Now President Clinton is campaigning for smaller classes everywhere.
Officials cite research they say links smaller classes to better learning.
But the research is less supportive than public opinion polls, working teachers and common sense in favor of lower class sizes. Researchers have studied and debated the issue for decades, often harshly. In the Reagan and Bush years, the Education Department opposed class-size reduction as expensive and ineffective. The National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers' union, has been pushing since the late 1960s for classes of 15 pupils. The study found that pupils in smaller classes did better on standardized tests.