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Class Size Limits May Be Lifted On Charter Schools

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May 3, 2009 9:54 am US/Eastern

Class Size Limits May Be Lifted On Charter Schools

Final State Budget Vote Could Happen Friday

TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) ― Under a new measure agreed to by state budget negotiators, charter schools across Florida would not be subjected to the same class size limits as their public school counter parts.

Saturday, chief House and Senate budget negotiators met to hammer out some of the last details of next year's $65 billion budget which goes into effect July 1st. A final vote on the budget is expected Friday.

"This is an interesting process, as everybody knows," Crist said when he stopped at the Capitol to check on the talks early in the day. "You're never really sure what ends up in and what ends up out until they finish and put it on the desk."

Currently, state law currently requires schools to average between 18 and 25 students per class, depending on grade level. If both houses of the legislature approve the budget, charter schools would no longer be bound by those restrictions.

Another item discussed was the future of the Bright Futures scholarships. Some lawmakers had wanted to cut the scholarship amount by one percent to save the state approximately $7 million. In the end, negotiators agreed not to cut the amount in lieu of an 8 percent tuition increase they granted the state's public universities. Bright Futures scholarships paid for all or part of 160 thousand Florida college students' tuition last year.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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