At last week's BOE meeting, Interim Superintendent Nast brought up the possibility of increasing class sizes as a possible way to save money. At the meeting, Dan Cook said that Norwalk has the lowest student teacher ratio in the area. Below is a memo from Dan Cook to the BOE with two documents. First, an analysis of the potential cost savings from increasing the ratio at elementary schools. Second, a comparison at student teacher ratio at neighboring towns and cities.
clsz001-1
Monday, March 22, 2010
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If your kid has ever been in a crowded classroom how can you be in favor of this suggestion?
ReplyDeleteSeriously-- we know that they always squeeze in an extra student or two, and then they wait until November or December to get the teacher an extra aid. So that means at least 25 kids in kindergarten, plus a couple of add-ons, so are littlest kids are trying to learng with 27 kids?
Parents- this is lousy for our kids.
I think it's funny that the teachers think it's such a bad idea they don't even want more money for the few extra kids--- that has to make you really wonder.
SO, DO YOU WANT YOUR KID JAMMED INTO A CLASSROOM, GETTING LESS ATTENTION JUST SO PEOPLE CAN GO TO CONFERENCES, OR THE NEW SUPERINTENDENT CAN BE PAID MORE? I DON'T!
They are cutting funds to the schools, cutting aides per classroom, but they want to increase class size? How about we cut from the top and thin out the administration a bit in this town. I am not just speaking about the schools, but the entire town. We are so top heavy with administration when we really need it where it counts! Just something to think about.
ReplyDeleteI am all for making cuts where there is waste, but we also have to consider that when other areas of the country are closing schools (Michigan) and reducing the number of school days from 5 to 4 (Illinois) we have to remember how fortunate we are not to be faced with those challenges. Just a little perspective
ReplyDeleteThank you in advance for reading this.
ReplyDeleteI have been fortunate to have taught in Bridgeport before arriving to the district that I love – Norwalk. I have had classes of 30 and classes of 18. It seems like such a simple, elegant solution – larger classes=cost savings. Many of us grew up in the 50’s and 60’s and it seemed to work then. Here is the difference in 2010: If you are 5, and you get up in the morning in a stable environment and someone gives you something to eat, makes sure that you have clothes to wear and your backpack is packed with your completed homework and reading log—chances are very good that you’ll have a good, successful day at school.
If you are 5 and you’ve moved into the homeless shelter or the domestic violence shelter and your life is chaotic, chances are very good that you’ll express your anger in very inappropriate ways in your classroom. You’ll need a large amount of one-on-one time with the teacher to work on how to express your feelings appropriately before you can have a successful day.
If you are 5 and something happened at your home the night before that scared/frightened you – you need to have one on one time with the teacher before you can have a successful day.
If you are 5 and have severe health problems (life-threatening allergies, type 1 diabetes ) your teacher has to watch you constantly to make sure you don’t need emergency assistance—and sometimes has to run you down to the nurses’s office or administer an epi pen to save your life – guess that other student was careless with their peanut butter sandwich. The constant fluctuation of your health issues will either make or break your day as a student; sometimes the entire class is off task during a health crisis. Your medical issues must be monitored or administered one-on-one with the teacher before you can have a successful day.
If you are 5 and have a serious learning disability or other developmental delays you often need one –on-one time with the teacher to progress successfully. Sometimes if you come with equipment to help you stand or sit, your teacher is the only one who can move you from one apparatus to another.
I love every student who walks, wheels or crutches into my room. They need my love and my understanding, and educational expertise to enable their success in school. It’s a constant balancing act to make sure that the child who becomes angry and violent in a heartbeat has enough attention without depriving the child who was dropped off in the DV shelter last night – and has no idea why her life has been turned upside down – and everyone else gets the attention and education they need as well.
Teaching a class of 30 in Bridgeport meant that I was primarily a disciplinarian, and to my eternal regret, few student educational needs were met. It was physically impossible to achieve.
Norwalk, I believe our children deserve better than this. Help your children succeed – keep class sizes in elementary schools smaller than has been suggested by Dr. Cook.
Thank you for reading my blog posting.
2:42 PM, how many of those types of students do you get in one classroom?
ReplyDeleteI don't know that it matters. The point is that each child, no matter what their challenge or gift, deserves the same chance to succeed.
ReplyDeleteMy colleagues and I have all these students in varying configurations every year. Sometimes we have more shelter children; some years less. Lately we've been adding Haitian survivors to our classrooms. We also educate many children who are having their first exposure to the English language. American public schools are truly an example of democracy and the American ideal education.
ReplyDeleteWhy are they not letting go of any administrators? Downtown is full of them. What is the point of having 5 special education administrators? They only attend PPT's and can't even handle that responsibility - refer to the CREC report. Why does Norwalk pay top dollar for administrators who failed in other districts? Are we running a rehab program for poor performing administrators. What do all those administrators do all day? Has anyone ever asked? Are they accountable to anyone? Or do they just kick back and blame the teachers?
ReplyDeleteYou raise a very interesting question...who are those administrators accountable to? Virtually all of the problems that were so prevalent in the CREC report still exist today. They attend PPTs, and no doubt spend time with the high-priced lawyers (with the tab picked up by Norwalk taxpayers) so they can find ways within the law to try and delay needy students entrance into special ed. Presumably that is why Norwalk loves to pay top dollar for administrators who failed in other districts. What other districts would consider failures, Norwalk considers a success -- even if at the expense of the students and taxpayers.
ReplyDelete2:42...
ReplyDeleteYou are exactly right. The classroom environment has changed drastically. These kids don't come to school with their backpacks full like in the past. They are half full and even empty at times. we have students that come to K not even knowing their alphabet to sing it let alone write them or know their sounds. I have students that barely come to school in the first reson because their parents can't even be motivated to wake up in the morning and put them on the bus. Students are struggling in the classroom and the teachers are having a harder time teaching in the past. I am a product of teh Norwalk school system and I have been teaching here for 6 years and it makes me sad that I question if I want to raise my own child through the Norwalk System.
Norwalk keeps missing its chance to better our system. Stop cutting corners with our future. start taking a look at people downtown that really don't have a clue what it means to work with children and have success. Start cutting the Math specialists, literacy specialist that arean't even allowed in my building. Why not cut literacy specialists that aren't directly working with children? We need social workers, psychologists, speech pathologists, and every breathing thing in a building to contribute to working with children and toward their success. Get rid of those who sit behind computers all day. We need to get Norwalk back on track!
This will only further hurt oru district and our kids!!
ReplyDeleteSurely 1 more student in a classroom would result in the scenario that is presented by Anon 2:42. S/he makes paints a picture of Norwalk that rivals the demographics of Chicago's Cabrini Greens in the 1970s.
ReplyDeleteSurely we should fire all numeracy coaches, literacy specialists, and instructional specialists as Anon 3:38 suggests. No one in the school buildings benefits whatsoever from the guidance of these people. They are all fat cats that are milking the system and not producing any work that is moving the system forward.
Would you like to buy a clue?
As much as I would love the extra money, I don't think increasing the number of children in my class is good for their learning.
ReplyDeleteI guess if we teachers are willing to not take more money then it's just another example of a sacrifice we are making for the kids.
Illinois is not proposing CUTTING, they still have the same requirements for number of hours to be in school.. it is just a prolonged day or prolonged school year. It is a town to town BOE decision.
ReplyDeleteIf the teachers' contract is opened to let in 1 or 2 students beyond the current limit, who is to say they won't push it to 3-4 later? I want my children in smaller classes to get more individual instruction. I stand by the NFT when it comes to class size.
ReplyDelete