Where the Palo Alto school-board candidates stand on class size

I am going to vote for the Weekly's recommended candidates, Collins and DiBrienza, even though I'm concerned by a seeming protectiveness of top heaviness when we haven't nearly explored how to get leaner and better performance yet (referring to Di Brienza.

I was going to make a third protest vote for Subramanian, but Amaybe I will place my third vote for Cabrera. It is a safe bet that he will not unseat either Collins or DiBrienza, and I think at this point he would make a reasonable fifth board member if somehow he got enough votes. He won't, but it would be nice to put the incumbents on notice. Please everyone read the Weekly board endorsement editorial. I donot agree with all their endorsements, but that editorial really hits the nail on the head.

Right-sized classes cost a pretty penny; it’s unclear whether our school leaders will make them a priority; and there’s the usual danger that a debate about numbers will devolve into a debate about merely, well, numbers.

But it's an issue of mental health and student well-being--and our leaders need to be reminded of this. Only Mr. Dauber and Mr. Collins seem to note it.

For the kids in classes of thirty--as opposed, say, to twenty--there’s less chance they’ll get a hand called on in class discussion, less chance they’ll get tete-à-tetes with the teacher or their homework returned swiftly (or with rich, tailored feedback), and less chance their teacher (who may be shouldering an overall load of 125-150 students) will be free for a conference to go over a troubling point about calculus or chem or Robespierre.

And each of these interventions lowers "student stress."

In smaller classes the teacher has more time to give an essay a second read, to reconsider a B+, to dole out extra educational TLC to a kid who’s up against the achievement gap, to innovate lesson plans, to go to a student’s basketball game or concert or play (yes, we teachers want to do this).

Alone among board members, Ken Dauber has sought to balance salary increases with downsized classes. Just last year Heidi Emberling said, “Smaller classes make the biggest difference in K-3rd grade,” which is “where we should put our resources" rather than to help our high-schoolers.

Superintendent McGee rightly points to the cost; but geez, his proposed school at Cubberley had many deep-pocketed donors-in-waiting. It is embarrassing for such a wealthy city as ours to cry "poverty" when it comes to safeguarding our teens, many of whom we know to be at risk.

To help send our kids to healthier schools, please join the hundreds supporting Save the 2,008--the community alliance to bring a more hopeful life to Palo Alto's high-schoolers.

We're at savethe2008.com.

Sincerely,
Marc Vincenti
Gunn English Dept. (1995-2010)
Chairman, S2K8

This is a sleeper issue. The easiest thing in the world for the district is to let class sizes go up - same revenue, same enrollment, fewer teachers. And in a deficit situation that's what they will do unless the board really focuses on this. And the kids will pay the price - less connection between students and teachers.