Leonardo Ramirez's Blog, page 26
March 6, 2012
Public Teachers Records: Good or Bad?
Hi All! Recently, the Tennessee State Department of Education made the decision to make teachers ratings public beginning this summer. …
March 5, 2012
Four Things I Learned from Writing a Business Plan
Hi All! I had mentioned prior that I was working on a business plan for a new publishing entity called …
March 1, 2012
Launched My Kickstarter Project Today
Hi All, Just wanted to let everyone know that I have launched my Kickstarter project. You can access the link …
February 29, 2012
Long Goodbyes (Update on my Dad)
Hi All.. This past weekend I got to talk to my dad on the phone. When I say I got …
February 28, 2012
It's Read Across America Week!
Hi All! In honor of Read Across America week I thought I'd focus on Seuss himself and share some of …
February 27, 2012
Update on Jupiter Chronicles
Hi All! Hope you're doing well. It's been a while since I've posted a blog and I apologize for that …
February 23, 2012
New Website!
Hi All! Welcome to the new website which I'm very excited about. The first reason being that I can direct …
February 21, 2012
New Blog Address
Hi All, Please note that I have moved my blog from Blogger to WordPress. I've already changed the feed so …
February 8, 2012
The Disconnect of Increasing Class Size
If you've not heard, Senator Norris of District 32 has proposed Senate Bill 2210 to coincide with TN House …
The Disconnect of Increasing Class Size (TN SB 2210)
If you've not heard, Senator Norris of District 32 has proposed Senate Bill 2210 to coincide with TN House Bill 2348. In essence, this bill proposes that the teacher/student ratio be adjusted in the following manner:
1 position per 25 students in grades K-3
1 position per 30 students in grades 4-6;
1 position per 30 students in grades 7-8;
1 position per 25 students in grade 9; and
1 position per 22.08 students in grades 10-12
Not to be disparaging towards Senator Norris but after looking up his bio I found no experience in education on the senator's part that would warrant the drive towards a larger classroom size and I'd be curious as to what 3rd party studies he is basing this bill on. I'm not an educator either but then again I'm not proposing this bill.
In doing my own research it seems to me that what this boils down to is saving money and sometimes that's just not a good enough to subscribe to a notion like this one.
I'm fiscally conservative (all that means is that I don't like to waste money because well....I don't have any) and as such I see now the grave disconnect between those of us who are for saving our economy and some educators who are pushed away from supporting those who are trying to save it.
Bills like this hurt both student and teachers for logistical reasons and what the bill obviously fails to address are the adverse effects of increasing class size will have.
So for those who have proposed this bill I would say this; don't drive away your constituents by pretending to be something you're not….an educator. We have had enough politicians pretending to be something they are not. Even Bill Gates misquoted a study underwritten by his own foundation when he expressed favoring an increase in class size.
That article can be found here.
Stick to Windows, Bill. It's what you're good at (except for Vista which stunk). But as much as I'd like to learn to juggle grapefruit I've never been able to do it so I quit trying. Now that doesn't mean that just because we're not educators that we are not allowed to speak our convictions. Quite the contrary.
But guys, you need to stop trying to treat education like a business. It is not and the sooner you learn to respect the education sector and work with them instead of against so that both can benefit the better things will be for all involved. As a side note, I'm not saying take every aspect of business out of education. I'm simply saying that the two need to learn to mutually co-exist (and benefit) from each other and they can't with folks like Norris proposing dysfunctional bills like this one.
The website www.greatschools.org lists the reasons below as to why this bill (if passed) would be a great detriment to our students.
Gains associated with small classes generally appear when the class size is reduced to less than 20 students.
Gains associated with small classes are stronger for the early grades.
Gains from class size reduction in the early grades continue for students in the upper grades. Students are less likely to be retained, more likely to stay in school and more likely to earn better grades.
Academic gains are not the only benefit of lowering class size. A recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health revealed that reducing class sizes in elementary schools may be more cost-effective than most public health and medical interventions. This is because students in smaller classes are more likely to graduate from high school, and high school graduates earn more and also enjoy significantly better health than high school dropouts.
There are more listed and I would encourage you to visit here to see them.
Finally, we can't even keep up with the growth that we are currently experiencing in our schools. This does nothing to help that.
