How did the program start?
The program was initiated in 1996, to reduce average class sizes in K-3 grades to 20 students to every teacher. At the time, K-3 class sizes in California averaged 28.6 students, among the highest teacher-student ratio in the nation. It was motivated by research in Tennessee that showed that students in classes from 13 to 17 students did better academically.
Do school districts have to participate?
No. The program is voluntary. School districts don’t have to participate, but the financial incentives – along with the program’s popularity among parents and teachers – have resulted in almost every school district participating. Roughly 1.85 million K-3 students benefit from the program, at an annual cost of $1.8 billion to the state, according to 2007-08 figures.
How does the subsidy work?
School districts are required to monitor how many students are in a class, and report attendance figures to the state. To qualify for the full subsidy – currently $1,071 per student – school districts have to have average enrollment of 20.4-students-per teacher or fewer. The 20-to-1 ratio is an average of the daily attendance counts for each of the school’s classes. School districts qualify for half of the subsidy if they limit class size to 20 students or fewer just during the time they receive instruction in math and science, not for the entire school day.
Can California still afford the program?
Because of its popularity, the Legislature has preserved funding for class-size reduction, making it one of the few education programs to survive the budget axe. But because Sacramento does not cover the full costs, the Legislature has made it easier for school districts to raise class sizes. Until recently, schools lost their entire subsidy if the average reached 21.9 students. Now they will lose 20 percent of the subsidy if K-3 class size reach 24 students and 30 percent if class sizes go to 25 or more.
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