As class sizes grow, so do concerns over learning
November 13, 2010 at 6:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
A student-to-teacher ratio of 30-1 or higher in the Duluth school district threatens to erode the learning process, educators say. Continue Reading
As class sizes grow, so do concerns over learning
29 Comments
I wonder if this problem was looked at before the board brought in an outsider who got us on the hook for $437,000,000??
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Hey, isnt the reason these classes are getting more crowded is because they consolidated a lot of the schools?
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Another article about the impact of a struggling economy. We get it, everybody has to do more with less. That includes schools. Whether you acknowledge it or not, Duluth is shrinking. Fewer taxpayers means less money for things like education. Basic economics here. I’m sure it would be even better to have 5 students per teacher…its just not economically feasible. Everybody has to do more with less. Get used to it as long as we have the current administration.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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We should be ashamed of ouselves. 34 kids in an elementary classroom is UNACCEPTABLE. How can we say we value children and then give them this kind of public education? How can people live with themselves when they pay big money to go to a game in a new college hockey arena but don’t want to pay an extra $100 a year for better public schools? How can people have $65 a month cell phone plans and $80 cable bills but not be able to find any money to support our kids? People with families will not want to move to Duluth when housing is SO expensive and the schools so underfunded. Duluth is not going to thrive with a school system where class sizes of 30+ are acceptable. We recently moved here with 2 pre-school aged kids and will not have them in the public schools with these kind of class sizes. No wonder the private and charter schools are doing so well. We have also considered moving to other cities becuase of the class size issue. The school board and teachers do not need to fix the Duluth schools, the people of Duluth need to step up and make schools a priority before it is too late.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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I think the residents needs to storm the ISD 709, and ask them to be more fiscally responsible, instead of begging for more money. How much of the states budget is already spend on education, almost 50%, and when Mark Dayton takes the helm, more money will go toward education. We, as residents, are throwing good money at a bad problem. The ISD should also figure out how to do more with less. I believe there is a lot wasted on non-teaching staff in the education system.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Suzy – You dont think this is going on elsewhere in public school systems?Ignorance is bliss!
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Excuse me, New Duluthian. Try not to take this Personally……but it’s really hard to read your comments when…….
You initially said you Recently Moved Here…..and you are telling Us how this place operates? And what WE should do? WE KNOW THAT……at least the ones of us who VOTE WITH OUR BRAINS and Pay Attention to the Issues and aren’t Blind in our Faith of Educational Leadership (and I use the word Leadership in the LOOSEST manner possible). What do you think the big fight about the RED PLAN has been about???????? Why do you think people hate Grover for doing an about face on his phony campaign platform Long BEFORE he was Actually Outvoted (his Excuse was that he was Outnumbered and he saw no point in continuing the battle by Maintaining his Campaign Promises Position). DOH!!!!
Thanks for all of your advice……Maybe your One Vote will Save Us ALL…..Sheesh!
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NewDulthian: So what is your solution, throw more money into the education?
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My solution: Elect a new school board! One that can get things done. One that people can trust. Quit arguing. Put kids first. Yeah, I am new to Duluth, and I am very worried about the schools my kids will go to. I have a right to an opinion just like everyone else.
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But…but…but the School administration said the Red Plan would result in smaller class sizes. More individualized instruction. That was the promise they made. Now they are saying that IN SPITE of our willingness to pay for the monuments to the school boards egos the situation is going to get worse? Did the school board lie just to get their monuments built? Why oh why did we believe the school board? Did the sheeple have the wool pulled over their eyes?
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Not ALL of them, but MOST…..Gary Glass was trying his best to get the message out but the Manipulators on the School Board blocked him…… Just as Tim Grover shuts off ‘mics’ when he doesn’t like what is being said. Gary Glass was the First one to make it onto the School Board who saw the handwriting ont he wall. Anyone else remember Genesis/The Red Plan?….Ah yes, the memories of the abuse Gary Glass took…..but then Tom Kasper and Art Johnson made it onto the School Board……too late to change the Red Plan and still being censored and suppressed……but it’s a Start.
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“…and the schools so underfunded…”
This is not an argument, just an assertion. The U.S. ranks fourth in per-student spending in the world for primary schools (third for secondary). Explain how schools are underfunded? We spend plenty and our kids still lag behind compared to Japan, China, Finland, etc. This is a cultural deficiency, not a financial one.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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We had a Bunch of schools the school board said were costing too much to maintain and weren’t being filled properly with students compared to ‘the old days’ due to the population ‘changing’ yada yada yada……
Then came Dixon and Grover…..added to a couple of Others who just couldn’t pass the buck any more.
When they called the new plan the “red” plan many saw a red flag being waved but many didn’t. They ‘trusted’ those in power.
Now we have fewer schools, long distance bussing of children from one end of the city to the other for some grades, many children enrolled in private schools to avoid the….., well….crap that is going on, poor classroom size and a ‘bit’ of …..shall we say, ‘bitterness’ at the outcome?
Oh, WAIT, it will all get Better when the Red Plan is Finished. We’ll see then. So where are all the Red Plan Supporters Now to comment on This Article about stressed out teachers and students not getting the attention they Need and Deserve????
I wonder…….
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This is merely a “preemptive attack” in preparation for the DFL and the Teachers Union to say “We cant Take Any Cuts In Our Budget, Why, Just Look At The Class Sizes Now! Any more cuts and class sizes will INCREASE.”
1. They are and will use Nazi scare tactics, just like the one I used as an example.
2. They are counting on YOU being just stupid enough to not put 2 and 2 together.
Conservatives, start talking to your neighbors. Let them know this is coming down the Pike.
