Dive Brief:

• A campaign to include a class size mandate on the ballot in Washington state has raised nearly $630,000. 
• Over half of the donations come from the statewide teachers union Washington Education Association, which donated $350,000. Other teacher unions have also contributed to the pot in smaller numbers.  
• The Class Size Counts initiative would require smaller class sizes across grade levels. According to proponents of the bill, Washington has some of the largest classes in the nation.  

Dive Insight:

It's amazing that when pundits spin around talking about education inequity and crisis, class size does not get more air time. Being able to successfully build a positive classroom culture and reach all students becomes significantly more difficult as more bodies are placed in a room.  

It sounds like the Washington teacher unions and the Class Size Counts initiative have the right idea by leaving the numbers up to the public and not just school districts with a bottom line and per-pupil funding to think about. The idea of putting more students in a room in order to gain more per-pupil funding is backwards. Extra dollars will not fix the fact that too many kids are in a classroom.