Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Size Matters 124 Waverly Place, NY, NY 10011 phone: 212-674-7320 www.classsizematters.org email: info@classsizematters.org
Parent
leaders
hail
the
Presidents
focus
on
the
need
for
smaller
classes
Parent
leaders
throughout
the
nation
thank
President
Obama
for
recognizing
the
importance
of
class
size
in
his
weekly
address,
and
for
releasing
a
report
that
shows
how
the
elimination
of
60,000
teaching
positions
since
2009
is
not
only
unprecedented
in
US
postwar
history,
but
has
led
to
class
size
increases
that
are
severely
damaging
the
quality
of
our
public
schools.
Leonie
Haimson,
Executive
Director
of
Class
Size
Matters,
said:
The
Presidents
speech
yesterday
and
the
new
White
House
report,
Investing
in
our
Future,
make
it
crystal
clear
that
the
class
size
increases
across
the
nation
represent
a
crisis
that
is
severely
undermining
our
childrens
opportunity
to
learn.
As
the
White
House
report
makes
clear,
class
size
reduction
has
been
strongly
linked
to
higher
achievement,
higher
levels
of
engagement,
and
higher
rates
of
attending
college.
Yet
here
in
New
York
City,
our
youngest
students
are
suffering
from
the
largest
classes
in
13
years,
despite
the
fact
that
surveys
show
that
class
size
reduction
is
the
top
priority
of
parents,
year
after
year.
As
a
city
and
a
nation,
we
must
do
better.
Pamela
Grundy,
parent
leader
and
co-founder
of
Mecklenburg
ACTS
in
Charlotte
NC,
says:
Here
in
North
Carolina
we
have
been
fortunate
to
have
state
and
local
leaders
acknowledge
the
importance
of
small
classes,
especially
in
our
state's
many
high
poverty
schools.
Yet
budget
cuts
in
have
severely
undercut
this
reform
and
our
children
are
bearing
the
consequences.
We
greatly
appreciate
the
Presidents
efforts
to
reverse
this
damaging
trend,
and
we
urge
him
to
follow
through
on
the
federal
level
by
restoring
the
$650
million
that
his
proposed
education
budget
eliminates
from
the
Title
II
program,
money
that
is
currently
used
by
states
and
districts
to
reduce
class
size
and
keep
teachers
on
staff.
Robin
Hiller,
Executive
Director
of
Voices
for
Education,
agrees:
Here
in
Arizona,
schools
are
suffering
from
class
sizes
of
32
in
Kindergarten
and
44
in
high
school.
There
is
nothing
that
is
more
important
than
bringing
these
stratospheric
class
sizes
down
if
we
want
our
children
to
succeed.
We
urge
Congress
to
fully
fund
the
Presidents
Jobs
act
and
to
restore
all
cuts
to
Title
II,
and
for
our
State
Legislature
to
do
its
part
by
ensuring
that
our
public
schools
have
the
resources
they
need
for
smaller
classes,
rather
than
diverting public funds to vouchers, for-profit charter schools, and other privatization schemes. Wendy Lecker, one of the co-founders of Parents Across America Connecticut, adds: We applaud the fact that the President acknowledges that reasonable class size and an adequate supply of teachers are essential to a quality education and are basic resources that all public schools must have. Here in Connecticut, schools in high poverty areas continue to have much larger class sizes than in wealthier districts. We wish that our Governor and State Education Department would pay attention to the need for equitable class sizes, rather than their current focus on taking control of our public schools away from our communities and putting them into the hands of private corporations. Becky Malone of 19th Ward Parents in Chicago says: Class sizes in Chicago remain the largest in the state, and 95% of Illinois school districts have smaller classes than we do. Worse yet, the disparities have increased. While average class size has decreased statewide over the last ten years, it has increased in our citys public schools. This is simply unacceptable if we are going to provide equitable learning conditions to all children, but especially our most at-risk students who need small classes the most. Karen Miller, parent leader in Texas and a former state PTA legislative chair points out: Texas was one of the first states to reduce class size, with caps of 22 students in grades K- 4, adopted by Governor Mark White and the Legislature in 1984. Yet over $5 billion has been slashed from the state education budget this past year. This has caused class sizes to soar, tripling the number of districts that have applied for and received waivers, representing nearly 30 percent of all elementary schools in the state. Surveys show that voters overwhelming support smaller classes; research shows that they boost student achievement, particularly for disadvantaged children. We cannot claim to care about our children, as a state or a nation, and allow class size to rise any higher. Julie Woestehoff, Executive Director of Parents United for Responsible Education in Chicago concludes:I hope that all of us, including parents, teachers, and our elected leaders, can pull together and invest in our children in the way that research shows really makes a difference: by reducing class size.