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Thirteen-year-old Aaron got a treat when he arrived at his 7th-hour history class in Racine’s Mitchell Middle School on a recent Friday afternoon.
“All right! I got my own desk!” he exclaimed.
That day marked the end of a seven-week nightmare Aaron (not his real name) experienced when he and as many as 44 classmates arrived in Connie Syslack’s classroom.
“I’d get to sit down at a desk only if enough kids were missing and there was an empty seat,” he said.
Syslack, a 20-year veteran, was frustrated – to say the least.
"This school is just falling apart at the seams" |
“The administration doesn’t get the concept that there is nowhere for the kids to sit. I can’t get any more desks. Where would I put them?” she asked.
“Look,” she said, pointing around her room, “I have 34 desks. I don’t have desks for some of the students. I’d put five kids at that table and then put folding chairs in the aisle.
“It has gotten to the point where some students just don’t show up. I can’t imagine why – maybe because there’s no place to sit?”
What is causing these unmanageable class sizes? Parents, teachers, and union officials agree it’s the state law which imposes revenue controls on school districts.
“The district is trying to save money – $250,000 at Mitchell,” Syslack said. But it’s hurting the kids. And to those on the front lines, it’s not worth it.
“The state is concerned about test scores, but every move it is forcing the school board to make is counter-productive to that end,” Syslack said.
Racine Education Association Director James Ennis said the problem is district-wide. The association is conducting a survey to better determine the extent of the overcrowded classroom problem.
“This is where the revenue controls have cut into the flesh,” Syslack said. “We’ve all been frustrated by this situation. We were told this would be fixed 2½ weeks into the school year, and now we are in our 7th week.
“It breaks your heart to see them do this to these kids. The $3 million they took from Racine Unified – the kids are paying for it,” Syslack said.
She said the school has 20 fewer 8th graders this year than last year, but has five fewer full- and part-time teachers. Class sizes have increased dramatically from a range of 20 to 30 last year.
“This year, I have 182 students in five classes. The lowest number is 30, the highest is 45,” Syslack said. School policy provides a recommended class size of 25-30 and a stated “maximum” class size of 35.
Rick J. Kaufman, public information and communications specialist for the Racine Unified School District, admitted that increased class sizes are a problem.
“It’s horrible. It’s not ideal,” Kaufman said. “When the budget is so tight and when you are cutting $4.8 million, everyone is affected. Everyone has to take a hit. We tried to make it as minimal as possible.
“When the revenue controls were imposed, most school districts levied to the cap limits,” Kaufman said. “Racine didn’t and it was a mistake, plain and simple. It automatically put the district behind what they had to spend on education and kids.
“The problem is compounded by student enrollment decreases and the teacher contract that was finally settled after seven years.”
The district will be looking at holding a referendum in February that, if approved, will allow it to exceed the spending caps and “hopefully that will help cut the class sizes down," Kaufman said.
On the day News & Views visited Mitchell Middle School, rumor had it that school officials were making schedule changes to combat the problem, but it was chaotic. “Most of these kids are furious. They have bonded with their teachers. They like their classes and don’t
want to move,” Syslack said. “And now we have teachers teaching subjects they haven’t taught before.”Large class sizes frustrate all students and directly affect the quality of education they are able to receive. But special education students are hit especially hard, according to educators, parents and students at Racine’s Mitchell Middle School.
"They make me want to leave. They keep messing up stuff." |
In fact, here is what some of the exceptional education kids had to say about having their schedules constantly changed throughout the school year.
Jerry, 13: “They make me want to leave. They keep messing up stuff.”
John, 12: “I don’t like it. I’ve had my schedule changed three times, and I don’t like it. It made me mad.”
Randall, 13: “I just got started on a wood project in Tech Ed. They just took me out of that class. I paid $7. They’re trying to get me back in that class so I can finish my project.”
Tammy, 13: “They changed my class. Now I can’t see my best friend.”
All were in Susan Nigohosian’s 7th-hour class. Nigohosian and history teacher Connie Syslack shared students as part of the Regular Education Initiative. REI is where learning disabled students are mainstreamed with other students.
“It’s very sad because I feel that in this particular case, I’d like to give the kids support and I didn’t know myself until this (sudden reassignment of students) happened,” Nigohosian said.
Posted October 19, 1998