March 11, 2009

Tuesday good, Wednesday bad

Posted at 1:56 PM by Chris Fitzsimon

Republican legislative leaders this week called for increasing class size in public schools to save money to help balance the budget. House Minority Leader Paul Stam said the research is clear that reducing class size does not increase student achievement and passed out a study from the American Enterprise Institute to support that view.

 Of course, there is plenty of evidence that suggests just the opposite, that smaller classes do make it easier for students to learn. And the Republican legislators know it.

Many of the same lawmakers who dismissed the benefits of smaller classes Tuesday morning held a press conference Wednesday to call for lifting the cap on the number charter schools. Republican Jim Gulley is leading that effort in the House.

 As Stam looked on approvingly, Gulley said he wanted to discuss “what charter schools do well,” and the first thing he mentioned was that they provide smaller classes for students.

In case you are keeping score at home, class size was not important on Tuesday, but very important on Wednesday. Wonder what Thursday will bring.

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