Thread: NC: Senate calls for bigger classes in all grade levels

Senate calls for bigger classes in all grade levels

It would save N.C. $320M, avoid major budget deficit

By James Romoser
JOURNAL RALEIGH BUREAU
Published: April 7, 2009

RALEIGH

Democratic leaders of the N.C. Senate are proposing to raise class sizes in all grade levels as a way to save money in the next state budget.

The move would save $320 million a year and would help the state avoid a massive projected budget shortfall.

Under a $20 billion spending plan released yesterday by the Senate, the average class size in North Carolina's public schools would increase by two students.

"As a former teacher, I will tell you this was a tough decision for me to make," said Sen. Linda Garrou, the Senate's senior budget writer.

But Garrou, D-Forsyth, said that it was a necessary step in a tight budget year and that the class-size increase would be temporary. The quality of a teacher matters more than the size of a class, she said.

Gov. Bev Perdue, a Democrat, opposes an increase in class sizes. In her budget proposal last month, she recommended other ways of closing the state's shortfall -- most notably, a $1-a-pack tax on cigarettes and a 5 percent tax on alcohol.

Senate leaders did not release any tax proposals yesterday, but their plan is expected to include some level of tax increases on tobacco and alcohol, though smaller than Perdue's increases.

The Senate will likely vote on its budget by the end of the week. After that, the budget will go to the N.C. House, which will likely make changes. Once the two chambers agree on a single document, it will go to Perdue, who is supposed to sign a new budget into law before the start of the state's new fiscal year on July 1.

The Senate's plan is broadly similar to Perdue's plan in that it would make deep spending cuts across state government. Garrou and other budget writers said that they, like Perdue, tried to salvage two key areas: education and economic development.

In their details, the two plans contain a number of differences. The Senate plan would lay off 712 state employees, and it would eliminate another 900 vacant jobs -- larger numbers than the eliminations proposed by Perdue.

The Senate plan would close several state prisons, but not as many as Perdue's plan.

Also, the Senate plan would give more flexibility to the heads of state agencies to find cuts within their own budgets. For instance, agencies would have the option of enacting unpaid furloughs for employees -- an option that Perdue opposes.

But the biggest, and perhaps most contentious, difference between the two plans is the provision for increased class sizes.

Don Martin, the superintendent of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system, said that in some classrooms, increasing class size by two students would hurt students' learning.

"Everybody's prepared to do our share to deal with tough times, but two is a pretty big increase," Martin said.

Current class-size averages are mandated by the state and range from 18 students in the lowest grades to 29 students in grades 10, 11 and 12.

In reality, classes can be substantially bigger than that. For instance, schools are allowed to be three students above average and remain in compliance with the state, Martin said.

Garrou said that if the Senate's proposal passes, most of the class-size increases would be achieved through teacher attrition.

Sen. Charlie Alberton, another top budget writer, said that the economic recession has made the task of crafting a balanced budget exceedingly difficult.

"This has been a gut-wrenching process," said Alberton, D-Duplin. "And it continues to be so."

â–* James Romoser can be reached at 919-210-6794 or at jromoser@wsjournal.com.

http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2...-classes/news/

Why don't the people of North Carolina get it?
SEND ALL THE ILLEGALS BACK WHERE THEY CAME FROM AND THAT WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM!

Please go to this article and post your comments!

Require E-Verify in all North Carolina Workplaces. And why doesn't State Employment Commission use E-Verify of I-9s of immigrants?

They should start a test case to overturn Plyler vs Doe.

If they want to save enen more money stop paying for the education of illegals anchors.

Originally Posted by Richard

They should start a test case to overturn Plyler vs Doe.

I agree Richard and I wonder why no one has challenged this absurd law.

Now might be the perfect time for a test.

Moving to other topic's....no illegals here!!

Originally Posted by Richard

They should start a test case to overturn Plyler vs Doe.

I had to look this one up! Thanks for the education Richard! You are right, we do need to overturn this!

Plyler vs. Doe
1982
- A Summary -

In 1982, the Supreme Court rules in Plyler v. Doe , 457 U.S. 202 (1982), that public schools were prohibited from denying immigrant students access to a public education. The Court stated that undocumented children have the same right to a free public education as U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Undocumented immigrant students are obligated, as are all other students, to attend school until they reach the age mandated by state law.

Public schools and school personnel are prohibited under Plyler from adopting policies or taking actions that would deny students access to education based on their immigration status.

