N.J. schools struggle with increasing class sizes as budgets, teachers are cut
Published: Sunday, November 28, 2010, 9:00 AM Updated: Sunday, November 28, 2010, 9:08 AM
Two physical education classes of 120 students run in class at the Herbert Hoover Middle School in Edison on Tuesday November, 16, 2010.EDISON — The gymnasium at Herbert Hoover Middle School in Edison was bouncing with energy one recent morning as 120 seventh-graders, dressed in shorts, T-shirts and sneakers, lined up and began doing calisthenics.
Teachers Phil Bouchard and Kim Baldassare walked along the rows, each taking attendance of the 60 students in their classes. Last year, before state aid cuts led Edison to reduce teaching staff, phys ed classes at Herbert Hoover numbered around 40 kids.
"Most of the time is devoted to organization, not instruction," Bouchard said, pausing as he checked off names. "It’s very difficult."
Edison eliminated 150 teaching positions, including 6½ at Herbert Hoover, after the school budget was cut by more than $16 million. Herbert Hoover now has math classes of 25 or 26 students, up from last year’s average of 22; foreign language classes of 29