Funding Class-Size Cuts a Big Challenge for Next Governor, Legislature

Florida Policy News, August 21, 2006

In an election season rife with big promises, Charlie Crist's biggest commitment is one he spends little time discussing.  (Class size key issue in governorÕs race, Florida Today)

The Republican frontrunner for governor wants to double spending on teacher bonuses, double the homestead exemption, lock up more criminals and cut your taxes.

But his biggest-ticket promise thus far has been to end four years of GOP reluctance to fund the multibillion-dollar mandate to shrink class sizes that Florida voters approved in 2002.

"At some point in time you've got to move on and accept what the people have said. And it seems to me that we're at that point," Crist told a crowd at a recent candidate forum. "You're the boss. You've made the call on this decision."

That position has put him at odds with his primary opponent, Tom Gallagher, and much of the fiscally conservative wing of the party that has steadfastly argued the class-size amendment was a liberal teachers' union invention that will cripple state budgets and worsen educational outcomes.

Both of the Democrats running for governor, Jim Davis and Rod Smith, have also pledged to implement the class-size amendment by 2010. It spells out that no more than 18 students be allowed in kindergarten through third-grade classes, 22 students in fourth- through eighth-grade classes and 25 students in high school classes.

But all three have been mum on how they'd pay for it.  "People are significantly understating its tremendous fiscal cost," says Dominic Calabro, president of Florida TaxWatch, a conservative Tallahassee research institute. "I haven't seen anyone say how they're going to pay for it."

State economists have put the amendment's eight-year costs at anywhere from $12.5 billion to $28 billion.  Lawmakers devoted $3.2 billion this year to class size, and a total of $7 billion over the last four years. About $1.9 billion of that was for actual classroom construction.

Gallagher's campaign has based its criticism of Crist, in part, on his class-size support, claiming it will cost $5 billion a year from now on to phase in as the rules for calculating compliance get stricter.

"In the best economy we've ever had from 2002 until today, we've managed to put $8 billion in -- that's $2 billion a year," Gallagher says. "Now we need $5 billion. All I want to know is where you get it."

Florida's Office of Economic and Demographic Research has estimated state budget writers will have $3.7 billion in recurring and one-time surplus revenue to spend next year, a pot that will also have to be used for any tax cuts or new policy initiatives the next governor will push.

Opponents of the class-size amendment use the biggest anticipated cost to argue trying to meet its rigid classroom caps will force higher taxes.  "It's typical of political campaigns that candidates want to be liked by telling the public what they think they want to hear," says Robert Sanchez, policy director for the conservative James Madison Institute. "It's like taking your kids to Toys 'R' Us. You may be in for a shock when you get up to the check out line."

At the same time, many class-size opponents feel the best chance to repeal the amendment has passed. Voters this fall could approve another constitutional amendment that would raise the bar for future amendments to pass from a simple-majority vote of the public to a 60 percent majority.

Class size passed with 52 percent of the vote in 2002, and many say it will be all-but-impossible to go back and change class-size if voters approve the higher bar in November.

Steven Uhlfelder, a Tallahassee lawyer who represented the class-size opposition group in 2002, says it's unrealistic given the higher bar and reluctance of lawmakers to amend the mandate, that anyone can fight it now.

"You have to be sticking your head in the sand to think it could be changed at this time, even though I think it's not a viable solution to the ills we have," says Uhlfelder, who has not been active in the governor's race but was asked to serve on Gallagher's education policy panel. "Class size to Floridians is like motherhood and apple pie, unfortunately. Who doesn't want their children in smaller classes?"

Legislative leaders who have fought its implementation are resigned now to the reality that the state will have to pay for it.  "We're past that part of the discussion. The discussion now is how do you do a class size that's workable," says incoming House Speaker Marco Rubio, a Miami Republican whose home county has some of the most overcrowded classrooms in Florida.

Crist has said he'd be open to another plan to amend class size, if lawmakers give him one. But the president of the state's teachers' union, the Florida Education Association, says in a meeting earlier this year Crist convinced him he was serious about phasing it in.

"He's just starting to understand the political reality," FEA President Andy Ford says. "He has now looked at the reality of class size. I believe he sincerely wants to do that."

The two Democrats chasing the governor's mansion have talked a lot about class size this summer, but don't agree with the price tag.

Davis, a Tampa congressman and former state legislator, touts that he was part of the state legislative team in 1995 that brought about an earlier bill to start reducing the number of students in classrooms. He is also the only gubernatorial candidate who voted to put class size in Florida's Constitution. But he doesn't buy the projection that it could cost the next governor $20 billion in his first term.

"We need to make it work. We do not know the cost," Davis said in a candidate forum this week. "It'll be my job as governor to conduct an open and honest debate over how much it will cost."

Smith, too, likes to remind audiences that he helped lead the charge last spring to thwart a legislative plan to weaken the amendment. He has proposed using $2 billion in general revenue to pay for school construction next year. Smith said voters knew what they were approving.  "Smaller classes give teachers more control and students don't fall through the cracks," Smith says.

►  For two generations, beginning in the 1970s, parents and teachers bemoaned the omnipresent overcrowding of Florida's public classrooms.  (Yes, failing the trust test is costly, Ocala Star-Banner editorial)  Despite relentless pleas from the public over the decades, the Legislature ignored the people and the situation - until 2002.

That's the year voters took matters into their own hands, passing a state constitutional amendment that mandates class-size limits. Since then, Gov. Jeb Bush and the Republican leadership in the state House and Senate have worked overtime trying to overturn or, at least, water down the amendment, to no avail. To our elected representatives' credit, the people's will has stood the political onslaught of Bush & Co.

But the issue is resurfacing as school districts face new, more stringent compliance measurements. Up till now, school districts only had to meet class-size requirements based on a districtwide average. That has allowed a great deal of flexibility. Starting this year, there will be much less wiggle room as districts must now fulfill the amendment's mandates on a per-school basis.

The real pressure will come in 2010, though, when the amendment is applied to each individual classroom in the state: 18 students in kindergarten through third grade, 22 in fourth through eighth, and 25 in high school classrooms. If a class exceeds the ceiling by just one student, the law demands the creation of a whole new class - teacher, classroom and all.

While class-size opponents in the Legislature and even on the local School Board level argue such requirements are fiscally unreasonable, even reckless, they fail to recognize Florida is following this formula because elected representatives in the past refused to be responsive to the public's demands.

Here in Marion County the class-size amendment will be expensive to enact. School district officials say meeting the constitutional mandate in 2010 will require 330 more teachers - and classrooms to put them in - at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. School officials are decrying the class-size requirements as financially disastrous.

But the proof is in the pudding, or more to the point, the academic performance. Test scores are up statewide, and especially here in Marion County. Teachers and principals universally agree the smaller class sizes enhance learning at a time when students are dealing with more rigorous subject matter every year. And discipline is markedly improved.

