Willow Lane Parent Writes Letter to School Board

September 25, 2011

Dear Mr. Charles H. Ballard and the Board of School Directors,

I’m writing to you my concerns about the large number of students that are in my son’s (Aidan Bettler) first grade class. I was shocked to walk into open house and find out that my son is in a class of 30 students. I was wondering if this was a college lecture hall or a first grade classroom. This is an outrageous number of students to have in a first grade classroom or any elementary classroom. Is this in the best interest of the students? Isn’t that the bottom line? Aren’t all the decisions that the board is supposed to make based on what is in the best interest of the students?  Clearly this is not the case! There are numerous studies that are based on research which provide compelling evidence that small classes in the primary grades are academically superior to regular-size classes. Smaller class sizes increases a student’s achievement and there are fewer discipline problems. With that said, the classes at Willow Lane Elementary are not regular-sized but in fact large-sized. The optimum class size for early elementary classrooms should be under 20 students per classroom.  According to the National Center for Education Statistics the average elementary classroom size is 20 students. Willow Lane Elementary School is not even close to the national average.

First grade is such an important year for students to learn to read. If a student doesn’t start to read in first grade, then they are almost guaranteed to be behind later on in their school years. First grade also lays the building blocks by which almost all future education is built upon. Without having a successful first grade experience, it puts that student at risk for falling behind academically. Therefore, how can a single first grade teacher properly meet the needs of all of her students with these high numbers? It’s not fair to that teacher or to the students. The teacher’s role becomes more of a manager of students instead of teacher. Having smaller classes allow teachers to devote more time to instruction and less to classroom management. Furthermore, reducing the size of the class reduces distractions in the room and gives the teacher more time to devote to each child.

It is in these early grades that students are just beginning to learn about the rules of the classroom. They are figuring out if they are able to cope with the expectations of education. They will be more apt to feel that they can cope if they have more opportunities to interact with their teacher.

I know that these are tough economic times but the costs associated with not reducing the class sizes could even be greater. Such as the cost to society in higher drop out rates and the reduced earrings potential of poorly educated citizens.  If something doesn’t change, then the East Penn School District will no longer be seen as the district of choice but instead the district to avoid. This will be reality if something doesn’t change soon.

Sincerely,

Carol Bettler, M. ed.

cc: Dr. Thomas L. Seidenberger, Dr. Anthony Moyer