Based on the Supreme Court's ruling, public school districts should consider the following practices in working with ELL students:

* School officials may not require children to prove they are in this country legally by asking for documents such as green cards, citizenship papers, etc. They may only require proof that the child lives within the school district attendance zone, just as they might for any other child.
* Schools should be careful of unintentional attempts to document students' legal status which lead to the possible "chilling" of their Plyler rights.
* The following school practices are prohibited:
o Barring access to a student on the basis of legal status or alleged legal status.
o Treating students disparately for residency determination purposes on the basis of their undocumented status.
o Inquiring about a student's immigration status, including requiring documentation of a student's legal status at initial registration or at any other time.
o Making inquiries from a student or his/her parents which may expose their legal status.
* Federal Program Requirements - Federal education programs may ask for information from parents and students to determine if students are eligible for various programs, such as Emergency Immigrant Education. If that is the case, schools should ask for voluntary information from parents and students or find alternative ways of identifying and documenting the eligibility of students. However, schools are not required to check or document the immigrant status of each student in the school or of those students who may be eligible for such programs. The regulations do not require alien registration numbers or documentation of immigration status.



* Social Security Numbers - Schools should not require students to apply for Social Security numbers. If schools decide to pass out Social Security registration forms to assist the Social Security Administration, they must tell parents and students, in appropriate languages, that the application forms are merely a service and it is up to the parents and students whether the applications are actually filed. They should stress that schools will not monitor the filing of these applications. Additionally, schools should not require any student to supply a social security number.
* School Lunch Programs - In order to qualify for Free or Reduced Lunch Programs, all applicants are required to furnish either of the two following types of information:
o Social Security numbers of all household members over the age of 21, should they have one
o For all household members above the age of 21 who do not have a Social Security number, an indication of the application that he or she does not possess one.
o If a student or household members over the age of 21 do not have a Social Security number, "none" should be written in that space or another identifying number could be assigned by the school.
o Parents and students should be reminded that the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prohibits any outside agency, including the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS), from getting this information without obtaining permission from the student's parents or a valid court order.
o School lunch programs are interested in determining household income, not in determining a student's legal status.
* Communication with INS - Any communication to INS initiated by a school or school official concerning a specific student is prohibited. If parents and/or students have questions about their immigration status, school personnel should refer them to legal service organizations, immigrant rights organizations, or local immigration attorneys. They should not advise immigrants to go directly to INS offices without first getting proper advice from an attorney or immigrant rights advocate.
* Requests for information by INS - School personnel are prohibited from cooperating with INS in any way that may jeopardize an immigrant students' right of access (with the exception of the administration of F-1 and J-1 visas). INS requests for information can only be released upon the presentation of a valid subpoena. All school personnel should be advised of this policy. If a subpoena is presented, it may be advisable to check with an attorney to properly check into the validity of the subpoena.
* Requests by INS to enter a school - School personnel should not cooperate with INS in any manner that jeopardizes immigrant students and their right of access. The school principal should meet with INS officials in the front office with a credible witness present, deny the INS officials consent, and request to see a legal warrant. If a warrant is presented, the principal should determine that it:
o Lists the school by its correct name and address
o Lists students by name
o Be signed by a judge
o Be less than ten days old
o Be served by an INS officer with proper identification.



To protect other students in the school, the principal should bring the INS officials to the office and request that they remain there while the named student(s) is brought to them. The principal should immediately inform the Superintendent and school attorney.

And then we Americans are to give to anchor babies and undocumented students a free ride to college or in-state tuition at undocumented parents request?

NO WAY!
--------------------------------------------------------
US citizens who pay out of state need to sue if undocumented parents and students are given in-state tuition.
---------------------------------------------------------

And then there is the grade point average in Senior Year of High School.
If a grade point average is greater for one students doesn't mean the higher grade point is college bound or even taking harder courses. US Citizens have been cheated out of College due to dumbies in an unfair system of grade point averages permitting non college bound students (undocumented immigrants) to have a better grade point average somehow.

All grade point averages are put together in a ranking order. Someone taking a college level courses compared to lower level 12th grade courses; will probably be under so much more pressure; and the grade points can end up being the same. But if the lower level 12th grade courses loaded person can get that little sweet advantage. It does knock that more prepared college bound American child/citizen out by not being in the top 5%, 10% or even 20% of the graduation class ranking. So the America Child/Citizen does not get into preferred college or scholarships for their hard work in High School VOIDED.

LUMPING ALL GRADE POINT AVERAGES TOGETHER IS NOT WISE! and I am about 99.9% sure the school system are lumping illegal immgrants grades, non-college bound, and the very bright student all together into one combined grade point average group for ranking of the class.

Who is most likely to lose above? and Who definitely has the most to gain?

It is a game with our heads to dumb us down. John Lennon wrote a song about "20 years of schooling" to dumb children down.