Editorial: Education is no place for politics

A partisan rift is developing this session, though, over whether some of the requirements should be relaxed in the state's mandatory class-size reduction law. Existing law requires that in the first and second grades the student-teacher ratio must be 16-to-1 and in the third grade this ratio has to be 19-to-1.

During the 1997 Legislature, Republicans were able to get legislation passed that allowed schools some flexibility in establishing the ratios for the third grade. Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, successfully argued that schools should have the option of having a higher student-teacher ratio in some of their classes if it meant that even smaller classes could be obtained for such programs as remedial education. If a school district wants this flexibility, it must get approval for a waiver from the state Department of Education.

Republicans now want to expand this flexibility to the first and second grades, and a Senate-Assembly budget subcommittee approved the plan last week. But the proposal may have a tougher time when it is reviewed by the entire Assembly Ways and Means Committee, which is dominated by Democrats.

Republicans make a compelling argument for giving individual schools more latitude, but the state shouldn't suddenly abandon this important state policy that establishes a floor for student-teacher ratios. More information should be collected on how well these third grade pilot programs are working in the three Northern Nevada school districts that are trying it. The remedial programs' effectiveness should be evaluated and it should be determined whether children in those classes with more students are getting shortchanged in their instruction. If a further review reveals that students still are getting a quality education, then the next Legislature should consider giving school districts the flexibility on class-size reduction ratios in the first and second grades.

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