then-governor who thought he was off-mike at the time (Bush was a virulent critic of the legislation).
On Thursday morning a news conference will be held to announce details of the anti-8 campaign in Miami. Those appearing will include state Senator Alex Villalobos and NAACP President Adora Obi Nwezen.
"These are tough times right now and I understand that, but let me tell you something, we start backsliding on our children and grandchildren, we're going to find ourselves going down a slippery slope," Meek said in St. Pete.
This article appears in Aug 12-18, 2010.