Keeping Classes Small

One goal that all candidates running for school board claim to have is keeping classes small. This was aided by California's Class Size Reduction (CSR) program, which provides bonus money for school districts that keep kindergarten to third grade classes at 20:1. Over the past two years, as the state decimated school funding, districts have found it exceedingly difficult to maintain that ratio.

A couple years ago, the state offered flexibility to school districts by allowing districts to keep the CSR money even if K-3 class sizes increase. As a result, many districts, including Berryessa's neighbors in Milpitas and San Jose Unified, jumped their classes to 30 students.

I have made sure people understand that in order to preserve libraries, counselors, and music, we would have to increase K-3 class sizes above 20. However, my goal has been to keep classes as small as possible and not jump to 30 like others have done. As a result, this year, our K-3 classes average 24 students.

Some candidates running for the board have suggested that the board could have avoided reducing library hours, which we cut by 20%, and cutting clerk time, which was reduced by 12%. The only way to have done that would have been to increase K-3 classes even more, and laying off more excellent teachers. My position is that slight reductions in these other areas is a reasonable educational trade-off that allows us to keep class sizes as small as possible.

All the cuts that have been implemented over the past couple years have been painful, for our students and our staff. But our district ended up with the best balance possible for a low-funded district. We still offer music, libraries, counseling, and our K-3 classes have just 24 students in them. I will continue to fight to maintain that balance.