The people have spoken and demanded smaller class sizes and, with them, a more enriching and less disruptive atmosphere in which their children can learn. Politicians, nonetheless, continue to want to tamper with the class-size amendment. But they are disingenuous, offering no guarantees that classes won't once again swell to 35, 40 or more students. The fixes they are proposing, like utilizing the districtwide average, don't fly with a mistrusting public whose concerns went unaddressed for far too long. When the lawmakers in Tallahassee suggest that we just trust them, we suggest the public's retort be, "Like we trusted you with the lottery money?"

Those who advocate easing the class-size amendment make a sound financial case. But smaller classes are now part of an educational overhaul that, over time, is producing quantifiable results in the quality of education our youngsters are receiving.

The class-size amendment was the public's way of answering a long-running snub from the Legislature. It is clear our lawmakers still don't want to provide the sort of learning environment parents and teachers believe our children need. Until there are enforceable guarantees attached to any revision of the class-size amendment, it should stand as is.

The reason lawmakers and school boards, like our own, can't win a rewrite of the class-size amendment is because Gov. Bush and the Legislature have been very clear their sole intent is to save money, ignoring the concern of parents and educators.

The class-size amendment has come down to being a matter of trust, and, not surprisingly, the Legislature has failed the trust test.

Bush Disputes Education Rankings as Other Issues Arise

The Aug. 8 editorial titled "State Rankings: Higher education goes begging" used flawed methodology to create a biased view of our state priorities.  (UNIVERSITIES:  Florida offers one of best values, Jeb Bush op-ed, Florida Times-Union)

Ranking funding for higher education based on per capita spending is not a defensible means for comparing Florida with other states.

Florida has a much larger number of senior citizens than other states, skewing the per capita spending figure for education.

Other higher education rankings by reputable organizations tell a different story. According to the College Board's "Trends in College Pricing 2005" report, Florida ranked 49th in the cost of tuition and fees to attend a public four-year university, making a college education in Florida one of the best values in the nation.

Additionally, according to the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs' "Annual Survey on State-Sponsored Student Aid 2004-05,"  Florida ranked 14th in undergraduate financial aid grants awarded per undergraduate full-time equivalent enrollment, reinforcing the fact that the state makes great strides to make higher education available to its citizens.

Rankings reported for K-12 spending, likewise, fail to tell the full story.

During the last eight years, funding for education - not including construction of new facilities - increased by $7.7 billion, or 69 percent.  This year alone, K-12 funds have increased by $1.8 billion, or almost 11 percent, for a total potential funding of $18.8 billion.  On a per student basis, funding for this next school year has increased by $542, or 9 percent, for more than $7,000 per student.

More fundamentally, spending alone does not translate into better quality or better results.

Florida has implemented major education reform to improve quality and accountability in our education system.

The results speak for themselves. Since 1998, Florida's fourth-graders increased their scores in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress - a nationwide benchmark that allows fair comparisons between states - more than three times the national gain, a 13 point gain compared to four points nationally.

In 2005, Florida's African-American and Hispanic-American fourth-grade students achieved higher scores on average than their national counterparts.

While the editorial recognizes Florida ranks fourth in spending on the environment, it inappropriately implies that the number of superfund sites reflects our commitment to environment protection. The two numbers are, in fact, directly related.

As a result of Florida's financial commitment, we are funding one of the most aggressive programs in the nation for identifying and cleaning up contaminated sites, including both the severely contaminated superfund sites, as well as those that are less contaminated.

►  Preparing for the upcoming legislative season, St. Lucie teachers union representatives, district officials and school board members met Thursday to discuss what issues they'll take up with state lawmakers in Tallahassee next year.  (St. Lucie education leaders craft strategy for legislatures, Palm Beach Post)

The state's voter-approved law to shrink class size led the discussion. Teacher salaries, school vouchers, escalating insurance premiums and school start dates were other concerns.

District officials want the state to change the class-size law so that penalties are lifted once the yearly class-size targets are met. The law puts fast-growing districts like St. Lucie at a disadvantage, union and district officials agreed.

St. Lucie was the only district last year to not make class-size targets and was fined. The district was told by the state to move $574,950 from the budget it uses for such expenses as teacher salaries and textbooks and instead put it into an account reserved for building or renovating classrooms.

State officials later lessened the penalty because they acknowledged hurricanes were to blame and had affected how quickly portables could be installed.

Union representatives and district officials also agreed that performance-based salaries for teachers were unfair and based too heavily on student performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.  "Differentiated pay needs to go away," union representative Christine Hill said.

Superintendent Michael Lannon criticized the state's support of McKay vouchers, which allow disabled students to attend private schools with taxpayer money. Lannon said the vouchers lacked accountability and didn't provide a better alternative to public schools.  "I really believe that there will be a move to increase vouchers, and therefore there needs to be a strong oppositional piece," he said.

Insurance premiums skyrocketed 120 percent for the district this year, with St. Lucie paying a much higher proportion of its state funding for insurance compared with larger districts such as Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Local officials said the state should either adjust funding to make up the imbalance or provide a statewide insurance coverage program for school districts.

Union and district leaders also said they want to be able to decide locally when school starts each year. Next year, districts can't start any earlier than two weeks before Labor Day under state law.  Many Florida districts, including St. Lucie, have started school much earlier in August so students have more time to learn before the FCAT.

►  Jacksonville's George Washington Carver Elementary is a B school in the state's eyes and barely missed getting an A this year.  (Florida lags in No Child Left Behind; Jeb wants law changed, Associated Press/Miami Herald)  Yet, Carver, which once got D's and F's, still is considered a failing school under the federal No Child Left Behind law, which was adopted in 2001.

It is one of 2,278 Florida schools - 71 percent of the total - that have failed to make the adequate yearly progress, or AYP, required by No Child Left Behind in 2006. That's in sharp contrast to the state's report card that this year gave an A or B to three of every four Florida schools.

Gov. Jeb Bush and state education officials have responded to those contradictory results by proposing an experimental AYP program that would give Florida schools a better shot at meeting federal standards. The governor also is lobbying for changes in the No Child Left Behind law, the centerpiece for the domestic policy of his brother, President Bush, when it comes up for reauthorization next year.

"How could you argue with a B?" said Carver principal Becky Rhoden. "The gains that these students made at Carver went through the roof and that's why this school rose to a B."

Carver met No Child Left Behind goals in all except one of 39 possible categories. That still wasn't enough.

Only special education students, including children with learning or emotional disabilities, failed to score high enough as a subgroup on their version of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or FCAT, Rhoden said.

Carver and 29 other Florida schools that have missed AYP five years in a row must come up with restructuring plans for the 2007-08 academic year. That number could grow to more than 500 the following year.

Restructuring can include replacing the principal and faculty, a takeover by the state or a private company, conversion to a charter school or "any other major restructuring," according to the law. State Education Commissioner John Winn expects most Florida schools to take the "any other" option. It can include less drastic changes such as curriculum modifications.

Mecheall Giombetti, principal of Endeavor Elementary in Cocoa, said her school already has done most things on the list including staffing changes, while raising its grade from F to C over a four-year span, but it still has missed AYP for five years.  "I can't see them reconstituting the school again," she said.

