FCPS Class Size Petition- Please sign (and pass around for signatures)

[Anonymous]

When FCPS shows good stewardship of the funds they already have, I may be more prone to support a tax increase. Also, what makes you think they would use it for smaller class sizes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about all those with houses in foreclosure? You think they can afford more tax? What about those trying to avoid foreclosure?

Possibly yes since many in that situation have stopped paying on their mortgages long ago, so that is a huge savings for them. Foreclosures are now being processed more quickly through the system and being cleared out, so those foreclosure homes will soon enough have new owners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When FCPS shows good stewardship of the funds they already have, I may be more prone to support a tax increase. Also, what makes you think they would use it for smaller class sizes?

Because that is the number one issue highlighted by parents as a concern.

[Anonymous]

There may be that many households, but commercial businesses also pay taxes. I think the amount to fund the offset would be much lower for a homeowner. Last year even the County Executive recommended a $1.05 tax rate but the Board of Supervisors reduced it to $1.01. That would have been about $150-$200 more per household. It was a stupid decision since they knew they would have to be paying more for retirement this year. They should have made it at least $1.03.

[Anonymous]

They aren't going to use it for smaller class sizes. Right now the proposal is to increase them even bigger than they are now which is already huge!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
When FCPS shows good stewardship of the funds they already have, I may be more prone to support a tax increase. Also, what makes you think they would use it for smaller class sizes?

Because that is the number one issue highlighted by parents as a concern.

and, I think I read the other day that teacher pay is Garza's number one concern.

[Anonymous]

Teacher's pay is already in the budget and one of the reasons why there's a $140 million shortage. Without the $140 million there will be less for teachers pay and higher class sizes. Parents basically need to advocate for taxes to rises if they want their school system to continue to do well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
When FCPS shows good stewardship of the funds they already have, I may be more prone to support a tax increase. Also, what makes you think they would use it for smaller class sizes?

Because that is the number one issue highlighted by parents as a concern.

and, I think I read the other day that teacher pay is Garza's number one concern.

Where did you read this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They aren't going to use it for smaller class sizes. Right now the proposal is to increase them even bigger than they are now which is already huge!

That proposal for larger class sizes is because of the $140 million budget shortfall. If we secure more funding (e.g., through higher taxes), we should at least be able to hold classes at their current sizes, if not reduce the sizes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stop-oversize-classes-in-fairfax-county-school/

Fairfax County Public Schools: Don't pass
a 2014-15 class size increase without county-established class size caps.

Many Fairfax County schoolchildren are assigned to very large classes. They must often deal with cramped spaces, more stressful environments and less of the individual attention they need.

And it might get worse next year. To help balance the 2014-15 budget, class size may be increased even more next year. Another class size increase without county-established caps will put even more children in unfairly lower-quality, oversize classes.

Fairfax County doesn't have its own class size caps. FCPS consents to Virginia's high state caps of 29-35 for elementary school! We must do better than that. In addition, Virginia establishes NO caps for middle and high schools.

County-established caps will protect children from excessively large classes that damage their education.

We, the undersigned, urge FCPS: Don’t pass a 2014-15 class size increase without county-established class size caps.

Signers: please include your school name in the Comments box, if you are comfortable doing so.

*Please note: No donation is required to sign. Some signers may be directed to an optional donation page generated by ipetitions. If you do not wish to donate, leave the donation form blank and your signature will still be recorded.

Explain why large classes damage education? There's no actual empirical evidence of that. You're working from intuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher's pay is already in the budget and one of the reasons why there's a $140 million shortage. Without the $140 million there will be less for teachers pay and higher class sizes. Parents basically need to advocate for taxes to rise if they want their school system to continue to do well.

Definitely. Will excellent teachers want to stay with low pay and huge classes sizes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Teacher's pay is already in the budget and one of the reasons why there's a $140 million shortage. Without the $140 million there will be less for teachers pay and higher class sizes. Parents basically need to advocate for taxes to rise if they want their school system to continue to do well.

Definitely. Will excellent teachers want to stay with low pay and huge classes sizes?

Yes. The pay is not that low. Jobs are hard to come by these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stop-oversize-classes-in-fairfax-county-school/

Fairfax County Public Schools: Don't pass
a 2014-15 class size increase without county-established class size caps.

Many Fairfax County schoolchildren are assigned to very large classes. They must often deal with cramped spaces, more stressful environments and less of the individual attention they need.

And it might get worse next year. To help balance the 2014-15 budget, class size may be increased even more next year. Another class size increase without county-established caps will put even more children in unfairly lower-quality, oversize classes.

Fairfax County doesn't have its own class size caps. FCPS consents to Virginia's high state caps of 29-35 for elementary school! We must do better than that. In addition, Virginia establishes NO caps for middle and high schools.

County-established caps will protect children from excessively large classes that damage their education.

We, the undersigned, urge FCPS: Don’t pass a 2014-15 class size increase without county-established class size caps.

Signers: please include your school name in the Comments box, if you are comfortable doing so.

*Please note: No donation is required to sign. Some signers may be directed to an optional donation page generated by ipetitions. If you do not wish to donate, leave the donation form blank and your signature will still be recorded.

Explain why large classes damage education? There's no actual empirical evidence of that. You're working from intuition.

This article on the Johns Hopkins School of Education website sums up nicely the detriment of large class sizes:

http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Transforming%20Education/Articles/Class%20Size

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stop-oversize-classes-in-fairfax-county-school/

Fairfax County Public Schools: Don't pass
a 2014-15 class size increase without county-established class size caps.

Many Fairfax County schoolchildren are assigned to very large classes. They must often deal with cramped spaces, more stressful environments and less of the individual attention they need.

And it might get worse next year. To help balance the 2014-15 budget, class size may be increased even more next year. Another class size increase without county-established caps will put even more children in unfairly lower-quality, oversize classes.

Fairfax County doesn't have its own class size caps. FCPS consents to Virginia's high state caps of 29-35 for elementary school! We must do better than that. In addition, Virginia establishes NO caps for middle and high schools.

County-established caps will protect children from excessively large classes that damage their education.

We, the undersigned, urge FCPS: Don’t pass a 2014-15 class size increase without county-established class size caps.

Signers: please include your school name in the Comments box, if you are comfortable doing so.

*Please note: No donation is required to sign. Some signers may be directed to an optional donation page generated by ipetitions. If you do not wish to donate, leave the donation form blank and your signature will still be recorded.

Explain why large classes damage education? There's no actual empirical evidence of that. You're working from intuition.

This article on the Johns Hopkins School of Education website sums up nicely the detriment of large class sizes:

http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Transforming%20Education/Articles/Class%20Size

Frankly, I think teacher quality matters a whole lot more than class size, and the empirical evidence has shown this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Frankly, I think teacher quality matters a whole lot more than class size, and the empirical evidence has shown this.

Links please?