Currently, The School District of Philadelphia, under Board of Education Policy 126, allocates 1 teacher per 30 students in grades K-3 and 1 teacher per 33 students in all other grades.
Also, according to "The Nation's Report Card" (2017), only 16% of fourth graders were at or above proficient in math and 17% proficient in reading in Philadelphia public schools (nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/districtprofile?chort=1&sub=MAT&sj=xQ&sfj=NL&st=MN&year=2017R3).
HUNDREDS OF EXPERT AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES AND ANALYSIS INDICATE A STRONG CORRELATION BETWEEN CLASS SIZE AND STUDENT COGNITIVE AND NONCOGNITIVE GAINS, BOTH SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY, INCLUDING THOSE FROM THE CENTER FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION, CALL FOR CLASS SIZES OF NO MORE THAN 18 STUDENTS, ESPECIALLY IN GRADES K-3.
Why? For one example, "the odds of graduating after having attended small classes for 4 years were increased by 80%," (Finn, et al., 2005).
Understandably, asking the Board to amend Policy 126 from 1 teacher per 30 students to 1 teacher per 18 students overnight would be unreasonable. So, we the people urge the School District of Philadelphia Board of Education to plan and implement a class size reduction initiative which intends to reach the target numbers within a reasonable time period (approx. 5 years). We also urge the Board to take action NOW by revising Policy 126 and adopting the policy of allocating 1 teacher per 25 students in grades K-3 and 1 teacher per 28 students in all other grades. Although these numbers are not ideal, they are a step forward in the right direction and will serve as a great starting point for a more extensive class size reduction initiative.
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