More on Class Size ...

Mr. Fedako quickly offered his own opinion on the issue of class size by using the controversial research of Dr. Eric Hanushek to back up his theory.

As is the case with most issues such as this, Dr. Hanushek's research is countered by other research, such as the STAR Project Study from Princeton's Alan Krueger.

The Economic Policy Institutes's 2002 report The Class Size Debate took a look at both reports and offered some interesting analysis, writing:

Perhaps the most important of these is that both Hanushek and Krueger seem to agree that smaller class size can matter in some circumstances.

I'm claiming no specific expertise on the subject - other what I've learned through the personal experience with my kids is that they perform better in smaller class settings. This is particularly true given the special needs of our two younger children.

As the student population of the OLSD grows, the growth in the special needs and at risk student population will most likely grow at an even higher rate. Given the likelihood of this then it's within those areas where increased staffing will help the District continue to provide a high quality education for all of our kids.

Also, it seems to be evident that smaller class size are much more important in the early years of learning.

One of the other points it would be interesting to examine would be to benchmark the teacher-student ratio with our schools with other similar Districts in central Ohio.

Class Size and Great Teachers

There is an interesting back and forth occurring between some comments written in the May 16, 2007 edition of the Olentangy Valley News by Jamie Stabl and former Olentangy School Board member Jim Fedako. My apologies for the last of a link to the newspaper as it has not posted the letter to the Editor on its website.

Fedako in his blog calls out the the newspaper comments attempting to justify his many attacks on the Board, Administration and teachers of OLSD on his blog. Fedako was a member of the School Board for several years before his resignation last fall.

As a watchdog, there's nothing wrong with the fact that Fedako is paying close attention to the how the School Board, Administrators, and teachers are performing. His narrow interests are his right (pun intended) to have -- however on several occasions he fails to recognize the importance in keeping class down which is one of the most attractive features of this growing district.

In one post, he writes:

Let's look at one item at the margin; the staff to pupil ratio. Looking at staffing practices from fiscal year 2004 to fiscal year 2006 reveals that the district had been hiring one new staff member per additional 10.6 students. Now look at the period covering fiscal year 2007 to fiscal year 2009 (forecasted), the district proposes to hire an additional staff member per additional 7.6 students; an almost 40% increase in this one statistic. Think about it; a 40% increase or an additional $3.5 million per year in expenditures and subsequent tax revenue needs. Incredible!

For a district to be able to reduce the teacher-student ratio should be applauded -- with the caveat that the results should be improved learning for our kids. That is an accountability issue for everyone. I attempted to point this out with a comment on his blog but he chose to not publish it (by the way, I did use my name on the comments as I believe strongly that anonymous comments lack some level of credibility).

In our case, I continue to applaud the teachers of our two children at Indian Springs. Just this morning our 2nd grader attended a special math tutoring session with her teacher and a few of her classmates. These Saturday morning sessions are way above the call of duty for a teacher and, as a parent, I greatly appreciate the extra effort in helping mold our children.