Schools that fail to make AYP two or more years in a row must give students an opportunity to transfer to better public schools with the school district paying for transportation. After three years, they must offer private tutoring.

This year, 185 Florida schools must offer transfers and 865 tutoring and transfers.

Florida has 3,830 public schools but only the 1,398 getting federal Title I money for disadvantaged students can be sanctioned. They must spend 20 percent of it for transfers and tutoring.

Some school districts have been reluctant to accept tutoring by private companies or organizations. Officials estimate no more than 34 percent - 23,374 - of 68,442 eligible students participated last school year, the first it was offered. They also estimate 7,777 students took transfers due to No Child Left Behind but say others may have left the same schools under other choice programs.

"We learned a lot of lessons in the first year and hope for that to be much smoother this year," Winn said.

The FCAT is the measuring tool for No Child Left Behind and the state's grades but each uses the scores in a different way.

The state awards points for FCAT gains, including extra credit if the lowest performing quarter of a school's students improves. A school can get a good grade even if weak in one area.

No Child Left Behind is more rigid. To make AYP last year at least 95 percent of a Florida school's students had to take the FCAT, 50 percent or more had to score at grade level in math and 44 percent in reading. The minimums will increase yearly until they reach 100 percent in 2013-14.

The primary criteria also have to be met by each of eight subgroups, if large enough to be measured: white, black, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, economically disadvantaged, limited English speakers and disabled. There also are writing and high school graduation goals.

Any D or F school automatically fails AYP. If an A, B or C school misses just one criteria, like Carver did, it also misses AYP.  "That demonstrates a misunderstanding about how improvement takes place," Winn said.

Florida has seen dramatic gains because its grading system sets reasonable goals but AYP standards have become hopeless, he said.  "Each year you get farther and farther behind," Winn said. "People throw up their hands, and I think No Child Left Behind is kind of losing its power as a motivator for change by being so rigid and being just a pass-fail kind of achievement."

The U.S. Department of Education has agreed to let up to 10 states adopt experimental growth models that track individual student achievement. Florida's proposal was rejected but state officials plan to resubmit it with changes to resolve calculating process objections.

Gov. Bush and other Florida officials want similar revisions in the national program when the law is reconsidered next year.  "We don't want this to be punitive to anybody," Bush said. "We just want results."

The governor also has advocated a federal school grading system similar to Florida's instead of the pass-fail of AYP and national proficiency standards instead of different ones in every state.  He also advocates changes to federal law that would link teacher pay to performance, higher salaries for teachers in fields with shortages and ways to dismiss poor teachers.

Bush said he spoke briefly about his proposals to the president and in detail to U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. The governor said his proposals don't mean he opposes No Child Left Behind.  "It's an excellent tool for advancing reform, but it can be enhanced to be even better," Bush said.

The federal law requires "proficiency" but doesn't define that term, leaving it to the states to set their own levels.  "There was a tendency to kind of lowball what you call proficient," Winn said. "We got penalized by the federal program for being honest and setting high standards."

Only about 30 percent of Florida's schools have met those standards. Much higher percentages have gained AYP status, and avoided sanctions, in states that set lower standards.

Florida got into that fix by using the same standards it set for the school grading system, said Jack Jennings, president of the independent Center on Education Policy.  "The state could have changed its goals for No Child Left Behind, but then it would have been accused of watering down its expectations," Jennings said.

Jennings said it was interesting that a Republican administration, usually opposed to federal education controls, would support a national standard.  "It would solve a lot of problems, but I don't know if we're ready for that in this country," he said.

At Carver Elementary, Rhoden doesn't worry whether her school is being unfairly sanctioned.  "We need to realize that all children can learn," she said. "Exceptional students just need more help and more time, and we can make accommodations for them."

►  Florida students ranked last in 2005 among 23 states that gave reading or English language arts tests required for high school graduation, with only 52 percent passing on the first try, the independent Center on Education Policy reported Wednesday.  (Florida students rank low in high school reading tests, Associated Press/St. Petersburg Times)

Florida did much better, though, in mathematics. The state's first-time passing rate was 77 percent, good for 10th place.

The center's report, "State High School Exams: A Challenging Year," closely followed another report that showed Florida's ACT composite score fell this year, although the national average was the highest of any class since 1991 and the biggest annual increase in 20 years.

The two reports are among several national comparisons that have conflicted with glowing state assessments. This year, three of every four Florida public schools received grades of A or B from the state, while just 23 - a fraction of 1 percent - got F's.

The state school grades are based on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, the same test Florida high school students must pass to earn a diploma.

The center's report shows a first-time passing rate among 11 states requiring a reading test ranging from Florida's low of 52 percent to a high of 91 percent in Ohio.

Other states test English language arts, which can include reading, writing, grammar, literature and oral communication, instead of or in addition to reading only. The lowest first-time passing rate on those tests was 57 percent in Maryland, still better than Florida's reading rate. The highest was Georgia's 95 percent.

Florida's white students (65 percent), black students (28 percent), and Hispanic students (41 percent), ranked last in reading or English language arts in a sampling of eight states broken down by ethnicity. The 37-point gap between white and black students in Florida also was the biggest among the eight states.

Florida Department of Education spokeswoman Cathy Schroeder said state officials recognize the passage rate for first-time test takers needs improving.

The Center on Education Policy's report "confirms to us what we knew all along: We need to increase the rigor and relevance of middle and high school so that our students will be prepared to succeed the very first time they take the FCAT," Schroeder said.

Legislation dubbed "A-Plus-Plus" was passed this year to help achieve that goal by various means, including requirements that high school students take a fourth year of math and focus on major fields of interest.

The state's ACT scores have declined in each of the last three years, including a decline from a 20.4 average in 2005 to 20.3 in 2006 on the college entrance test. Scores tend to drop as more students take the test and Florida's participation increased from 41 percent last year to 44 percent in 2006, Schroeder said.

Gov. Jeb Bush said he was pleased that the number of Florida students taking the ACT increased from 58,302 to 66,299.  "We must encourage all of our high school students to take these exams and prepare for the rigor of college and the work force," Bush said in a statement.

►  The high school class of 2006 nationally posted the biggest score increase on the ACT college entrance exam in 20 years, and recorded the highest scores of any class since 1991, but Florida's results were down.  (ACT scores highest since 1991 nationally but fall in Florida, Associated Press/Miami Herald)

Average composite scores on the exam, which measures students' readiness for college-level work, rose to 21.1 from 20.9 last year. Both boys and girls posted gains, as did all racial groups except Hispanics, whose scores held steady. ACT scores range from 1 to 36.

Florida's composite scores instead dropped by 0.1 point from 20.4 in 2005 to 20.3 this year. That left Florida tied with Colorado and Texas in 41st place, down from 36th last year, among the 50 states and District of Columbia. Florida's highest score in the last 12 years was 20.8 achieved in 1994 and 1998.

Officials at the independent, nonprofit ACT said an increase of 0.2 points is significant when considered across a record 1.2 million test-takers nationwide, or 40 percent of graduating seniors.