EDUCATE THEM.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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How much you want to bet the next step will be an operational levy requiring the taxpayers to pay even more to solve the situation. (This story is just “setting the stage” for such levy). The school board will make such promises but the first thing they will do if the sheeple believe them is give the administrators and teachers a hefty raise. Then if there is any money left over the students will see some minor improvements, MAYBE.
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Waaaaaa waaaaaa….Our classrooms REGULARLY ran in the 30-40 range in both elementary and high school, and this was in the 80s and 90s. If they really want to succeed with smaller classes what’s needed isn’t a blending of all kids, but having smarter kids in one class, “average” in another” and the slower kids in another so they can get more basic education. Then they don’t feel dumb compared to the smart kids and the smart kids don’t get bored.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Good Plan for All the students Peter, but you Know Parents would be down the Principals throat IF they realized Their Kids weren’t in the ‘smart class’. Everyone Not in the Smart Class would be Screaming Discrimination no doubt. Just like my two friends (a married couple) who were teachers (they are retired now)told me way back in the Early 80′s…..they didn’t Dare Fail kids or THEY spent time in the Principals Office and left with their tails between their legs after the Parents threatened the School etc…..
Well, enough said by me……I do my best to make things better for us Now and those that live on after me so I guess biotching about it doesn’t help us.
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That worked in the ’50′s and ’60′s as well.
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to “New Duluthian”… well welcome to Duluth. You have quickly realized what happens when one brings in a persective into a discussion that is fresh, objective, and, yes, might be influenced by the way other communities on the planet have approached problems… you get personally attacked and accused of having no business in the discussion because your grandfather was not born here! We as a community (city/state/country) have been quite lax in prioritizing our educational system. Kudos to the current board who finally implemented what most folks in town knew needed to happen…a facilities overhaul plan to move us into the 21st century rather than be stuck in the 19th century. For those watching for more than 20 years, we have seen how prior boards would make peicemeal decisons, that only resulted in inner city, neighborhood vs neighborhood battles about school closures, resulting in continued uneccesary expenses that could have been directed at classroom programs. Regardless of the lies continually put forth by the Glass/Welty/Johnson gang… the facilities issues actually forestalls an even worse overcrowding issue, it does not add to it. But they are a sensitive bunch, so watch out for the viscious, personal attacks if you offend their sensibilities.
Anyway,
Welcome to Duluth…. many of us actually find your reasoning and challenges refreshing and necessary… but then my grandfather was not from here either, so to some, I too have no business being engaged in the discussion!
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“…many of us actually find your reasoning and challenges refreshing and necessary…”
What reasoning? NewDuluthian claimed our schools are “so underfunded” and, in fact, the U.S. ranks fourth in per-student spending for primary schools in the world. Give a reasonable argument defending the position that our schools are underfunded in light of the statistics.
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good one Nerd…..and while he’s at it, maybe he can explain where he got This HUGE assumption…..
…’you get personally attacked and accused of having no business in the discussion because your grandfather was not born here!…’
Where was ANYONE ACCUSED of having no business in the discussion? We are ALL stating Our OPINIONS. If you are That Overly Sensitive as to twist words…..MAYBE you should not READ other opinions and simply state you own…..
Not an Accusation, nor a Demand…..simply a Suggestion to keep your blood pressure down…..Good Lord.
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He’s just doing what most liberals do…accuse anyone who disagrees with them of doing exactly what liberals do in an attempt to cut the discussion short if it’s not going their way.
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Misty & Dan: Source of my assertion (not assumption): “Excuse me, New Duluthian. Try not to take this Personally……but it’s really hard to read your comments when…….You initially said you Recently Moved Here…..and you are telling Us how this place operates?” (Clearly suggesting because he recently moved here he should not be “telling us” how to operate, no? Apparently a belief that newcomers have no business offering advice?) As far as personal attacks, Misty, well, there’s this: “And what WE should do? WE KNOW THAT……at least the ones of us who VOTE WITH OUR BRAINS and Pay Attention to the Issues and aren’t Blind in our Faith of Educational Leadership” …… (blah, blah blah…) ” DOH!!!!” (so let me get this straight… New Duluthian does not vot with his brains, does not pay attention to the issues, and is blindly following others? Sounds kinda like a personal attack to me… not just a disagreement. So, yes, I do read, with interest all these opinions here. I supported New Duluthian… and thus have been added to the attack list… I realize how these things work. So, “Thanks for all of your advice……Maybe your One Vote will Save Us ALL…..Sheesh!” (well put)
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What’s any of that got to do with me?
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Or the central question of whether our schools are underfunded. No one has yet to convince me they are. I guess it’s a resounding NO on the next tax levy.
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I don’t know Dan and Nerd……but after That misinterpretation of my comments (and it looks like Dan’s response under my response to Nerd is also being Suspected of being…….I don’t know……whatever Paul thinks he is interpreting)……Anyway, after the total Misinterpretation and Twisting of my thoughts/opinion into a terrorist attack (LOL)….. I am just dying to hear Paul’s review of….say….stories like .Old McDonald had a farm or Peter Rabbit so I can try and see how close to the mark he is on Those Words and if finds any villians in those stories.
Doesn’t take much to get some peoples panties pulled up into a wedgie and totally twisted out of shape
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Wait a minute Dan….Do you think Maybe because I commented under Nerd’s comment and then you commented under my comment……maybe Guilt by Association is the theory being applied and why You were also addressed?????? Good Grief……and……O……M……G……hahahaha Who’s On First??????
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No, he’s on first, who’s on second.
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