The Yes on 8 campaign and the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations announced on Thursday the results of an August survey that looked at the views on Amendment 8 of 170 of the consortium’s 1,100 members.
Robert McIntyre, vice chair of the consortium Leadership Council and CEO of DITEK Corp indicted, “Class size is the biggest issue for our members.”
Survey results show that 83 percent of respondents will vote yes on Amendment 8; if the amendment fails to pass, 79 percent answered no when asked if the “State of Florida should institute a state income tax to pay for the additional cost of further class size reductions?”
The full results of the survey are available on voiceineducation.org, a website sponsored by the CFEF Leadership Council.
State Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, who has led the Yes on 8 Campaign, said at Thursday’s press conference, “If Amendment 8 passes, a half-billion dollars will be freed up to invest in education. You can pay more to existing teachers, invest in technology. This is not an excuse for the legislature to not fund education. Do you want to build new classrooms or do you want a 21st-century education?”
Mary Chance, the executive director of the consortium, explained, “The consortium is a membership organization of 55 county foundations for Florida K-to-12 local education foundations working with district leaders to add to the discussion on issues in education.”
