Other than parents, no other intervention equals the effect on a child's capacity to learn than that of his teacher. Many in Congress have made a point about the size of today's classes. But the fact is that in 1960 there were 26 students for every teacher employed in public schools. In 1995, there were 17. So, class size is not the problem.
Qualified teachers are.
We believe that every classroom should have a qualified teacher proficient in the subjects they teach. But today, only 38 percent of all U.S. public school teachers majored in an academic subject in college. In inner city schools, the statistics are even worse. Rather than want 100,000 new teachers, we need a million quality teachers. After all, what good are new teachers or for that matter small classes if the teacher in the classroom isn't qualified to help your child learn.