Lane County educators say the governor must reduce class sizes and address behavioral and mental health issues
Register-GuardDec 16, 2018
They want smaller class sizes and more support and funding for mental health efforts and student behavioral challenges.
A lack of support in those areas, educators say, is keeping them from being effective and from providing an adequate education to students. In turn, the challenging atmosphere in schools across
The state's teachers are facing significant issues, among them violent student behaviors and students who are experiencing severe mental illness including depression and anxiety. They're dealing those and other problems in classrooms that are overflowing with students.
Overcrowded classrooms were the number one concern voiced by educators or education advocates responding to an informal Register-Guard survey taken earlier this month. Mental health needs and the lack of resources to allocate toward them, including counseling, was closely tied with the need for more support for behavioral outbursts, student violence and disrupted learning.
Essentially, local educators argue, a lack of funding for public education in general is the root of the problem.
And Gov.
In her budget proposal for the 2019-2021 biennium released late last month, Brown identifies education as one of the most pressing issues for the state.
"We must finally fix our underfunded education system," Brown writes.
In the proposal, Brown breaks down how funding would be allocated to various programs and efforts, primarily to reduce class sizes, extend the school year and expand career technical education programs.
Of her
About
In addition, Brown is proposing a
That investment package -- likely funded by a significant tax increase -- proposes an additional
Brown's budget proposal for the coming biennium is aggressive but not guaranteed to be passed in full by the
In addition, Brown didn't say in her budget proposal or presentation of the plan where funding for schools might come from and instead stated that she "expects the Legislature to reform
And that leaves educators with uncertainty about the future.
"Something has to change in a very foundational way," said
Class sizes
The average elementary school class size in
"With an average ratio of one teacher to every 25 kids, teachers struggle to meet the needs of each student, and classroom climate issues often result in conflicts among students or teachers not feeling supported," Brown states in her education policy agenda released in September.
In the
"It's too many kids," she said. "You just can't get to everyone who needs your help. Even for something simple like capitalizing letters at the the beginning of a sentence. Students sometimes need individualized help and you just can't provide that."
The Bethel district also had a median class size of 27 students in 2018, state education department data show. About half of the 595 classes had between 26 and 35 students.
In Hanson's case, the school's principal has provided her with an additional educational assistant to help in the classroom -- but she needs more assistance.
"Our principal has been great in giving us extra support," Hanson said. "But it's just not enough. We need smaller class sizes to provide a quality education to these students."
High school and middle school teachers also are feeling the impact of large class sizes, which they say is significantly impairing their ability to teach and hurting their students' ability to learn.
"If you want quality education for students, you have to have quality educators and allow them to do well and they just can't in a room full of 40 or 42 students," said
A study from the National Education Policy Center found that class sizes of no more than 17 students in kindergarten through third grade result in better student outcomes, especially for low-income students and students of color. The study also found that students in those reduced size classes were more likely to graduate on time in four years and go to college.
But it's an expensive problem to fix, according to state
Although Brown in her budget proposal wants to allocate nearly
"Districts would be able to submit a plan to receive funds through the
Extreme and violent student behaviors
In the last few years, school staff in the Bethel,
Teachers, educational assistants and other school staff in the three local districts have reported students throwing chairs at windows, hitting, kicking and biting staff and other students, yelling obscenities and, in some cases, breaking glass or leaving teachers with concussions or other serious injuries, according to educators and their union representatives.
"I'm a new kindergarten teacher in
Kelley said although there are protocols in place to respond to such behaviors, they aren't enough.
"General education teachers do not have the support or resources to balance the needs of all learners" Kelley said.
Federal law requires districts to ensure students with disabilities, whether behavioral, learning or physical, receive a free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. Additionally, the law constrains how teachers may respond when a student has an emotional outburst at school.
According to the
Increased student violence and behavioral issues have been intensifying mostly in the past five years, and state officials do not yet know how to adequately address the complex problem. Districts are not required to track the number of times students are violent, become disruptive or prompt room clears, leaving the scope of the issue mostly unknown -- at least by state officials.
Teachers in the area say it's hard to balance specialized education with general instruction.
"There's not enough support for students who require varying mental health supports and special behavioral needs," said
"Because there's not enough money to hire the supports needed to help these students, they are placed in general education classrooms until they essentially do something bad enough to garner the attention of the administration. General education teachers are now being expected to manage students with behavioral needs, while trying to deliver quality instruction to all students in the classroom."
In an effort to determine how to best solve the issue, the state last spring formed the "
The committee, comprising 45 members including students, parents, educators, researchers, mental health experts, legislators and others, made nine policy recommendations to begin addressing issues. Ultimately, the committee deemed it "imperative" for the state to reevaluate its approach to supporting all students and school staff in schools.
The recommendations include looking at and potentially changing biased policies and practices, collecting better data, adding mental and physical services in schools, providing support to transfer students, implementing intervention services, and training educators in culturally responsive practices, restorative justice, trauma-informed practices, de-escalation skills, bullying and harassment prevention and suicide prevention, among others.
In Brown's budget proposal, she states that
"These funds will support initiatives that equip schools with the ability to create inclusive, safe and welcoming environments conducive to learning for all students. It will include capacity for coordination between educator and health professionals, support for the anti-bullying strategies and suicide prevention, in addition to a statewide threat assessment system," the budget proposal states.
Mental health
Overwhelmingly, teachers in the
Teachers and other educators say there should be more counselors at each school who are dedicated to providing mental health help, and that large class sizes directly affect mental health as well.
"There is a mental health crisis in our schools," said
Examples of severe trauma include homelessness, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, severe poverty or other experiences that may create barriers to students' social, emotional and educational progress. Such experiences also may lead to depression and suicide.
"Forty-seven percent of children in
Greene-Chacon said the way public education is presented to students also is part of the problem.
"I believe (that) the real issue is the way we serve our students -- in overcrowded classrooms where the pressures of standardized testing have robbed teachers of their ability to provide age-appropriate educational opportunities," Greene-Chacon said.
At the beginning of the year,
Typically the county averages seven adolescent suicides per year, according to
"School districts are trying to rely on partnering with community agencies that do not have the capacity or resources to serve the numbers of students and families we have that actually need services," she said. "Districts need to employ mental health professionals (in house) that can serve families/students, connect those with higher levels of need to appropriate services and help guide districts to better serve the mental health needs of our students, families and staff as a whole."
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