"It takes an enormous amount of change for that large a group to move even a little bit, particularly when that group is changing and we're seeing more students take the ACT for the first time," said Richard Ferguson, CEO of the Iowa City, Iowa-based organization.

Some of the improvement may come from the ACT's growing popularity among high-achieving students in states where the rival SAT exam has traditionally been more popular. The ACT is more attractive to some students because it focuses more on material covered in high school classes than on general ability.

In Connecticut, 12 percent of 2006 graduates took the ACT, up from 10 percent a year ago, and scores rose from 22.8 to 23.1. In New Jersey, 8 percent took the test, up from 6 percent of 2005 graduates, and scores rose from 21.3 to 21.8.

But Ferguson said the national increases were broad-based. Illinois and Colorado - the two states where nearly all 11th graders are required to take the test - saw scores rise 0.2 and 0.1, respectively. Other states with large numbers of ACT takers, such as Kentucky and Tennessee, also recorded increases in line with the national gains.

Historically, the ACT has been more popular in states in the center of the country, while the SAT predominates on the East and West Coasts. But in addition to Connecticut and New Jersey, Florida, Delaware, Vermont and New Hampshire all had double-digit percentage increases in the number of students taking the ACT.

Florida's participation increased from 34 percent in 1994 to 44 percent in 2004, declined to 41 percent last year, but increased to 44 percent in 2006.

Next year, Michigan will join Illinois and Colorado in administering the test statewide to 11th graders, and Kentucky will follow in 2008.

ACT officials said the numbers are encouraging but still show too few students are prepared for college-level work. Only 21 percent of test-takers scored the benchmark indicating they are likely to succeed in college on each of the four exams - math, English, reading and science. More than two-thirds hit the benchmark score in English, but barely one-quarter did in science.

"This doesn't mean they won't be successful and graduate from college, but it does increase the likelihood they will struggle or need remediation along the way," Ferguson said.

Students persuaded to take a full core curriculum - including four years of English and three years each of math, science and social studies - do better on the ACT and are more likely to succeed in college. But the percentage who reported taking the core - which is more than many states require to graduate - actually fell from 56 percent to 54 percent this year.

"The message still isn't getting across to far too many students," Ferguson said.

Average scores for black students rose 0.1 points to 17.1, while Hispanics' scores were steady at 18.6. Significant racial gaps persist: Whites scored 22.0 on average and Asian-Americans 22.3. Even black students who took the core were outscored by white students who had not - which Ferguson attributed to a range of factors, including insufficient rigor in the core courses offered to minority students.

The average score for boys rose 0.1 percent to 21.2, while girls' scores rose 0.1 to 21.0.

The ACT also released the first results from a new optional essay section, launched in February 2005. About 36 percent of test-takers completed the essay portion and they scored on average 7.2 on a scale of 2 to 12. Girls outscored boys by half a point.

SAT results for the class of 2006 will be released later this month. Most colleges accept either the SAT or ACT when considering an application.

►  As he listens to the major party candidates for Florida governor, Roy Miller gets frustrated.  (Group demands answers on pre-K, Miami Herald)

"It's all been heavy on rhetoric and light on substance," complains Miller, executive director of the Tallahassee-based Children's Campaign advocacy group. "And when it comes to children's issues, it's not even been heavy on rhetoric."

So the Children's Campaign, along with other players including Florida TaxWatch, plans to dog the candidates at public events and demand answers. Topping its wish list is some specificity about the constitutional amendment for universal prekindergarten.

The amendment, approved by 59 percent of voters in 2002, calls for a "voluntary, high-quality, free" prekindergarten program, delivered according to "professionally accepted standards" to all Florida 4-year-olds.

Miller and others contend that the state has not yet adequately funded its pre-K program, and that lawmakers created an early education system that falls far short of high quality. One problem, they say, is the program sets teacher credential requirements too low and does not set any curriculum requirements.

In its first year, the program served just more than 40 percent of Florida's 4-year-olds, a fraction of the number expected. Its short hours and lack of transportation prompted even some State Board of Education members to question whether the system offered a viable option to many working families.

"We are going to the candidates' events and we will ask the question," Miller said. "We (as a nonprofit) are unable to endorse candidates . . . We can certainly ask candidates questions and encourage Florida voters to ask questions."

Already, the groups have delivered hundreds of drawings from 4-year-olds, along with letters from their parents, asking the candidates to commit to "fixing" pre-K. They got what they consider perfunctory answers.  Next, they plan rallies and debates in St. Petersburg, Miami and Orlando, and letters to campaign contributors urging them to have their candidates speak to the issue.

"It has a connecting point to so many avenues of our health, our economic prosperity and of our competitiveness as a state and as a people," said Dominic Calabro, Florida TaxWatch executive director.

Plus, it's mandated in the constitution.  "Florida TaxWatch takes that seriously," Calabro said. "We should take advantage of that and do it well."

The Times put the issue directly to each of the four major party candidates. Only one, Democrat Rod Smith, called back. The others sent responses by e-mail.

As a state senator representing Alachua County, Smith voted in December 2004 for the pre-K enabling legislation that the critics don't like. He said he held his nose as he did so.  "Not to vote for it would be to vote against implementation," he explained. "Any step was better than no step."

Now the state must put more money into per-student funding, Smith said, anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000 more per student. It must beef up teacher credential requirements, he said, and add hours to the program so parents have real options.

"You can't tell a working family, 'You can drop your child off at 8:30 a.m. and pick him up at 11:30 a.m.,'" he said. "I don't think we're there yet. It has to be front and center on the next governor's agenda."

Smith's rival in the Democratic primary, U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa, called it "vitally important" that Florida develop a strong early education system. In an e-mail, Davis said the state must have "a real high quality pre-K program that makes sure that all children arrive at kindergarten ready to learn."

Key to the program, he said, are "qualified teachers" and "quality curriculum." He did not offer more details.

Republican candidate Tom Gallagher of Miami, currently the state's chief financial officer, took the stance in an e-mail that the existing pre-K system is doing the job.

"As a parent, I understand the importance of having our children ready to learn when it's time to start school," Gallagher said. "Florida's pre-K program has provided opportunity and choice for Florida's parents and a good foundation for learning."

His primary opponent, attorney general Charlie Crist of Pinellas County, came closer to criticizing the program, but stopped short.  On one hand, Crist said, the voters made clear that they want a program to give youngsters a strong foundation for learning. It still must mature into something that best serves children, he said.

The answer is not easily reached, though, Crist continued, because Florida does not have the data from the first year to know whether regulatory changes are needed.  "I will use state funds strategically to increase the performance and satisfaction of students and their families, and preschools that do not consistently and adequately prepare our students will not be eligible for state funding," Crist said.  He did not offer further details.

Pre-K is just one high profile issue that the candidates should address with more substance, said Miller, of the Children's Campaign. He mentioned the state's high teen incarceration and its poor protection of foster children as two other examples.

His chief operating officer, Linda Alexionok, put the matter in stark terms: "Florida is getting ready to elect the highest office in the state," she said. "The voters have basically said these are things that matter to us. ... We want to ask, 'If you're elected, what are you going to do for the children of Florida?'"

