Recently, I find myself in the spotlight for the bizarre circumstance of my having been concurrently named Santa Barbara County Teacher of the Year and laid-off from my eight-year position as a teacher at Santa Ynez High School. Accordingly, many parents, neighbors, and friends have approached me asking, “What can we do?” Since the current budgetary catastrophe is a new situation for all of us, I have not had a good answer. Maybe no one does, but I am writing today because there is a part of this equation about which I am prepared to speak authoritatively, and that is the importance of prioritizing the student-teacher ratio if our aim is to actually educate. Right now is a good time to address the school board on the issue of class size numbers for the upcoming school year. I mean right now because the school board is meeting this upcoming Tuesday, June 23 @ 4PM to discuss budget cuts based on the “worst case scenario.” This includes drastic cuts to the teaching staff and super-sizing classes. This will definitely have an adverse effect our children.

While I recognize that the school board has considerations to which I am not privy, what I do know unequivocally is that class size matters, particularly in the language arts, and the quality of our children’s learning experience will be grossly compromised with thirty-six to forty students in a class. Imagine trying to conduct a group activity in a classroom with that many desks; besides the logistical mayhem from simply trying to get that many kids to move that many desks around, there will be the sheer boredom kids experience while nine or ten other groups report to the class. Imagine the time spent viewing “creative projects” when there are thirty-five to thirty-nine other kids showing. Studies show (and I confirm) the attention span for the average high school student is approximately twenty minutes, and this will not change simply because we doubled the number of students in a class. Imagine how few times each student will have a chance to speak out. First students will feel invisible. Then they will become distracted, and that is when discipline becomes an issue. Engaged students do not act up.

Another casualty of super-sized classes is the teacher-student relationship. While many honors- and AP-level students are intrinsically motivated to perform in school, most kids will tell you that they work hardest for those teachers they like or admire. That congeniality and respect is fostered when teachers know their students individually. That means the teacher takes the time to know about a student outside of the curriculum and takes the time to chat with the student informally: like who’s going to the CIF playoffs, who has a big dance recital, who just broke up with whom, whose parents are splitting up, who got into leadership training, and who just got his driver’s license. Kids respond to that connection with their teachers. It is a joyful learning environment that keeps kids coming back for more, especially when the goals we have set for them are truly challenging. That level of intimacy cannot be sustained with giant class counts.

I haven’t even mentioned the need for individuating writing instruction. Oy! Successful writing is the #1 indicator of success in college; English is the most weighted area tested in the STAR tests; and English is the only class that is mandatory for every single student for four years. This is because reading comprehension and writing are complex skills that require critical thinking, maturity, confidence, and technical proficiency. If the purpose of our educational system is to prepare our students for their place in society, our society clearly prioritizes the ability to read, write, and speak effectively. The reality of teaching these skills, however, is that not everyone matures or comprehends at the exact same moment. There is a developmental component, which is why writing, like driving, requires good instruction and then a whole lot of practice for students to gain competence. With over-sized classes, it will take twice as long for teachers to get through a set of essays (even with the help of computers), which means the feedback will take way longer than is optimum for learning, and there will be half as many opportunities for student practice.

If we, as a community, are truly interested in educating our children, we must prioritize the student-teacher ratio. No matter how good-hearted or well-intended a teacher may be, she will fail to meet the educational and emotional needs of her students if the class size is excessive. This is a systematic set-up for mediocrity at best and failure is likely.

Obviously this disturbs me profoundly. I am the parent of a high school student and I stand to lose my job. But I know my daughter will thrive anyway, and I can find work (my resume is looking pretty good right now). The bigger issue here is that I know first-hand the despair, and I mean despair, of students who are stuck in a failed learning environment. While the accountants translate teacher cuts into fiscal responsibility, go tell a kid who is frantic or despondent or just pissed off because he doesn’t “get it” and his teacher can’t help him. Those kids are real human beings and that miserable classroom is their reality. I believe we have to make our school board representative understand that those kids are our absolute priority. Institutionalizing failure, and sending those failures off to take costly and inane online courses in lieu of providing a productive learning environment is not an acceptable alternative.

I am inviting you to write/email the School Board, and/or Doreen Farr immediately (cause the vote is Tues. June 23) and urge them to apply all “rainy day funds” into ensuring a proper student-teacher ratio. Perhaps the board wants to honor its obligations to pay off the football field, or the business manager’s salary, or even set aside funds for a potential law suit from Norm Clevenger’s dismissal ... I really don’t know. And maybe those are reasonable fiscal priorities to a board that wants to be compliant with procedures, but these do not represent my priorities as a tax payer, as a parent, nor as a teacher. Even in my own family, we have deferred many material upgrades and some of our fiscal security to prioritize the education of our own children. Goodness knows their generation is inheriting a lot of problems that are the consequence of years of institutional mismanagement, and the need to think critically, creatively, and incisively is as essential as ever. If we fail to provide a learning environment to meet this great need, then we have failed to pass on the essential legacy upon which our democratic institutions hinge: universal compulsory education to foster an informed and productive voting population. The policy makers need to know what matters to you. I encourage you to speak up today.

Diane Siegal was named Santa Barbara County Teacher of the Year and received her pink slip — all in the same year.