The California Teachers Association is running a television ad that accuses Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders of plotting to abolish the state's 12-year-old Class Size Reduction (CSR) program, which affects kindergarten through third grade.
Text
Voiceover: "Times are tough. But the governor and some Sacramento politicians are going too far. Using the budget crisis as an excuse to abolish our successful Class Size Reduction program.
"The deceptive plan could permanently increase class sizes, and provides no accountability to ensure local administrators spend the money in the classroom.
"Smaller classes improve student achievement. Tell your lawmakers: Ending the Class Size Reduction program won't save California one dime. It only hurts our kids."
Analysis
The main point of the commercial is inaccurate.
As part of negotiations for closing the state's $40 billion budget gap, Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders are contemplating a proposal that would let local school districts decide whether they want to use state money to fund the CSR program in their district, or use the money for something else.
There is no evidence of a plot or any desire to abolish the program, permanently or otherwise, and districts could choose to continue to run it.
There have been studies that indicate smaller class sizes do improve student achievement. And the proposal wouldn't save money, but would allow it to be used for other purposes.
Call Steve Wiegand, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 321-1076.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.