►  Yes, the state is offering free pre-kindergarten for the second year. But again, parents are finding the frustration is in the fine print.  (Price of free pre-K is a headache, Palm Beach Post)

The program is free, but the state requires only 540 hours over the 180-day school year. For most schools, public and private, that means the state is paying for only three hours a day.  If parents need all-day care, the balance must come out of their pockets — unless they are poor enough to qualify for a subsidy.

Though the program is a year old, new parents haven't necessarily gotten the message.  "We have to explain it's not necessarily a full-day program," said Warren Eldridge, executive director of the county's Early Learning Coalition, which oversees the program locally. Eldridge says he's fielding fewer calls than last year, but he's still getting them.

So far, 5,614 children in the county have applied for certificates to attend the state's pre-K this fall. That appears to be ahead of last year's pace. By year's end, 5,751 children enrolled in the 2005-06 school-year program, many of them signing up in September.

Summer enrollment added 813 students, giving the county a total of 6,564 for the first year of state pre-K.

About 202 schools want to offer the state's program, including 34 public schools.

They, in particular, have had to battle the fine print frustration, program director M.J. Steele said.  Parents expect a full day free from the public schools, she said. The public schools will offer a full day of care, but the parents who want to enroll for the longer day (7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) will have to pay.

At 24 of those schools, parents have these choices: They can pay for the full day out of pocket, saving the state voucher opportunity for the longer summer program. Cost: $125. They can use the state voucher and pay $90 for the balance of the day. If the parent is poor enough to qualify for subsidized care, that money can pay for the whole day or the after care, Steele said.  (Pay rates at the other 10 schools vary due to grants and other programs at the schools.)

Parents also can choose to pick up their child after three hours. Some schools will offer three-hour morning and three-hour afternoon sessions.

Private schools will offer a variety of hours and after-care options as well.

Another matter of detail: Unlike public school, the state does not provide transportation to or from school.

Public school begins Wednesday in Palm Beach County. That line on the calendar should not discourage parents of 4-year-olds who want to take advantage of the state's free pre-kindergarten but haven't yet signed up.  While some classes may begin this week, the state does not set an enrollment deadline for its pre-K. Parents can sign up any time this fall, Eldridge said.  Parents could even sign up after the holidays, but may want to consider waiting for the summer version after having missed so many classroom hours in the school year program.

►  The state Board of Education slapped Orange County Public Schools with potentially costly penalties Tuesday because of lingering questions about the district's plan to reform its persistently failing high schools.  (Orange schools face sanctions, Orlando Sentinel)

The Orange school district could lose millions of dollars in grants and the equivalent of Superintendent Ron Blocker's pay and benefits -- more than $17,500 a month -- if it cannot resolve concerns about key teachers at Jones and Evans high schools.

State and district officials held out hope, however, that Orange could satisfy the board in the next month and avoid the money drain.

The penalties marked the state board's toughest effort so far to force reforms at schools that repeatedly score an F under Florida's evaluation system. Board members said they wanted assurances that low-performing students would get the help they need.

Stung by the decision, a clearly frustrated Blocker said that early talks with the state showed that the district had complied with state requests.  "We're not asking for sympathy," he said after the meeting at Miami Dade College's north campus. "We're asking for understanding and a willingness to work together."

Orange now has to prove that seven Evans math teachers -- who rank among the lowest in the state in helping students make gains -- will be effective or trained by September. The district also must show the state erred in its analysis that reading teachers at Jones are inadequate.

Education Commissioner John Winn said Orange was close to meeting the target.  "I have no doubt he [Blocker] has put forth a faithful effort," Winn said. "He is very close."

Education Chancellor Cheri Yecke said Orange had made progress and that she was confident the issue would be resolved by September.  "Our only concerns are with reading at Jones and math at Evans," she said.

The state rates schools on an A-to-F system using a scale based on students' FCAT performance. Schools with an F have high numbers of students who scored far below grade level in reading and math.

Last month, the board threatened Orange and three other districts -- Miami-Dade, Duval and Jefferson -- with the sanctions because they did not draft bold reform blueprints to meet the state's 26-point action plan for failing schools.

New plans from Duval and Jefferson passed muster Tuesday. But neither Orange's nor Miami-Dade's plans were tough enough to suit board members. For both districts, a contentious point was who could run chronic F schools.

State officials wanted Orange and Miami to hire only leaders with a track record of raising a school by more than two grade levels -- someone who moved a D or an F school to an A or a B.  The districts countered that such changes would further destabilize fragile schools, and that Florida's pool of qualified leaders was small.

Blocker proposed hiring mentors for principals Karen Wilson at Evans and Bridget Williams at Jones, neither of whom met the state standard. Board members questioned the qualifications of Wilson, who led Evans when it slipped from a D to an F this year.

State officials softened their stance Tuesday to temporarily allow principals who boosted schools by only two letter grades if paired with a qualified mentor. The board will take up that issue next month.

Miami-Dade Superintendent Rudy Crew lashed out at board members who hammered him on his decision to pair some principals with mentors rather than remove them.  "I don't like people telling me how to run my schools," Crew said. He said the state had not given him the tools to do the job. "You want achievement on a regressive nickel. That's really hard to do."

Blocker took a more conciliatory tone, promising a closer relationship with state officials.  "All roads lead to Rome," Blocker said.

He said that nearly three-quarters of Orange schools earned A's and B's last year, and that the district has lengthened the school day at Evans, Jones and Oak Ridge highs. Orange will pump an extra $8 million into Evans and Jones and add reading, math and science coaches to its rolls.  "We're committed," he said.

Board member Donna Callaway chided Blocker's emphasis on new programs, saying he had not focused enough on the poorest readers.  "You can change the school grade with programs like that," she said, "but it doesn't address the lowest 25 percent."

The decision to penalize Orange turned on a technicality. Blocker will need to prove that all of its reading and math teachers hold elite certification and rank among the top in the state. If they do not, they must undergo rigorous training.

Orange disputes the analysis that Jones has inadequate reading teachers, saying they are language-arts teachers, so they don't have to be qualified in a subject they won't teach.

As for the seven math teachers at Evans, "they are diamonds in the rough," Blocker said, promising to place them with coaches. More importantly, they want to be at Evans.  "It's a good investment to have," he said.

The sanctions, if they last, could drain millions from the district's $2.8 billion budget. Still, School Board member Jim Martin, who was at the meeting, said he was encouraged by the district's direction.  Next year, "we'll have no schools on this list," he said.

Majority of Youngest Children in Florida Now Non-White

The youngest Anglo children in Hillsborough County and across Florida are now a minority, foreshadowing the day when Florida - like four states now - becomes a majority-minority state.  (White Children Now in Minority, Tampa Tribune)

Non-Hispanic whites in Florida accounted for fewer than half of all children younger than 5 last year, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released today. Slightly more than 47 percent of the state's youngest children were non-Hispanic whites, down from nearly 55 percent five years earlier.

