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Governor signs SAGE bill into law

Posted: 5/12/2010 4:50:00 PM

Governor Doyle Wednesday signed into law a bill that makes changes to the state’s SAGE class size reduction program.

“Our union of educators helped create SAGE, and remains a supporter because it is an important tool when it comes to increasing student achievement,” said WEAC President Mary Bell.

AB 808 creates changes in the SAGE program, including:

  • Eliminating DPI waiver authority while grandfathering in existing waivers until the expiration of the SAGE contract.
  • Increasing the maximum SAGE class size from 15 to 18 pupils per teacher. In classes where two teachers share a room, the maximum would remain at 30 students per 2 teachers.
  • Opening up a new round of SAGE contracts.

This legislation maintains the integrity of the SAGE program by eliminating waivers while giving districts some flexibility. The move to an 18:1 ratio is still consistent with research findings about the benefits of small class sizes.

 

Waivers have threatened the authenticity of the program and have led to the dilution of limited SAGE funding as schools with class sizes of 19 and 20 compete with schools administering SAGE as envisioned when the program was created. By ensuring class sizes in the SAGE program do not exceed 18, we can narrow student achievement gaps, making SAGE more sustainable for the future.

“As a union of educators I believe it is important we do what we can to support changes to this program that can see it through for future generations of students,” said Bell.

 

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Comments 8

  1. Ed Ludwig 5/19/2010

    This change in the guidelines will only be successful if class sizes are counted 2 times a year.  Districts will begin to play a shell game with students around the third Friday count.  If a classroom averages a 5-7 percent absentee rate chances are they will be at 19 children on the third Friday in September already.

    WEAC should begin lobbying to have each and every classroom counted at least twice a year to qualify for this program.  We have already allowed the SAGE program to exceed the 13-17 per teacher ratio that the original research was based on.

    The most damaging change in educational thought in my 20+ years of teaching has been the shift of talk in education from teaching and learning to the selling out of sound ideas to obtain funding with a lot of double speak.  We are very close to doing that with SAGE by supporting this proposal without better safeguards in place.

  2. Thomas Baribeau 5/14/2010

    Great news for many districts in areas with much job loss and economic declines for various segments of the population. Hopefully there will be many more districts that can take advantage of such an important program.
    Thomas Baribeau
    High School Teacher
    Marinette

  3. Connie 5/4/2010

    I am a first grade teacher in a school district with an extremely high number of children who live in poverty.  As a strong advocate for SAGE, I believe the new changes are going to be detrimental to the success of our students.  I question the reasoning behind increasing the class size for a single classroom teacher to 18-1, but maintaining the 15-1 ratio where two teachers are present.  It is far easier to teach larger numbers of students with two teachers than it is with only one.  Students do benefit from smaller class sizes, but in a time of budget deficits, it seems that the solution that is being proposed is backwards.

  4. Allison Thome 5/2/2010

    I teach music in two Sage school and support the need for this kind of programming in the elementary schools.  The drawback at my schools is that the 3rd grade students move from class sizes of 16-18 to a class of 32 for 4th grade and/or splits between 4/5.  At this time all of my intermediate classes in both schools have enrollments of over 30 students per class and 4 of the 6 classes are splits.  This is counterproductive to what these students have experienced in  the primary grades.  We need to figure out how the Sage schools can better meet the needs of the intermediate students in the SAGE schools during this time of extreme budget cuts and staff reductions.

  5. Lara Pawelski 5/1/2010

    Smaller class size is one of two factors shown consistently to improve student achievement in any setting. The second is a teacher's level of education and experience. The increase in class size from 15 (which is often 16-18) to 18 (which may mean 20+) potentially will cause 62 layoffs in the Madison Metro district, not surpluses, but layoffs!!, that affect amazing teachers like my 4/5 team teacher Karen Boyer. Cutting back on SAGE now is sure to open the doors for cutting it altogether.

  6. Jan Schmitz 5/1/2010

    I agree with keeping SAGE numbers at 15. I teach 5 year old kindergarten and even though we are a SAGE school I have had 16-19 students every year due to the waivers. We qualified for the SAGE program for a reason and my students were not given the benefit of smaller class size. Smaller numbers do make a difference especially as our curriculum becomes more intense and demanding . There was a reason the number 15 was chosen and I think we need to keep those numbers to keep the program successful. Have they looked at the data of how the SAGE program is doing? How do the scores compare?  Are there improvements?  I think there are lots of questions that need to be answered before increasing the numbers.

  7. Rick Lerche 5/1/2010

    SAGE is a very important program that needs more funding, so it can be expanded to all K5-12th grade classrooms.  SAGE can't afford cuts to be effective in closing achievement gaps. 

    As a 1st grade MPS teacher, I see the daily benefits of working with a small class size that I wish the rest of my building colleagues could experience.

    With most of my 15 children reading at proficient and advanced  levels, I can give the very few children that are reading below grade level, the extra personal instruction they need to reach grade level, and close the achievement gap in my classroom.  Doing that task would be much more difficult with 30+ children myself, if it weren't for SAGE.

    Rick Lerche
    First grade teacher
    Hawley Environmental School
    Milwaukee

  8. kim smith 4/24/2010

    The last sentence is another way of saying we should allow them to make the cuts now slowly so that we still have something left of the program in the future. This is a failed traditional Democratic Party strategy!!! What happened to health care 'reform', give a an inch and another and another until there is absolutely nothing worthwhile in the thing, until it actually becomes counter productive, The plan gets so bad, and then the so called left ends up getting blamed for a terrible situation.

    Lets wake up and smell the coffee, 18 to 1 is not as good as 15 to 1. 15 to 1 is fantastic and should be defended. As our children become more and more needy we need to have more time for each, not less.

    If our KIDS REALLY DO COME FIRST, then defend their access to teachers!!!!!
    Kim Smith
    parent
    former educator
    volunteer
    socialist

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