Patrice+and+Betsy

Senator Patrice and Senator Betsy (Republican)

 * Bill Topic: Education**

//1.// //Be it enacted by the Members of the McG Model Congress of the United States of America in Congress assembled//, 2. **Section 1:** 3. Smaller Class Sizes to Yield Bigger, Better Economy 4. **Section 2:** **Findings** 5. “Only 1/3 of the United States workforce has any post-secondary education, 6. yet 60 percent of new jobs in the 21st century will require post-secondary 7. education.” 8. Based on an analysis of fourth graders in 203 school districts and eighth graders 9. in 182 school districts, Wenglinsky found that at the fourth-grade level, lower 10. student/teacher ratios are positively related to higher mathematics 11. achievement and that the eighth-grade level, lower student/teacher ratios 12. improve the school social environment, which in turn leads to higher 13. achievement 14. In 1978, Smith and Glass published an analysis of 77 studies and found that 15. “small classes were superior in terms of students' reactions, teacher morale, 16. and the quality of the instructional environment” 17. **Section 3:** **Purposes** 18. By reducing class sizes, each student is better equipped and more 19. capable of learning. In turn, students would be more motivated and would 20. therefore, progress further in their education. From there, more children 21. would progress to college and there would be greater graduation rates, thus 22. yielding more professionals to work in society. 23. **Section 3.** **Eligibility:** 24. Smaller class sizes would be applied to public schools in each state. 25. **Section 4:** **Terms and Benefits:** 26. Each class in each public school would be 27. reduced to a maximum number of students of 20. If, for some reason, this 28. reduction would not be approved, we would recommend that students from 29. grades one to three would be part of classes of only 25 students. Grades four 30. through seven would be recommended to reduce class size to at least 35 31. students per classroom. 32. **Section 6:** **Administration:** State government would be responsible for 33. reducing class sizes as needed and would be expected to monitor the progress 34. of their schools’ students. If the reduction act becomes optional under the 35. states’ school boards’ discretion, states would be expected to reduce class 36. sizes for those students most at risk for falling behind in school.


 * Similar Bills Submitted in the House and Senate**

H.R. 826: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h109-826 This bill is proposing something similar to what you are considering for your bill. Pay particular attention to section 2 b where the bill describes who will be eligible for the funds and how this will be determined. It could prove a useful model for you.

S. 921: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s109-921 This bill has an excellent section on findings. It should definitely provide you with some excellent information. Take a look at how the purpose section is phrased as well.


 * Resources**

Department of Education: Initiatives: http://www.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/competitiveness/index.html?src=pb

Public Agenda: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=education

Justice Learning: http://www.justicelearning.org/viewissue.asp?issueID=20