In Hillsborough County, non-Hispanic white children have become a minority also, making up less than 47 percent of the population younger than 5, down from nearly 51 percent in 2000.

In parts of the county, the trend was evident before this report. The Hillsborough County school district reported nonwhite enrollment of 55 percent in 2004. At St. John Presbyterian Learning Center, students move between two worlds, speaking English and Spanish and adjusting based on when their families moved here.

Out of 100 children at the learning center, 75 are nonwhite, many in families that moved here from Colombia, Cuba, Mexico or Puerto Rico, Director Dianne Patterson said. The numbers have been high for five years because the center, at 4120 N. MacDill Ave., attracts low-income families, which are predominantly nonwhite.

"The children learn the language very rapidly," said Patterson, who adapted by hiring staff to reflect the student population. "Having a lot of Spanish-speakers is the trend all over. We have 4- and 5-year-olds interpreting for their parents."

The impact of the population shift will be felt in school and health-care systems that may not be prepared, demographers say.

Children who live in minority neighborhoods and are not exposed to mainstream society - by attending child care or prekindergarten, for example - will struggle with language and assimilation, said Mark Mather, a demographer with the Population Reference Bureau.

"It won't be an immediate impact," Mather said. "Once they start going through the school system, there will be more demand for language courses. Some are assimilating more than other certain groups, who are more likely to live in minority enclaves.  "I'm speaking mainly of Hispanics and Asians," Mather added. "There will be more challenges for those groups, the schools and medical systems."

The recent Census estimates come from the American Community Survey, the cornerstone of the government's effort to keep tabs on the nation's changing population. The new survey will provide demographic, socio-economic and housing information about America's communities every year - information that until now was only available once a decade.

Texas, the Census Bureau reported in August 2005, joined Hawaii, New Mexico and California as a majority-minority state. Eight other states with minority populations of about 40 percent today were expected to join them next - Maryland, Mississippi, New York, Georgia, Arizona, Louisiana and Florida.

Some demographers expect the U.S. population as a whole to reach that plateau by 2050.

Aurea Velazquez, a St. John's parent, is part of the trend.  Velazquez moved from Puerto Rico, a U.S. commonwealth, six months ago. Her 4-year-old daughter, Yamilette, is in prekindergarten.

"It's been difficult in Puerto Rico with no work, and the economy is bad," she said. "People are going to continue to move here because of the bad economies. Here, you can at least survive with your family."

Kristi Bennett's two children, Gillian, 4, and Aedean, 3, are among the minority Anglo children at St. John's. Bennett doesn't mind.  "I love it," she said. "I think it's healthy to be around children who don't look like them. It teaches them tolerance and diversity really early on."

The Price of Living in Florida

South Florida built its reputation as a retirement community on a handful of ingredients: sun, sand, the absence of a state income tax -- and plenty of affordable housing.  (High costs of housing squeezing seniors out, Miami Herald)

No matter how tight the budget or small the nest egg, a senior citizen could usually find housing here. A trailer. A garden apartment. A $25,000 condo in Hallandale Beach or Sunny Isles Beach.

But options for seniors have dwindled or vanished as South Florida's housing market has crept into the league of New York and Los Angeles. Seniors are becoming the overlooked casualties of the region's affordable housing crisis, advocates say.

''When people talk about the crisis here they talk about the workforce -- the teachers and firefighters and hotel workers and young families -- who can't find affordable places to live anymore. They aren't thinking about the 70-, 80- and 90-year-olds who suddenly find they have no place to live,'' said Edith Lederberg, executive director of the Broward Aging and Disability Resource Center.

In recent years, seniors have been displaced in Miami-Dade and Broward counties by the conversion to condos of thousands of existing apartments in the hot housing market; by the closing of trailer parks after developers buy the valuable land for condo and townhouse complexes, and by Hurricane Wilma, which damaged hundreds of condos that had been paid off long ago.

Lederberg's agency owns Hillmont Gardens on Powerline Road in Broward County, a subsidized housing development for low-income seniors. The waiting list has 150 names on it. It could be longer, she said.  ''People hesitate to sign up because it's not realistic that they'll ever get in,'' she said.

The Miami-Dade Housing Authority has 4,500 public housing units dedicated to seniors. But the agency has a list of 4,500 waiting for senior apartments, said Cynthia Curry, senior advisor to the county manager.

A new building about to open, Tuscan View, has 175 apartments. Only 10 are not already spoken for. In addition, the county plans to use existing tax revenue from a bond issue to build 281 new units in four new locations.

The Broward County Housing Authority accepts new names for its waiting list only periodically, so there is not a huge backlog -- its list for all public housing has only about 1,700 names on it.

But that doesn't mean the demand isn't there.  ''When we open things up, it fills up in a day,'' said Kevin Cregan, the agency's executive director. ``We're building 100 new units soon. We're definitely turning our attention to seniors.''

Private agencies say they can't build new senior complexes fast enough.

The Miami Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged sponsored a 94-unit federally subsidized building for the very low-income elderly in Pembroke Pines. It opened in February 2006. It filled up within a month. The waiting list is now at least four years. At a 272-unit senior complex on Brickell Avenue in Miami, there are 150 names on the waiting list.

''The demand is so enormous in South Florida, that if we had the opportunity to build another 10 buildings we couldn't satisfy it,'' said Litha Berger, director of the division of Miami Jewish Home that manages the Jacobs Building in Pembroke Pines. ``It is a crisis.''

Jacobs Building residents say they don't know what would have happened if they hadn't won a spot there. Residents pay a third of their income for rent -- some pay as little as $50 a month for their apartments -- and the federal government kicks in the rest. Electricity is included.

Ed Ammar, 68, moved into the building in February. He gets $640 in Social Security a month. He had been living in an apartment in Hollywood where the rent was going up to $625, plus electricity.

He searched for a more affordable place, but one-bedrooms were running between $700 and $850 a month.  ''If I hadn't been blessed enough to get in here, I would still be in that apartment that I couldn't afford,'' he said. ``I would have nothing to eat.''

Ellen Katcher, 63, had been living in Pembroke Pines with her 24-year-old son. Their apartment was converting to condos. Her son had just gotten engaged and needed to move out on his own with his fiancŽe.

Katcher, who works part-time and collects Social Security, figured she could pay no more than $500 a month for rent.  ''We got good notice that we had to move, so I looked for almost a year,'' she said. ``I couldn't find much I could afford. And what I did find was in dangerous areas. And I've lived in rough neighborhoods in New York City. But I couldn't live frightened like that at my age.''

Katcher and Ammar represent a large segment of struggling seniors, say advocates. They had been able to pay market rate rents, but condo conversions and rent hikes have priced them out.

''The problem is really creeping up the economic ladder in the senior population, mirroring those same trends in the general rental market,'' said Rose Marie Seekamp, of the Broward County Elderly and Senior Services. ``When they go out to find a new place after being displaced, they find a more expensive market and rents they can't afford. Many look to subsidized housing. But there isn't enough in either county.''