So what's my motivation for writing this article? I had always wanted to marry a teacher (the Van Halen song may have had something to do with that). My wife is an educator/school librarian. I love her very much. Every now and then when I see her I do get to tell her. Yes, she adores her job and I'm very proud of her and what she does.
I just don't want her to be taken away from me. You think teachers are busy now? Wait until this legislation passes, if it does.
I encourage you to let your voice be heard in opposition to this bill if you agree with the statements above. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, "to not speak is to speak…to not act is to act".
Send Governor Haslam at bill.haslam@tn.gov and let him know how you feel.
To Senator Norris I would say this: I'm sure there are other ways to save money for our state.
Find them.
Chat soon,
Leonardo Ramirez is an author of Science Fiction and Fantasy for all ages.
Want to follow this blog? Visit http://leonardoverse.blogspot.com and sign up!Thanks for reading!
1 position per 25 students in grades K-3
1 position per 30 students in grades 4-6;
1 position per 30 students in grades 7-8;
1 position per 25 students in grade 9; and
1 position per 22.08 students in grades 10-12
Not to be disparaging towards Senator Norris but after looking up his bio I found no experience in education on the senator's part that would warrant the drive towards a larger classroom size and I'd be curious as to what 3rd party studies he is basing this bill on. I'm not an educator either but then again I'm not proposing this bill.
In doing my own research it seems to me that what this boils down to is saving money and sometimes that's just not a good enough to subscribe to a notion like this one.
I'm fiscally conservative (all that means is that I don't like to waste money because well....I don't have any) and as such I see now the grave disconnect between those of us who are for saving our economy and some educators who are pushed away from supporting those who are trying to save it.
Bills like this hurt both student and teachers for logistical reasons and what the bill obviously fails to address are the adverse effects of increasing class size will have.
So for those who have proposed this bill I would say this; don't drive away your constituents by pretending to be something you're not….an educator. We have had enough politicians pretending to be something they are not. Even Bill Gates misquoted a study underwritten by his own foundation when he expressed favoring an increase in class size.
That article can be found here.
Stick to Windows, Bill. It's what you're good at (except for Vista which stunk). But as much as I'd like to learn to juggle grapefruit I've never been able to do it so I quit trying. Now that doesn't mean that just because we're not educators that we are not allowed to speak our convictions. Quite the contrary.
But guys, you need to stop trying to treat education like a business. It is not and the sooner you learn to respect the education sector and work with them instead of against so that both can benefit the better things will be for all involved. As a side note, I'm not saying take every aspect of business out of education. I'm simply saying that the two need to learn to mutually co-exist (and benefit) from each other and they can't with folks like Norris proposing dysfunctional bills like this one.
The website www.greatschools.org lists the reasons below as to why this bill (if passed) would be a great detriment to our students.
Gains associated with small classes generally appear when the class size is reduced to less than 20 students.
Gains associated with small classes are stronger for the early grades.
Gains from class size reduction in the early grades continue for students in the upper grades. Students are less likely to be retained, more likely to stay in school and more likely to earn better grades.
Academic gains are not the only benefit of lowering class size. A recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health revealed that reducing class sizes in elementary schools may be more cost-effective than most public health and medical interventions. This is because students in smaller classes are more likely to graduate from high school, and high school graduates earn more and also enjoy significantly better health than high school dropouts.
There are more listed and I would encourage you to visit here to see them.
Finally, we can't even keep up with the growth that we are currently experiencing in our schools. This does nothing to help that.
So what's my motivation for writing this article? I had always wanted to marry a teacher (the Van Halen song may have had something to do with that). My wife is an educator/school librarian. I love her very much. Every now and then when I see her I do get to tell her. Yes, she adores her job and I'm very proud of her and what she does.
I just don't want her to be taken away from me. You think teachers are busy now? Wait until this legislation passes, if it does.
I encourage you to let your voice be heard in opposition to this bill if you agree with the statements above. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, "to not speak is to speak…to not act is to act".
Send Governor Haslam at bill.haslam@tn.gov and let him know how you feel.
To Senator Norris I would say this: I'm sure there are other ways to save money for our state.
Find them.
Chat soon,
Leonardo Ramirez is an author of Science Fiction and Fantasy for all ages.
Want to follow this blog? Visit http://leonardoverse.blogspot.com and sign up!Thanks for reading!
