Class Sizes, Slogans, and Leadership
by pwceducationreform
As this budget season comes to a close, one unfinished issue stands high above the rest – too large classes in Prince William County Schools. Over the past several years, as the economy crashed and has struggled to come back to life, PWCS has slowly been increasing class sizes to save money. Last year class sizes were pushed to the state’s legal maximum. The net effect is that classes in PWCS are the largest in the state by a significant margin.
Many parents have complained to me about high school math classes with 40 – 42 students in them. Many teachers have told me that they believe learning has been undermined by too large classes. Unfortunately for our school age children, there appears to be no plan whatsoever to bring class sizes down.
I think this is partly because our leaders are too busy batting around unachievable slogans to show real leadership.
Concerns from parents about these huge classes seemed to have had an impact on Peter Candland, the Gainesville District representative to the Board of County Supervisors. Mr. Candland proposed that percentage of taxes received by the county that are allocated to the school division be increased so that the school division could reduce class sizes and increase teacher compensation. Mr. Candland’s proposal was ultimately rejected, but the fact that it was brought up and discussed in public session is astounding.
The BOCS has no power over the school division other than to appropriate funds. It can’t designate the purpose for which