Some retirees are being forced to return to the states they came from, Lederberg said, giving up their dreams of spending their sunset in paradise. Others head to North Carolina, which she called a magnet.

''These people came down here to spend the rest of their lives,'' she said. ``Now their little nest egg is gone.  I believe that if something isn't done soon to help people, South Florida will no longer be a haven for retirees.''

►  The author of the Save Our Homes amendment defended it Tuesday during the first meeting of a governor's committee looking into alleged property tax inequities resulting from the state constitutional measure that voters approved in 1992.  (Panel Scrutinizes Homestead Exemption, Associated Press/Tampa Tribune)

Gov. Jeb Bush has charged the committee with making recommendations on how to deal with Save Our Homes and other property tax issues by Dec. 1, 2007 to his successor - Bush cannot seek re-election this year due to term limits - and the Legislature.

Lee County Property Appraiser Kenneth M. Wilkinson, who led the Save Our Homes campaign, acknowledged one aspect of the amendment should be changed. That's the inability of homeowners to take the tax break with them if they move.

Although he supports portability of those benefits, Wilkinson urged the governor's Property Tax Reform Committee not to make the amendment a "whipping boy."

"The purpose of Save Our Homes was to provide a safety net," Wilkinson said. "I can't imagine what it would be like in our state today if we were without it."

The panel, though, received a variety of statistics from Don Langston, an economist in Bush's office, to show what it would have been like.

The tax bill for the average homestead - a primary home occupied by its owner - would have been $1,130 higher during the 2005-06 budget year without the amendment, Langston's figures show. All other properties, though, were taxed at a rate 19 percent higher to make up for that savings.

That's OK with Wilkinson. He said other properties, including commercial, industrial, rentals and second homes, benefit from growth while homesteads do not.

Save Our Homes was passed through a citizen initiative after growth prompted a sharp increase in residential property values, which resulted in skyrocketing tax bills.

The amendment limits annual increases in assessed value of homesteads to 3 percent or the percentage the Consumer Price Index has gone up, whichever is less.

Besides shifting some of the tax burden, that has caused other inequities even among homeowners, Langston said. Recent purchasers pay more in tax than owners who have lived in homes of equal market value for a longer time. Some residents are afraid to move because they will lose their accumulated Save Our Tax benefit.

Legislation was introduced this year to let homeowners take the tax break with them when moving but only within the boundaries of a county. It didn't pass but is likely to come up again next year.

Wilkinson advocates statewide portability but with the cap limited according to the percentage of the old home's sale price represented by its taxable value.

The 15-member panel agreed to hold public hearings around the state to help gather information.

►  Builders risk insurance, which covers real estate projects during the construction phase, is getting a lot more expensive.  (Builders to see big rate hikes, Miami Herald)

Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-run insurer of last resort, has notified agents that, although it is continuing builders risk lines, the rate hike on wind-only coverage will average 150.6 percent statewide.  The rate hike becomes effective Oct. 1, for both new and renewal policies.

The increase will be less in South Florida, with Broward and Miami-Dade averaging rate hike increases of 82 percent, according to the Citizens website.

Calls to Citizens weren't returned on Monday.

Although the builders risk rate increases are steep, the policies should find a welcome market in South Florida's large construction industry, said Anita Byer, a Fort Lauderdale insurance agent. ''There were certain risks that weren't getting coverage at all,'' she said.

The builders risk situation has been a political football for Citizens. In June, it announced it would discontinue the product as of July 15. The move came after the state's Office of Insurance Regulation questioned why Citizens offered the policies. It was determined that Citizens wasn't legally obligated to provide it.

But the move quickly became controversial because builders were unable to find replacement insurance with private carriers.

Citizens was then petitioned by Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty and state Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher to reconsider, however.

They argued that canceling builders risk insurance would put the construction industry -- one of the state's leading employers -- at peril.

''By allowing builders to obtain this insurance coverage, it will allow workers to stay on the job, and our economy can continue to grow,'' Gallagher, a candidate in the Republican gubernatorial race, said at the time.

On July 21, Citizens reversed its previous decision and said it would renew existing builders risk policies and write new ones at least through Dec. 31. However, the Citizens board said at the time that the carrier would need to adjust rates. Citizens has about 6,500 such policies in force, with about $4.5 billion in exposure. More than half of that coverage is in South Florida.

►  Ted Gembicki did exactly what state officials and the insurance industry want most Floridians do. He bought aluminum storm shutters and had the garage door reinforced on his modest Spring Hill home last month at a cost of $5,225.   (For storm upgrade, only small savings, St. Petersburg Times)

Armed with photos of the work, he asked his State Farm agent for a break on his homeowner's premium. For his efforts, his agent told him, he would get a 5 or 10 percent discount. The extra $100 wasn't much, said Gembicki, 62, but it was something.

The check he got last week: $16.11.  "Maybe I'll buy a pizza," he said.

Gembicki's case illustrates what could be a serious flaw in the state's new mitigation program, which took effect Tuesday, to encourage residents to harden their homes against hurricanes.

The law, which offers matching state funds of as much as $5,000 for improvements that fortify a home, also requires insurance companies to offer incentives for such fixes. But the law doesn't include a specific financial obligation on insurers to reduce premiums.

According to the statute, all the companies are required to do is offer homeowners "discounts, credits or other rate differentials".  Sometimes, that can amount to very little.

Insurance companies offer discounts for those who harden their homes in a wide range - from up to 39 percent for State Farm and 33 percent for Citizens, to just 3 percent for Nationwide.

But the discounts fluctuate dramatically depending on the age of the home, its construction, location and insured value.

At a Cabinet meeting Tuesday in Tallahassee, Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said the percentage of the discount will be based on just the wind portion of a policy, not the total premium.

But again, that can vary. In Florida, the wind portion of a premium represents between 15 and 70 percent of the total cost, depending on location.

Gov. Jeb Bush acknowledged Tuesday the amount of a discount is a key part of the highly touted mitigation program.  "If the discount is 5 percent, I'm not interested," Bush said. "If it's 30 percent, now you're talking."

Officials from State Farm Floridian and Allstate Floridian expressed support for the program at Tuesday's Cabinet meeting.   "It's in everyone's best interest to do it," said Joe Formusa, a State Farm vice president who also was appointed recently to the governor's insurance technical advisory committee.

But no one could say how much of a discount policyholders will receive.

Tom Gallagher, the state's chief financial officer who is running for governor, said each homeowner who receives an inspection report will also get a breakdown of how much will be saved on their insurance premium. That figure, Gallagher said, will be based on how much work is done.

But that leads to yet another potential problem: too many homeowners and not enough time or money. The state hopes to have 12,000 homes inspected in the next 12 weeks, and another 50,000 inspected next year.

But there are roughly 4.2-million homesteaded properties in Florida, and by noon of the program's first day in business, the state had received more than 2,000 applications.

As part of legislation passed in May, the state set aside about $250-million to fund the matching grants program over a three-year period. Bush, who leaves office in January, said state statutes should be changed to allow the program to continue beyond 2008.

