Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has sent back to lawmakers without his signature a bill that would impose graduated financial penalties on school districts for exceeding a student-to-teacher ratio of 20-1 in K-3 classes.
CTA has worked closely with lawmakers to ensure that Senate Bill 311 by Sen. Byron Sher (D-Palo Alto) would not undermine the state's class size reduction program. Unlike previous attempts to roll back the class size program, SB 311 would maintain the 20-to-1 student-to-teacher cap in grades K-3, but levy significant and proportional financial penalties against districts that exceed the cap in classrooms enrolled in the program.
Technically, the governor did not veto SB 311. His decision not to sign the measure sends it back to the Legislature for more work. CTA representatives will continue their efforts to block any efforts to undermine class size reduction.
"We are fully committed to keeping the highly successful class size reduction program in force," pledges CTA President Barbara E. Kerr. "Teachers and parents know the program is helping our students improve their academic performance. Smaller class sizes should be a top priority for all local school districts."
CTA has also strongly urged the governor and lawmakers to continue funding class size reduction because it is such an important program.
CTA successfully fought to fully fund the program this year, and Gov. Schwarzenegger has proposed fully funding class size reduction for 2004-05 and providing it with a cost-of-living adjustment.
Because of the current and proposed full funding, districts have no fiscal or educational rationale for seeking to eliminate class size reduction, CTA budget experts stress.
CTA's championship of smaller classes is long-standing. It stems both from testimony from teachers about the effect of smaller classes on students' learning and from academic research that spells out the positive impact of small classes on the educational process.
Len Feldman