Two state senators are sponsoring a bill that would create a committee to study classroom sizes in Arizona schools.
Arizona is known for having large class sizes. The state senators behind the bill, Christine Marsh and Paul Boyer, teach in public schools and are very familiar with this issue.
Marsh's class sizes have varied from 15 to up to 44 students. Large class sizes are not beneficial for student learning and also put a heavy burden on their teachers, she said.
“As a state, we need to start moving toward putting some types of caps on class sizes, because, ultimately, right now our kids are paying the price for not having that," Marsh said.
The bill proposes forming a committee that would determine appropriate class sizes, and what methods and how much money it would take to reduce them. The committee would submit their findings to the governor and state leaders by the end of the year.
This effort is a long-time coming, said Republican Paul Boyer, who's co-sponsoring the bill.
“This is something that should have been done years ago where class sizes aren’t 40 students, but hopefully we can get it down to 25, I don’t know. The study committee will find out what’s the appropriate size of what a classroom should be," he said.
Boyer, who teaches at a charter school, thinks smaller class sizes would allow for more one-on-one instruction that would be valuable for students, especially those who are struggling.
