Nevada has some of the largest class sizes in the country. Every session, NSEA has advocated for smaller class size to improve student learning and school safety. AB335 is sponsored by teacher and NSEA member Selena La Rue Hatch. It would decrease the maximum ratio of pupils per licensed teacher in K-12 and require districts to negotiate a pay increment for teachers who teach in overcrowded classrooms.
This mechanism has already been working in the Washoe County School District.
We know reducing class size has real benefits. For students, smaller class sizes can help close the racial achievement gap, lead to earlier identification of learning disabilities, improve high school graduation rates, improve student behavior, and allow for more engagement in lessons. For educators, smaller class size improves educator morale as it allows for more individual and differentiated instruction, less time on paperwork, and stronger classroom management, as teachers become more aware of individual students’ strengths or weaknesses. Smaller class sizes also mean safer schools.
That’s why smaller class sizes is a central plank of NSEA’s Time for 20 campaign
