Crowded Classes

President Bush’s overture toward education in the form of additional funds for the Head Start program is indeed appreciated. But what happens when those Head Start kids enter a regular classroom that has 36 or 37 other bodies in it?

When 37 Period 5 ninth graders enter my English classroom after lunch, I often ponder how much better I could address the students’ needs had I 8 or 10 fewer of them. The President seeks a 90% graduation rate by the year 2000, a first-place finish for American students in the subjects of math and science, overall literacy for all Americans and a disciplined learning environment in each school. What teacher or citizen would not wish to see those goals fulfilled?

But with the total number of elementary and secondary California students rising by 140,000 per year and the number of truly qualified teachers on the decline, how long will it be before teachers are facing 42 or 44 students each period? And what quality of education will these kids be receiving?

Class size is a critical component of the learning environment and the only way to reduce class size is with money, be it federal or state, to build more classrooms and to hire more teachers. Will the proposed $2 billion be well-spent if the products of Head Start end up trampled in a classroom cattle herd?

ALAN J. PERRY

Thousand Oaks