How Class-Size Reduction Harms Kids in Poor Neighborhoods By Randy Ross Prepare for a predictable redistribution of teaching quality. They had no inexperienced teachers before the introduction of the program, and they had none after it. A substantive reduction in the size of classes in the lower grades for virtually every one of California's public elementary schools triggers a frenetic stirring among the existing teacher force. Schools post job openings for the newly created classrooms.
Teachers apply to multiple sites, some more attractive than others.
Of the applicants who fail to make the cut for the plum teaching slots, some opt out of the teaching profession, while many others, by default, repair to classrooms in the inner city. In 1984, the Los Angeles Unified School District commissioned a survey of about 2,000 Los Angeles teachers that measured the extent of this unfortunate but natural dynamic. The widespread perception was that, in these schools, teachers were less safe and students were less prepared to learn and more difficult to discipline. Let me bring the issue closer to home. A few years ago, I was spotted at a luncheon by a coach who had supervised the park in my old South Central Los Angeles community.