Questionable Results of Class Size Reduction
I was happy to see this Contra Costa Times editorial mentioned on EIAOnline, even though Mike gave the editors a hard time for waiting so long to raise the alarm about class size reduction (CSR).
Let’s begin with an editorial from the March 25 Contra Costa Times headlined “Smaller classes not best way to help students.” The op-ed was prompted by the fact that most of $2.9 billion targeted for the state’s worst-performing schools will be spent hiring teachers for class-size reduction.
The column covers many of the objections to class-size reduction, and even finds an expert and a representative of the school boards association to cast doubts on its effectiveness. The eye-popping part is that this spending is at least targeted to bad schools. Where were these editorials and experts 12 years ago when the state passed K-3 class size reduction for every school? And why are these targeted schools still performing poorly despite 12 years of the recommended panacea – class size reduction?
While I understand what Mike is saying, I’m happy that the Times editors have finaly come to understand the waste of educational resources that CSR has become. I’m willing to give them credit at this point.
California has spent billions (I heard the number $16B recently) on class size reduction without a significant impact on student performance. In fact, the primary beneficiaries of CSR have been the California Teachers Association. They’ve dramatically increased the number of teachers who are paying dues to their organization while at the same time giving ammunition to their argument that we’re going to have a teacher shortage, which then gives them fodder to use in raising wages of teachers in order to keep them in the profession. What a great way to increase demand for your own product. You get the picture. CSR helps the union on so many levels, it is no surprise that they pushed to have most of the $2.9B of the Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA) go toward CSR.
I only hope that more people come to realize the real purpose of CSR, even at this late date.
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