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To: Carry_Okie
Class size reduction was the worst thing that has been done to the poor in this adminstration, worse even than the power crisis.

That is probably the dumbest thing I have heard this entire month!

12 posted on 07/23/2002 9:30:51 PM PDT by IncredibleHulk
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To: IncredibleHulk
Then you don't understand what actually happened and fell for a shallow pitch from the teachers' union.

When class sizes were reduced there were new openings where there had been none for years: in wealthy districts that are highly desirable to teachers. EXPERIENCED TEACHERS LEFT THE POOR DISTRICTS FOR THE WEALTHY DISTRICTS all across the state. The poor districts were left with the need to replace large fractions of their staffs with inexperienced and unqualified teachers. Test scores improved 4% statewide at a 35% marginal increase in funding. Most of that increase in test scores was related to the continuing effects of the end of bilingual education.

Poor kids got screwed by class size reduction. It was even predicted. Class size reduction in no way improves student performance nearly as much as does teacher quality. There were far better ways to improve education at far lower cost, but that was not the goal. The goal was to increase the political clout of the CTA, which it did.

The problems with education in this state may be difficult, but they are very simple. The solutions start with flushing the NEA monopoly by enforcing the Beck decision. I promise you, with the $9,200 we spend per student in California, there is plenty of money to fix the problem. If you would like the citations to both the predictions and the outcome studies from the Pacific Research Institute I can provide them to you, but then you are so obviously imbued with superior knowledge that I may not bother.

14 posted on 07/23/2002 10:22:28 PM PDT by Carry_Okie
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