Class size a pervasive problem

Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series about class size. Next week, learn how big classes are experienced by teachers and students in everyday life.

As head of the local teacher’s union, Andi Nofziger hears a lot about teachers’ classroom struggles.

At the top of the list are big class sizes, which have grown in recent years.

“Classes are much larger than teachers have seen before,” said Nofziger, president of the Edmonds Education Association.

The problem is not unique to Edmonds. Washington state ranks 46th in the nation for class size and 45th in per-pupil spending, according to the National Education Association, the national teacher’s union.

Nofziger herself taught a math class of 34 struggling students last year at Mountlake Terrace High School. It’s not uncommon in Edmonds district high schools to have classes of 37 and 38 for electives that colleges require, like foreign languages, she said.

“I’m impressed with the quality of teaching when I go out to classrooms, but sometimes management is an issue because it’s harder to keep kids away from each other,” she said.

She blames inadequate state funding for the ballooning class sizes.

Fewer teachers

Large class sizes are a statewide problem, said Nathan Olson, spokesperson for the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, or OSPI.

“Districts are being forced to lay off teachers,” he said. “The state is not able to pay enough for basic education, and locally (districts) are unable to make up that difference. Fewer teachers means larger classes.”

When faced with budget shortfalls, educator jobs are often the first to be cut because they are the biggest part of district spending, officials say.

In the Edmonds district, for example, about 86 percent of the budget goes to personnel.

“There’s not a lot of areas to go (outside that) when you receive inadequate funding,” said Debbie Jakala, community relations manager for the district.

Last year, the district cut about $3 million, with cuts to special education and more. The year before, it cut $4.5 million and closed dozens of teacher jobs, raising the student-teacher ratio district-wide.

Edmonds district officials have made cuts every year for six years.

“We have reduced support services, transportation, maintenance, the district offices,” said Jakala. “We’ve been trying to stay away from impacts (to the classroom).”

Edmonds and districts statewide face more possible cuts this year because of a state budget deficit.

“There will be a lot of emphasis on how we can further streamline and reduce what we are doing to balance the budget,” Jakala said. “Do we like cutting programs and looking at the staffing ratio? No. Do we have to? Yes.”

District officials have not yet figured the affect of the federal stimulus package that passed this month and includes money for schools.

OSPI estimates that 2,000 to 3,000 teacher positions will close this year because of state budget cuts, Olson said.

The complexity of class size

A bigger picture of class size across the district is hard to quantify because it is complex, Jakala said.

Class size varies from school to school and from classroom to classroom within one school based on factors unique to that school, she said.

Neighborhoods in the north end of the district are seeing more young families move in, causing larger class sizes at those schools, Jakala said. The schools that feed into Meadowdale and Lynnwood High School are seeing growth, while the town of Edmonds is not, she said.

She emphasized the help the district gives overloaded teachers.

Edmonds district teachers get paraeducator help if their classes go above a limit called “trigger” that is bargained with the teacher’s union.

“A lot of care and concern goes into making sure we’re providing students and staff with the best classroom situation we can,” Jakala said. “It’s an amazing staff in our district that’s doing an amazing job under what we all agree is a less than ideal situation.”