House education policy chairman John Legg has a message for anyone coming before his committee this spring: Anyone seeking to alter education rules must include a money source if the change will cost anything.

"I can't let something come out of my committee that we can't pay for," Legg told a gathering of Pasco educators Monday. "Any bill that is requiring districts to spend more money but doesn't include flexibility ... is DOA."

That does not mean, though, that the Legislature won't be considering policy issues, he quickly added. Among the big items on the table, Legg said, are:

• Making Florida's A-Plus plan jibe with national accountability rules.
• Increasing the state's academic standards.
• Continuing the move toward end-of-course exams.
• "Fixing" laws governing Bright Futures, school recognition fund spending and mandatory P.E. courses.
• Finding an affordable solution to implementing the class size amendment.

One thing Legg said he wants to avoid is "debate for the sake of debating." With bills coming through drafting on issues as hot as getting rid of teacher tenure, though, that might be hard to do.

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