School Class Size

Issues related to School Class Size include:

• lack of certified teachers to meet “Highly Qualified in Field” requirement of No Child Left Behind
• quality of teacher interaction with parents
• support for teachers in urban school areas
• State of Florida Amendment #9 states that by 2010, class sizes must be a maximum of:
  • K-3 – 18 students
  • 4-8 – 22 students
  • High School Core (language arts, math, science, social studies) – 25 students
• initially Broward County was able to comply through averages across the district, and is in the process of moving to per class and teacher compliance
• were able to attract 2075 new teachers this year to Broward County, however ongoing issue of keeping teachers as 50% leave within 5 years
• ongoing issue of attracting and retaining certified, qualified teachers to meet class size mandates