NEWPORT BEACH : Teachers Ask Relief From Large Classes

Teachers in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District say they are being “overwhelmed and overburdened” this year because of mushrooming class sizes that could affect the quality of education.

Jeannie Pollock, who teaches a combination fourth- and fifth-grade class at Adams Elementary School in Costa Mesa, said this week that she spends 60 hours a week teaching, preparing lessons, meeting with parents and grading papers for the 37 children in her class.

“The child is the most important thing in school,” Pollock said.

Last year, Pollock had 23 students in her class, and she also had a parent volunteer and a teacher’s aide to help her, she said. “Now, it’s just one adult for 37 kids. There are no open spaces on the floor anymore. I can’t handle any more kids, and all the teachers are feeling discouraged,” she said.

Maya Decker, president of the Federation of Teachers, told the Board of Education this week that teachers are joining in an effort to raise public awareness about the overcrowding.

Decker pleaded with board members to spend a day with a teacher struggling to keep order in a classroom where up to 40 students can be crammed.

“The teachers in this district have asked me to invite you to please come and spend some time in their classrooms,” Decker said. “. . . Let them know that you know how bad it is and that you are committed to doing everything possible to lighten their load and help them.”

The district’s maximum number of students, according to the teachers’ contract, should not exceed 29 pupils per class for elementary schools. High school academic teachers should not teach more than 180 students per day, the contract says.

“Never in the history of this district has it been this bad,” Decker said.

She added that the teachers understand that the tight budget will not allow the district to hire teachers to alleviate the overcrowding, but she urged that teacher aides be hired at least on a part-time basis.

“The district does need a lot more money to try to resolve this,” Decker said. “But they can’t ignore this problem. I want the school board members to continually be made aware of the problem.”

Decker said hundreds of parents have complained to the teachers that their children are not getting enough one-on-one instruction.

Trustee Martha Fluor said the board is aware of the growing number of students per classroom and is looking into hiring more teachers’ aides. “Everybody on the board is concerned. I’m very grateful that the teachers have hung in,” she said.