San Antonio -- Major budget cuts at the state level continue trickling down to local school districts. The Texas State Teachers Association says 12,000 teachers were "let go" because of the financial belt tightening.
But increasing classes isn't as easy as moving in a few extra desks. Schools have to get permission to make those changes by submitting a classroom waiver to the state.
To date, the state has received more than 8,000 waivers from Texas school districts. By law, there needs to be one teacher for every 22 students for grades kinder through 4th grade. But when a district asks for a classroom waiver, they're asking for permission to squeeze in two more students. It may not seem like a lot, but imagine taking care of 24 kindergarteners all by yourself.
Edwina Perez teaches third grade at Fisher Elementary on the far west side. Last year she had 21 students. But this year, with a classroom waiver in place, she's had up to 24.
"We do our best everyday to make sure every kid gets the education that they need,” Perez told us. “Unfortunately, with a class of this size, individualized instruction has become very difficult."
Fisher Elementary is one of Northside's fastest growing elementary schools in the district. They have 1,061 students enrolled and had to file for 17 classroom waivers this year.
"It's a little more work. More parents to conference with, more of a management task, more of a resource management task. But we're getting it done,” Tom Knapp, Fisher Elementary Principal, told us.
Northside ISD has 1,780 elementary classrooms that fall under the 22:1 law. Last year NISD didn't ask for a single classroom waiver. This year they've submitted 520.
"When you put these extraordinary challenges on these teachers with bigger classrooms and less resources, obviously, it's got to be a big strain on them,” Pascual Gonzalez, NISD Spokesperson, explained.
Northside is expecting to submit more classroom waivers in the future. Gonzalez says teachers are doing all they can to keep things the same, but an impact is inevitable.
"We believe there will be an impact on student's education because their classrooms are bigger. We said that all along,” Gonzalez noted. “We pleaded with state government to do the right thing for kids and they chose not to.”
We also checked with other school districts in town to see if they had submitted waivers. North East has submitted 88 waivers. Harlandale has sent in 54. And San Antonio ISD hasn't submitted anything; but they also have a declining enrollment.
