ATLANTA --- The state's top education official said Friday that as local school boards face more state cuts they should be given greater freedom to increase class sizes.
Jim Blaylock/Staff
Kathy Cox: State schools chief says districts need more freedom to set class sizes as state cuts continue.
"We have to give the local systems the ability to manage through this," Georgia Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox said at the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education's fourth annual media symposium. "There's no way they can manage that (more budget cuts) without increased flexibility. ... It's not popular, but it's going to mean for a few years that our class size goes up. There's no way around it."
Currently, school systems must request approval from the state Department of Education for class-size waivers. Cox is proposing the Legislature pass a law that would allow districts to set class sizes without state approval.
"I think the General Assembly has to act," she told the media representatives. "They've got to step up to the plate."