12-05-2025
Annapolis policymakers must be more class conscious
Class size matters, but state administrators and lawmakers have paid little attention to the issue, writes Kalman Hettleman. ( photo by smolaw11)
Here's an oddity. For all that has been said about the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, there has been hardly a word about class size. The subject has not even been debated.
That's a shocker. Common sense supports lower class sizes: The fewer the students in class, the more attention teachers can pay to individual student needs. Teachers almost unanimously think 'smaller classes would strongly boost student learning.'
So why the omission in the Blueprint?
For one thing, the Kirwan Commission ducked the issue, largely under the influence of its chief consultant who didn't think class size matters much if at all. For another, for decades, the importance of class size has been a raging battleground between liberals on one side (it matters) and conservatives on the other (it's a poor use or waste altogether of scarce funds).
The controversy also endures because research is mixed. One summary of the research concludes 'Students often do better in smaller classes. But there's no agreement on exactly how much better, and it remains an open question whether or not class reduction is a particularly good use of funds that could go elsewhere.'
The uncertainty is not surprising, given the many possible variations of the policies that are being researched. For example, class sizes may differ by the actual class-size limit, by grade level, and by targeted student population (usually students who are of color and low-income and in early grades).
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Still, there is clear evidence behind selective limits on class size. Northwestern University economist Diane Schanzenbach sums it up: 'The payoff from class-size reduction is greater for low-income and minority children, while any increases in class size will likely be most harmful to these populations.' Smaller classes in the early grades, in particular, matter a lot.
That's the state of the research, but what's going on with state and local policies that govern class size? According to a survey by the National Council on Teacher Quality, 90% of local school districts have class-size limits, 'with state policy playing a direct role.' A majority of states have such policies; however, they're all over the map in their exact requirements.
Regrettably, Maryland is one of the states without any kind of statewide class-size policy. We have regulations on staffing ratios in child care settings, but no statewide law imposing hard caps on pre-K to 12 classrooms. In the absence of a statewide policy, local school districts vary widely in their approaches. Unfortunately, there is no summary of the different local policies or reports on whether class-size policies are being implemented with fidelity.
The most common argument against class-size reductions is the shortage of teachers. No doubt shortages are severe, and in the past session of the General Assembly, Gov. Wes Moore blamed teacher shortages for his attempt to slash funds in the Blueprint for Maryland's Future intended to hire more teachers for 'collaborative time' — to reduce the number of hours teachers spend teaching the whole class, allowing more time planning and tutoring. (His proposals were partially adopted – causing the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars that could have been redirected to fill big holes in funding throughout the Blueprint.)
Moreover, teacher shortages could be significantly reduced by recruiting more teacher who only tutor small groups of students. Many teachers would be attracted by the chance to be full- or part-time tutors, rather than regular classroom teachers.
One other fly in the class-size worthy of mention. Champions of smaller classes must overcome the frequent assertions by former U. S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and others that it's better to have a great teacher than a small class. But that's a generalization that hides the reality that some class sizes are now huge, often as high as 35 students; and classes with many low-performing students, especially in the early grades, must have low teacher-to-student ratios to meet student needs.
What should Maryland do?
End the long failure to study and debate a statewide class-size policy. Let voices on all sides of the debate be heard.
Join most other states in allowing union bargaining over class size. According to the Maryland State Education Association, we are one of only nine states where class size is not negotiable at the bargaining table. MSEA has tried without success to get the General Assembly to change this.
Focus on class sizes in the pivotal kindergarten to third grades.
Fill up and speed up the teacher pipeline through incentives and focusing on tutor recruitment.
Enforce existing and future class-size requirements. Too often, the laws are 'policy without consequences' because of non-compliance by school districts.
If there's a political will to reduce class sizes, there's a way. Policymakers should follow the research and selectively lower class sizes based on evidence of where there will be maximum payoff.
