#4 Triacontakaiheptad...That Which Is My Class

We've all seen them. They are the fear of every parent, student, and teacher. Like a New Yorker walking down the street, you could go unnoticed in them. If you've been to the front of a mosh-pit during a Green Day concert, you may know how we could feel. Claustrophobia is not only limited to elevators any longer. Classrooms are the location. Numbers are the debate. Not 2 + 2, but triacontakaiheptad, that which is my class size, is not an unusual thing in California for grades above 3rd. When dealing with class sizes number greater than 28, teachers, students, and parents all feel like we're in the situations I mentioned, not environments suitable for learning.

The CSR, or class size reduction, in California has been the debate for years. Our classrooms are overflowing with students. Students who have fewer resources than ever. Classrooms that have more behavioral issues than ever are becoming more prominent. What are we doing in the face of is issue? For my district, we are firing staff and increasing the class size. We hire more instructional aides and increase the class size. What justification do we have for losing teachers and other support staff in exchange for higher class sizes? Budget crunch all over the nation, but more profoundly in California. Do you think the administration cares? If they did, they would not permit class sizes to increase toward an environment of mere crowd control would they? The lure of money per child is often too great for them to deny admission to even inter-district transfers.

Many people in the state of California have become teachers since 1996. The demand increased and the standards for making the cut decreased. With the 2-year technical degrees, or Walmart employees finding a One-Year-Non-Renewable Teaching Certificate came the influx of people who think they can teach. Why wouldn't they want to? California teachers' salaries ranked the highest in the nation. Here, you can find a district, work 187 days a year, and get paid more than someone who holds three jobs and has no health care benefits. Here in California, you can enjoy descent weather year round and have every leisure entertainment known to man at your fingertips. Do you have to really like kids or consider what's best for them to teach here? Can you have 8 more children after already having 6, without a husband or even a boyfriend? Here in California you can.

Do you suppose that morals and values people possess have anything to do with not responding to overcrowded classrooms? When you have become just a statistic and you're teacher can hardly remember who your parents are when they come to that once-a-year parent/teacher conference, if they are the rare parent to attend, do you just grow up not caring? I think they do. Growing up in a class of less than 10 in a public school that had more resources than 10 schools here in California tells me that there is something wrong with the local politics and management. Why did they let it balloon out of control in the early 90's? California seems to be doing a game of catch-up and have forgotten about everything else. Money talks, and the students are all about those dollars. Even so, those dollars aren't going toward school improvement.

It's been said numerous times at our district. I personally agree, even though I have no kids of my own. I would not allow my child to attend a school where the teachers, students, and parents are nothing more than a number. We've become warm bodies to fill the pockets of administrators who make the decisions to make twice as much money, if not three times as much as the educators who deal with mess they create. I work at a small country school outside of a town that is 65,000 large. If my little country district is making people feel this way, how are the city folk feeling with more than 40 students per classroom? I know they don't even have enough text books, desks, permanent classrooms, and even allocate low numbers of copies per teacher. Being at one of the most affluent districts in the county, we have great technology resources and tend to have the highest test scores around. Will that stick after the latest administration decided to increase class sizes beyond any in the history of our district?

Teachers, parents, and students all over California would agree, class sizes do need to stay reduced. Is the rest of the country dealing with numbers like California? Have you had triacontakaiheptad or more in your classroom?