| SEARCH OnWEAC |
|---|
U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold visits a SAGE classroom at Fairview Elementary School in Milwaukee.
Prior to touring the school and meeting the children, Feingold talked with about 20 teachers in the school's IMC. The teachers repeatedly told the senator how SAGE has helped children succeed because of the increased personal attention they are able to give the kids.
"It has made a major difference," said one teacher. "You can just see the progress of the children and an improvement in the attitudes of the children."
Kindergarten teacher Wendy Novak said the lower student-teacher ratio helps every child succeed.
"We can meet the needs of children with very, very low skills and very, very highs skills - all in the same class," she told Feingold.
SAGE (Student Achievement Guarantee in Education) provides funding to allow participating schools to significantly reduce class sizes in early grades.
Because Fairview does not have the extra space to accommodate more classes, the school has put two teachers into classes of 30 students rather than have two classes of 15 students each. Although the teachers said that is not ideal, it has worked well at Fairview because the teachers work well together.
"We are a family," said one teacher.
Feingold said he was very impressed by the results of the SAGE program.
"I see an incredible attitude from teachers who are fighting for these kids," he said. "I've never seen such enthusiasm.
"You've shown that with some resources you can do wonderful things."
- Photo by Bill Hurley
Posted May 18, 1998