teachers: your comments on this AFT statement (My partner belongs)

[w8liftinglady]

I would like to comment (Beyond the misspelling of ATF)

http://www.thedailylight.com/articles/2011/02/02/opinion/doc4d49a3ed33346903314876.txt

Texas ATF statement
on class size rule
Published: Wednesday, February 2, 2011 12:43 PM CST
As the Texas Senate Education Committee mets Monday morning to hear testimony in a public hearing on “unfunded mandates,” thousands of teachers and parents are adding their voices to a call to “Keep the 22:1 Class-Size Law” amidst an attack on the law and other public education quality standards.

“Crowded classes mean limited learning, and that’s something every teacher and parent understands intuitively,” said Linda Bridges, Texas AFT President. “Lawmakers aren’t fooling anyone by pretending that class size doesn’t matter. It does, and it’s one of the most important education reforms passed in decades and has stood the test of time, study and plain old common sense.”

The Texas state law enacted in 1984 establishes a class-size limit of 22 students to one teacher in public school grades K-4. However, the law includes a waiver provision that allows districts to exceed the limit when faced with financial hardship, shortages of facilities or teachers, unanticipated enrollment increases, or high levels of student mobility. The Texas Education Agency makes it easy to obtain waivers and has only denied five and granted more than 3,500.

“If you already have thousands of waivers given out so that districts aren’t hamstrung with added costs for a small number of kids over the cap, then why on earth do we need to permanently get rid of the law?” Bridges asked. “The class-size cap is a safeguard, one that gives parents notification that the cap has been exceeded. Would you want to show up to your child’s second-grade class and find 28 kids and a teacher who is struggling to give them the attention and help they deserve?”

Bridges said thousands of teachers, parents and concerned citizens have signed a petition at www.22to1.org to keep the law. Additionally, some 1,500 took the extra step of submitting comments—many of them detailed and impassioned—on why the law is crucial to their children’s success.

Bridges added that several other public education quality standards are also at risk, including teacher contract rights which provide a minimal level of due process to prevent cronyism, discrimination or arbitrary dismissals. Also under review are state salary standards, the loss of which could lead to districts essentially nullifying state pay raises for teachers.

“The issue of ‘mandate relief’ is simply a diversion and distraction from the real problem. In the 2011 session, the goal should indeed be to ease the financial squeeze on school districts — not by undercutting valuable reforms but taking a balanced approach to balancing the state budget and properly funding our schools,” Bridges said.

A Texas state law enacted in 1984 established a class-size limit of 22 students to one teacher in public school grades K-4.

Decades of scholarly research conclusively show that student learning and academic achievement improve with smaller class sizes. (Summation of research at Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Web site at http://www.tepsa.org/displaycommon.

Texas AFT represents more than 65,000 teachers, paraprofessionals, support personnel, and higher-education employees across the state. Texas AFT is affiliated with the 1.5-million-member American Federation of Teachers.