Senate Bill 31 Classroom Size Amendments - By Viridiana Najera, Maricela Hernandez, Luisa Rodriguez

Karen W. Morgan (D-Cottonwood Heights) is sponsoring S.B 31, a bill that would cap classroom sizefrom kindergarten to third grade. With this bill, the number of students will be limited to somewhere from 18 to 24 students, depending on the grade.Students work better with a smaller class, and studies have been shown that students have improved their test scores, grades, and attendance, by having smaller class room sizes. Senator Morgan suggested that we shouldn’t be one of the last states to have this law enforced.

On the other hand Peter Cannon (member of Davis School Board) disagrees with this argument and said, “We don’t need to be told to help our students the way every other school district does.” Instead he suggested that we could spend money on improving teachers’ quality through a performance- pay system instead of spending it on hiring new teachers.

This bill has been debated back and forth about how much it will cost. But Utah is financially stable enough right now to sponsor this bill.

Florida passed this law, and a good benefit was that teachers and the school board saw a big improvement in the students test scores and reading skills. But they did realize that it required a lot of spending and became unaffordable. That law wasn’t successful because they have such a big population that it was very hard for them to manage the money. We are in a better position.

8-year-old Mayra Limon said “I think I would work better if there was fewer kids in my class.” We asked why she thought that, and she said “ It's better if we have a smaller class, that way the teacher can pay more attention to me.”

Senator Morgan has great intentions for the school districts in Utah. She is trying to expand student’s education and their knowledge. S.B31 should be enforced because it gives students a great ability to learn a lot more by having one on one time with their teacher. It is important that we focus on our young students because at their age their mind is just beginning to expand and is more open to learn. It is also important that they learn because these students are our future.

We need to teach them well because our education system and school requirements get harder and harder every year. We need to prepare for their future, we need to prepare them for what they are going against. For example the University of Utah requirements are getting higher every year and if we aren’t giving them the resources they need we need to start doing that.

We support this bill 100% and hope it gets enforced by the beginning of the school year next year. We know it will make a difference in these students’ lives and education.