Would it be better to be average?
At the bargaining table, the Kent School Board has refused to address overcrowded classes. Or case load for specialists such as psychologists and speech therapists. Contrary to what administrators say publicly, it can be done: nearby districts with similar budget constraints and higher salaries have lower class-size caps.
Although the Kent School Board remains unwilling to reduce class size, imagine our schools if the board refocused its priorities. Lake Washington has 4,000 fewer students, but has four more teachers on staff resulting in lower class sizes. In 2007‐08, the Kent School District spent $556 less per pupil on Teaching and Teaching Support (the budget categories for classroom and classroom-related expenses) than the per-pupil average for similar-sized districts. Class sizes this past year were even worse.
So what would it mean if the school board set its goal as simply moving up to average?
In 2008‐09, spending an additional $556 per pupil would have amounted to an additional $14.3 million in classroom spending ($556 times the 25,669 students in Kent). If that money was used to hire additional staff, the district could have added nearly 200 more teachers this past year to reduce classroom overcrowding.
That additional hiring effort would have amounted to a 12.2 percent reduction in the number of students per teacher -- making class sizes smaller, and giving teachers more time to spend with each individual student.