Class size in cross hairs

If you wish someone would do something about your school's huge classes, you're in luck.

Legislators have requested six different bills to cut class sizes — some, in just one or two grades, others, for all.

Dee Larsen of the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel has never seen so many bills requested on this topic at once.

Several people interviewed for this article say the issue is big right now with parents and teachers, and some legislators may be making good on campaign promises.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. also has said class size reduction is one of his top priorities, and this likely will be reflected in his budget proposal, to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

The issue really isn't about what ought to be done. Like many school matters in a state that spends the least per student in the country, it's about money.

Three legislators interviewed say they have not yet calculated costs of their bills. But it could take about $29 million to cut Utah's classes by a single student, based on a State Office of Education budget request.

Utah has the biggest classes in the country. Some Wasatch Front teachers say there are 40-plus students in some high school math classes.

The state increased its class size reduction budget from $56.8 million in FY99 to $74.3 million currently, the Utah State Office of Education reports.

But that number is not keeping up, either with inflation or enrollment growth, state associate superintendent Patrick Ogden said. In FY99, class size reduction got $123 per student; now, it's $121 per student.

That's probably why Utah's average student-teacher ratios have increased, from 22.6-to-1 in 2000 to 24.4-to-1 last year.

"I think we've reached critical mass as far as the classes go," said Rep. Kory Holdaway, R-Taylorsville, a special education teacher.

He proposes taking kindergarten- through third-grade classes down to 20 students, mirroring an initiative Huntsman previewed at last month's Utah Education Association convention.

"It goes along with ... closing achievement gaps," Holdaway said of his proposal. "I think it will go a long way to help students who have a lot of needs and not enough resources currently."

Rep. Brad Dee, R-Washington Terrace, wants to cut class numbers in elementary grades, and science and math classes in junior high and high schools. He believes those subjects are "essential to these kids as they enter the world of business."

"The cost is going to make it controversial, obviously," Dee said of his proposal. "We're looking at ways to make it happen. Rather than just give lip service to education, I think we need to stand up."