CTA-Opposed Class Size Bills Still Alive

One Measure Stalls, But

CTA and the California State PTA, with the support of a coalition of groups fighting to preserve the state's class-size reduction program, won an important victory on April 2. Even so, Association representatives caution the fight is far from over.

During an Assembly Education Committee earlier this week, the panel refused to give SB 10x, a CTA-opposed measure by Sen. Byron Sher (D-Mountain View) and Jack Scott (D-Pasadena) the votes needed to move out of committee.

CTA opposes the bills -- and several others pending in the Assembly Education Committee -- because they would boost class size by at least 10%, to 22 students.

Currently, classes in the reduction program must have no more than 20 students per classroom.

Members of the Education Committee have shied away from approving any of the half-dozen measures that would remove the current class-size caps. The lawmakers, though, are interested in forging some kind of a compromise bill that would likely be incorporated into AB 42, a CTA-opposed measure by Assembly Member Lynn Daucher that could be acted upon between now and May 2.

In addition to CTA and California State PTA, Californians for Smaller Class Sizes includes more than 30 community organizations. Click here for the entire coalition list. Coalition representatives note that because administrators have had class size flexibility in the past, California's class sizes are among the highest in the nation.

The group warns that renewed "flexibility" will allow administrators to divert the $906 per student aimed at class size reduction to other programs.

Thus far, the coalition's statewide mobilization has blocked the movement of any of the measures now in the Assembly Education Committee, but we must continue to make sure the voices of teachers, parents and community supporters are heard.

Contact members of the Assembly Education Committee. Tell them why it is so important to defeat CTA-opposed AB 42 - and any other forthcoming bills - that would allow districts to jam more students in classrooms that are already the most overcrowded in the nation. Remind lawmakers that "flexibility" is a school district administrators' code word for diverting money from classrooms to other programs.

Remind your lawmakers that:

• Research shows that smaller class size improves student achievement and even small increases make a difference.
• Adding 10 percent more students this year opens the door for even larger class sizes in the future.
• Maintaining a 20:1 cap is crucial to ensure that students receive the individual attention they need.
• The CTA-opposed proposals will allow districts to keep the additional money they are receiving from the state (about $906 per student). They will not save the state a cent or help it bridge a looming $35 billion budget deficit.
• The bills go counter to the voters' preference. Voters by a more than 70% margin view class size reduction favorably, as one of the most effective education reforms over the past seven years.

Serving on the Assembly Education Committee are the following lawmakers: