Yes, my class is the size of a large family. Here's why...

Last night I was at school until nearly 7pm because I was in a meeting with the objective of coming up with a list of ways the school district can save money.  Our district is looking at $38 - $76 million in budget cuts from the state.  We were told at the start of the meeting that we could discuss any ideas we had, apart from personnel cuts.  Oh, there are going to be personnel cuts, but those decisions are going to be made by someone in a much higher pay grade than a group of teachers, counselors, and principals.  Well, that didn't stop a certain teacher from putting the idea out there that we should consider increasing class sizes.  Her argument was that she can be just as effective teaching classes of 32 as she is with her current classes of 28.  "And really, we've got teachers on our campus with classes the size of a large family."  These were her words.  I was sitting right next to her.  It's not the first time she has made the exact comment about the size of MY classes.  Now let me explain.  I teach ESL.  English as a Second Language.  It's an intervention class.  I have kids in my classes from all over the world.  All with varying levels of English proficiency and academic achievement.  In one of my classes (a class with 5 students) one of our activities yesterday was to write the alphabet in 30 seconds.  I timed them.  Not a single one of the 5 were able to do it.  One of my students, put his hands to his head and said in frustration, "I don't know the order!"  Now this child has been in our country for 4 years.  He comes from a part of the world where going to school every day is not a priority.  They have bigger things to worry about.  Like finding clean water to drink.  His parents sent him to the US to live with his aunt, so he might have a better life.  This is a child who is uneducated in his first language and now struggling in his second language.  A child who's academic success is so low, he doesn't even qualify for special education.  He's not a bad kid.  He's not a dumb kid.  He's an uneducated kid who is in the 7th grade and trying to figure it all out.  Since he has been in our country for 4 years, he will take the state tests in April.  With no accommodations and no modifications.  While this other teacher is up until 2 o'clock in the morning grading papers, I am up until 2 o'clock in the morning wondering how I am going to work a miracle for this child, and others in my class with similar stories.  And the tests in April are not the end of the story.  Every year I send my students across the parking lot to the high school.  I just pray that my kids find success in high school.  Find a teacher they connect with.  Pray that they do not drop out.  Because if they don't pass those tests in high school, they don't graduate.  Then they are faced with a future of poverty and a new generation of students with the same struggles.  So yes, Other Teacher.  My classes are the size of a large family.  Could you imagine having this student in your class of 28? There are 23 others this year with their own stories of success and struggle.  There are plenty of ways the district can save money.  Cutting my intervention class isn't going to make things better for anyone.