Statewide School Survey Indicates Increasing Class Size Is the Norm

Always an important number for parents, class size is also often a barometer of the fiscal condition of a school system: the tighter the dollars, the fewer the staff, the more students in each classroom.

A new survey of New Jersey schools over the past two years proves that this state is no exception -- although the results also present some interesting twists.

The New Jersey School Boards Association contacted all 575 districts in June to quiz them on how class size has been affected by two budgets: last year's (2010-2011), which saw steep cuts in state aid, and this year's (2011-2012), which saw a slight increase.

A total of 186 districts responded. Not surprisingly, about a third of all participants again said class size climbed last year, largely due to shrinking state aid.

And even though budgets are a bit beefier this year, a third of all respondents said class size is likely to increase again. Of the remainder, nearly two-thirds said they would stay the same, while one in 10 said they would decrease.

"It seems to be leveling off a little," said Frank Belluscio, the association's communications director. "They are doing everything they can to retain programs, keep their teachers, but we still have a third increasing class size."

A Report Card

New Jersey tracks class size for every school as part of its annual School Report Card, and although there are some questions as to how it is computed, the average had been slowly but steadily dropping over the past decade.

In the most recent Report Card for the 2009-2010, the state listed the average as 18.2 students per classroom, considerably down from even five years ago, when it was in the low 20's.

But if the school board survey is accurate, it looks as if it will bump up class size for the next Report Card and possibly the one after that. And that second increase is not entirely due to state aid reductions.

As indicated, last year's cuts -- amounting to 5 percent of budgets -- were the big reason for the increase in class size. But school officials said a range of factors are going into increases this year.

The top one is the new property tax caps, listed by a third of respondents as a driving force in larger class sizes. Another fifth said their own enrollment had increased. The third factor is the continued dearth of state aid.

NJSBA Class Size Survey

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