While it remains to be seen how much the state will have to spend on matching grants, some homeowners say they already know not to expect much from their insurance company.

Roberta and Fred Hosken spent nearly $300,000 earlier this year to hurricane-proof their home near Largo, which has an estimated value of more than $2-million, according to the Pinellas County property appraiser's Web site.

Looking to save on their nearly $12,000-a-year property insurance bill, they hand-delivered the receipts to their Nationwide agent.  The discount they got on their $300,000 improvement: $400.  "We asked them what more we could've done," Roberta Hosken said. "It just didn't matter."

But that wasn't the worst cut.  The couple got a letter two weeks ago telling them that as of Nov. 10, Nationwide was dropping their homeowners policy.  "And they asked us," Hosken said with a chuckle, "to please consider them for our car insurance."

►  John Millns was thinking about remodeling his Odessa home to protect it against hurricanes when he heard the state could offer him money to help pay for the work.  (Eventually, state will fund upgrades, St. Petersburg Times)

So now he has decided to wait, even if it is the middle of hurricane season.  "If somebody was knocking on my door to do the work now, and I didn't know about the state program, I'd do the work now," said Millns, a dermatologist. "Now, I'm going to wait."

The My Safe Florida Home program opened for business Tuesday, offering matching grants of up to $5,000 to help reinforce homes and free inspections to point out what's needed.

But homeowners like Millns shouldn't expect to get the work done before hurricane season ends Nov. 30.

The program is wildly popular, with 23,000 inquiries since the state put up its Web site in June. But there's likely far more interest than money.

"Before this hurricane season ends, there will be some Floridians that will have inspections and have improvements at least started," said Tami Torres of the Department of Financial Services, which is administering the $250-million the Legislature appropriated over the next three years.

The state hopes to protect 50,000 homes in the next year, but 242,000 qualify just among customers of Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-run insurer of last resort. Those without homeowners insurance cannot participate.

The money is available only to owners of property with homestead exemptions. Second homes, investment property and commercial property do not quality. Still, there are more than 4-million homestead properties in the state.

The Legislature created the program this year in response to the eight hurricanes that have affected the state in the past two years. "One of the best ways we can limit catastrophic losses is to harden our housing stock," said Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, a homebuilder who was involved in getting the program through the Legislature. "We're moving as fast as we can."

It's a complex process that begins with a state inspection of a home. The program anticipates completing 12,000 inspections this year.  "We'll have to create an army of inspectors," said Leslie Chapman-Henderson, the president and CEO of the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, the group charged with creating the inspection part of the program.

The inspections are intended to reveal a home's weaknesses and estimate the cost of improvements. They also will lay out insurance discounts available when people make the repairs.

The state money will cover seven kinds of repairs: strengthening roof decking, improving a roof's waterproofing, strengthening roofing material, bracing gable ends, reinforcing roof-to-wall connections, protecting wall openings like windows and doors, and reinforcing doors, especially garage doors.

While there are many possible retrofits, only some make sense, said Tim Reinhold of the Institute for Business and Home Safety, an insurance industry research group. Covering windows and replacing or reinforcing garage doors make sense, but installing tie-downs after the fact to hold your roof to your walls isn't always worth the money, he said.

Florida Policy Notes

►  A private high-security facility for teenage girls will be closed by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice after multiple reports of mistreatment and neglect.  (State to shut down girlsÕ facility, St. Petersburg Times)  A review of the Umatilla Academy for Girls, which opened in 2005, found an employee had dragged one resident down a hallway by her ankles, workers failed to send another girl to a hospital after she swallowed 2-inch nails, and a caretaker delayed calling for help after a third overdosed on medication.  Teens on suicide watch also were left unsupervised, according to the review. Police received many calls from the facility, mostly complaints of girls beating one another or staffers.  "We won't wait for (another) incident to happen," department spokeswoman Cynthia Lorenzo said Thursday. "We're stepping in and shutting Umatilla down."  The department had a contract with Diversified Behavioral Health Solutions to house up to 96 violent or mentally ill teens, all convicted of serious crimes. The state stopped sending new inmates there in January after the ankle-dragging episode resulted in the arrest and firing of the employee involved.  Juvenile Justice officials gave the facility 90 days to shut down. The 29 remaining Umatilla inmates will be transferred to one of the state's five other facilities for female, high-risk juvenile offenders.

►  In a move state leaders likened to the arrival of Walt Disney World and Henry Flagler's railroad, lawmakers approved $155.3 million Thursday to deliver a renowned California biotechnology institute to Florida.  (Burnham heading to Florida after lawmakers OK cash, Palm Beach Post)  But the question remains: Will it settle in Port St. Lucie or Orlando?  After the Legislative Budget Commission's swift decision to allocate the money to the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, the institute confirmed the offer was enough to finance its cross-country venture. What it hasn't revealed is whether its 175,000-square-foot facility will be in Port St. Lucie or Orlando, its two contenders.  "With this critical endorsement, we can now finalize selection of a site and begin to develop this partnership that will advance the institute's medical research," Burnham spokeswoman Nancy Beddingfield said.  State officials expect a decision as soon as next week.  The economic impact of luring a second major biotech institute to Florida — the first was The Scripps Research Institute — could be dramatic in a state that has long relied on tourism and agriculture as economic driversÉ.The $155.3 million is only half of what Burnham will receive for moving to Florida. Port St. Lucie and Orlando both have amassed offers that at least match the money, as required by the state.

►  For 20 years, Mary Berglund carried voter registration forms in her car, ready to hand them out to anyone who needed them.  (Voter-aid groups awaiting decision, Miami Herald)  Some people were first-time registrants. Others had moved or married and needed to update their information.  This year, all are on their own.  "I wouldn't hand them out now," said Berglund, a St. Petersburg resident and longtime volunteer with the League of Women Voters of Florida.  "I can't," Berglund explained, "because there's the moratorium."  The moratorium is the league's decision to suspend voter registration drives - for the first time in its 67-year history - pending a federal court ruling on a new state law that tightened voter registration rules.  That ruling is expected this week.  The state law, passed in 2005 as part of an elections bill, fines third-party groups up to $5,000 per incident if they err in handling voter registration applications, such as turning them in late.  Lawmakers said that the law was needed to rein in some groups that mishandled applications voters entrusted to them and that it doesn't prohibit anyone from conducting registration drives.  "There's nothing in this law that prevents them from going out and doing all the things they do, whether it's at a shopping mall or door to door," said attorney Peter Antonacci, who's defending the state. Those groups made the decision themselves to stop their registration drives, he said.  But voter advocacy groups like the League of Women Voters of Florida, a plaintiff in the lawsuit seeking an injunction, say the law could bankrupt them if just one volunteer makes a mistake with a batch of applications.  "My operating budget is $70,000," said Dianne Wheatley-Giliotti, president of the Florida league. "If 14 cards get turned in late, you're wiping out my budget."  Meanwhile, the deadline to register for the Sept. 5 primary has passed. If U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Seitz rules in the league's favor, the group likely would have just a couple of weeks to sign people up before the deadline to register for the November general election.