Letter: Limiting class size would be better

Friday, Jan. 5, 2007 | 7:12 a.m.

I appreciate Wednesday's editorial on teacher pay. As a high school teacher, I believe addressing teacher pay is important, but it is in the middle of a list of things that will help our children. At some point, it became OK to keep putting more students in the classroom. This puts an inordinate amount of stress on the educational system.

The public demands results in the form of higher test scores - difficult to do in crowded classrooms since individuals get less time. Take my classes as an example. Three of my composition classes have 120 students among them. When I collect an essay, the students need feedback. To give their essays the time they deserve would require at least 20 minutes apiece (40 hours). Instead, they get two minutes.

If I had realistic class sizes (some districts have limits), I would give my students the feedback they deserve and, in return, I would guarantee student achievement. I firmly believe that overcrowded classrooms are the root of our problems. If teachers were happier, the money would be less of an issue, but we are working so hard with so many students.

If you offer us more money, we'll smile more, but you won't see results in grades or test scores. If you want to attract teachers to Southern Nevada, create a school system where teachers fight to work here. We are good, but we can be better.

Offering more money seems like an attempt to find our price to do a job that gets more and more difficult.

Jason Kern, Henderson