SCHOOL NEWS

(This article, reprinted with permission, appeared in the Columbus Dispatch on February 20, 2002)     

Bexley schools chief proposes teacher trainers
Many residents objected because the plan would require increasing class sizes.

By Bill Bush
Dispatch Staff Reporter 

The Bexley school superintendent has a plan to shift teachers into specialized training roles that he says could raise the district to the next level academically.

But the general response it drew from about 125 Bexley residents during a meeting last night? Don’t even think about it.

That’s because Superintendent Michael Johnson’s plan would increase elementary-school class sizes.

Though Johnson told the gathering repeatedly that re­search has shown that teacher training, not class size, is the key to improved learning, many parents said it sounded like a cost-saving measure to them.

“I want to continue the discus­sion because I have personal beliefs about moving forward with a vision that is supported by research practices,” Johnson said. “You wouldn’t go to a doctor who wasn’t doing his practice based on research.”

The district now employs a full-time equivalent of 58 1/2 teachers in kindergarten through sixth grade. The average class size is 18.2 stu­dents, with a range between 13 and 23 students.

An enrollment projection shows that Bexley could use 49 teachers in those grades next school year. The average class size would grow to 20.3 students, with a range between 13.5 and 24 students.

The teachers freed up would be trained to become “master teachers” who would help train the rest of the teaching staff in getting results in specific subjects, from math to reading.

“You can rest assured that no one has been recommended to be terminated,” Johnson told the group.

But the crowd was overwhelmingly skeptical that bigger classes could lead to increased learning.

“I don’t understand why they can’t send all these teachers out to get this specialized training,” said Dan Cullen, who has two elementary-age children in the Bexley schools. “I mean, our taxes are quite high here. We’re paying the taxes —train them all.”

Bexley residents pay the highest effective tax rate in Franklin County to their school system: 63.11 mills for tax year 2001, resulting in a bill of $1,933 for every $100,000 worth of residential real estate.

Johnson stressed that there is plenty of time to debate the issue because the school board doesn’t need to make a decision until June. Many in the crowd said they intend to make sure the board knows how they feel.

Jo Hernon, who has four children in or about to be in school, said she moved to Bexley specifically because of the district.

“We could have a much bigger house than we have now for the same amount of money that we paid for our house in Bexley,” she said. “They will see a mass exodus out of Bexley if they start messing with the one thing that we value, and that’s small classes.”

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