Flexibility in Class Reductions

To qualify for per-pupil bonuses created by Gov. Pete Wilson, almost all of California’s crowded school districts found ways to create space for reduced class sizes in the first and second grades last year. This time around, as the program expands, crowded urban districts and fast-growing suburban districts need freedom to respond creatively in qualifying for the payments.

Under a proposal in his current budget, the governor would include kindergarten and third grades and boost the incentive payment from $650 to $800 per pupil, which is closer to the actual extra cost of operating classes of 20 pupils or fewer.

Smaller classes permit teachers to pay more attention to each student and to offer more intensive instruction with fewer distractions or discipline problems. Though no panacea for what ails the public schools--better-trained teachers, higher standards, tougher curricula and regular testing are also needed--the class-size reduction effort should foster stronger foundations in all-important reading and math skills.

Wilson’s plan envisions 20 children and one teacher in one classroom. That’s possible in rural and some suburban districts with ample room. But many urban campuses--and suburban schools in fast-growing areas of Orange and Riverside counties--are out of space, even for portable classrooms.

One proven short-term alternative is team teaching, which provides students many of the benefits of smaller classes. Expanded use of team teaching would also help the novice instructors being hired across the state by pairing them with skilled veterans.

Principals were allowed to assign teams to first and second grades during the current school year as long as the ratio remained 20 to 1. On some campuses, for example, three rotating teachers shared 60 students in two classrooms. The governor’s proposal would limit the exception next year to year-round schools; that would penalize campuses that run effectively on the traditional calendar and whose faculty and parents do not want to switch. The option should be kept for all schools.

In some districts, administrators say that the portable classrooms they have ordered won’t be delivered in time to meet the state’s February deadline. These districts too should qualify for the incentive payments.

The class-size reduction program, a $1.5-billion investment in public schools, is on the right track. A little fine-tuning would allow more districts to participate and more students to get what they need--individual attention from teachers in the crucial primary years.