Spot that Fallacy!

Mike Bloomberg, in his never-ending quest to educate the public, has decided to give NYC a lesson in false logic. In a stunning demonstration in the NY Times, the mayor presents us with these two gems of muddled thinking:

False Choice: “If you’re going to spend an extra dollar, personally, I would always rather spend it on the people that deliver the service,” Mr. Bloomberg said when asked about the report on Thursday, calling class size “an interesting number.”

Here, the mayor presents the situation as an either/or, when it is nothing of the sort. Most Long Island districts, as well as many districts upstate and in Connecticut, have shown that you can have both low class size and pay teachers well. What makes Mr. Bloomberg's utterance a particularly good example is that he has utterly failed to do either one. NYC teachers make less money and have the largest class sizes in the state. And, of course, the "If you're going to spend an extra dollar" dichotomy doesn't work here because the mayor has no intention of spending an extra dollar on class size or teachers, despite a mandate and an inflow of money from the CFE suit. Mikey follows up with another false choice gem: "“If you have to have smaller class size or better teachers, go with the better teachers every time.”

The Post Hoc Fallacy: In New York City, an Education Department comparison over the last two years between school report-card grades and average class size has found little correlation; in many cases, schools with better grades have bigger classes.

In reading this, you would think that larger class sizes has had a positive effect on school report card grades. This utterly ignores two critical points: The city grades itself, so the grades are inherently meaningless, and people who want their kids to have a good education tend to move to areas where the schools are better when that is an option for them. Many of the most overcrowded schools in NYC, for example, are in affluent areas of the city and Queens.

That's Mayor Mike's lesson in false logic today, kiddies. Tune in tomorrow, when Mikey will show us the fallacy of false cause by claiming that because the NYC test scores have gone up, mayoral control of schools has been a success.

Fixing the Schools, in Five Easy Steps! Step Three--Reduce Class Size

OK, I know reducing class size is a no-brainer. But as the people running the schools have no brains and still have not done this, perhaps it's time for someone with a brain to step in. (I'm available, Mr. Mayor. Call me.)

Reducing class size is the only sure fire way to improve student performance. Almost everything else is a gimmick. I've spent most of my career teaching classes in excess of thirty students, and sometimes far in excess. I've also taught in so-called 'triad' classes in which three teachers split up two classes, giving each teacher roughly 22 students. Guess which way worked better?

Decreasing class size will also improve teacher quality dramatically. It's a simple fact that teaching 35 kids is hard, which is why Joel Klein and Michelle Rhee fled the field as soon as they could. Teaching 22, while not easy, lightens the burden considerably, especially in terms of planning, grouping, and giving individualized attention. Discipline problems float away. Real teaching occurs.

Many high powered education pundits (by which I mean know-nothings) regularly discount class size as a factor. Oddly, most of these individuals are extremely wealthy and send their children to private schools--schools that trumpet their low class sizes as a major plus. I've never heard a millionaire say, "Hey! That public school has 35 kids per class! Let me send Muffy there!"

The main problem in tackling class size is money. It simply costs more to hire more teachers and build more schools. While I don't have all the answers, I do know that it would cost less to lower class sizes nationwide than it is costing us to bail out a bunch of multi-millionaires who invested in unintelligible mortgage-backed securities.

And I do have a plan for getting more teachers into the classroom at virtually zero cost. Unfortunately, it's also a no-brainer, so it's unlikely that it will ever be implemented. Still, I have hope.

The Incredible Non-Shrinking Classroom

It seems that the city has been making a push to reduce class size. I haven't really noticed, as the only push I've been involved with lately is shoving another desk into my classroom. Given its current success rate, if the city decides to continue its reduction plan, I may have to suspend a desk from the florescent lights.

In any case, it seems that the governor's proposed budget plan is bad news. Mayor Mike has said as much, lamenting that the budget cuts would result in fewer teachers and larger class sizes. I think we can take the mayor at his word, considering his utter failure to reduce class size even when awarded CFE funds earmarked for that very purpose.

We should not be too harsh on the mayor. He has made some effort to reduce class size. For example, a number of schools have added seats by eliminating such unnecessary items as school libraries. DOE spokesman William Haveman said in the Daily News that, "We strongly discourage schools from converting their library into classroom space, but we know that in rare cases, principals may temporarily have to do so." This is so rare that a mere 17,000 students in 42 schools in the Bronx are without a library.

Fortunately, most of these schools are in poverty ridden neighborhoods, thus eliminating the chance that any children of DOE brass are zoned for them.

If you're interested in class size, I urge you to visit Leonie Haimson's site at www.classsizematters.org. I discourage you from trying to access the site from your school's library, however, as it may not exist.