Here’s the evidence:
Rossi voted twice for SB6058. The bill “shrinks the class-size reduction money mandated by Initiative 728.” Rossi voted to cut the funding for school districts for 2004-05 to $254 per child, down from the $450 that the voters supported in Initiative 728… [SB 6058, 4/15/03; SB6058, 6/4/03; The Olympian, 5/27/03]
Class-size reduction (Senate Bill 6058 and House Bill 2271): The Senate bill would reduce a planned increase in what school districts would receive under Initiative 728. School districts would get $254 per full-time student in 2004-05, up from roughly $220 this year, but less than the $450 that Initiative 728 required. [Seattle Times, 4/28/03]
Class-size improvement payments to public school districts will increase from $211.67 per student in the next school year to $254 in the 2004-05 school year. Under Initiative 728, which lawmakers are overturning, that payment would have increased to $450 per student in 2004-05, a $236.9 million savings. [The Olympian, 6/5/03]
The Ad Says “No wonder our schools are so overcrowded.”
Here’s the evidence:
In the 2005-06 school year, the student-teacher ratio in Washington’s public schools was 19.3, compared to 15.7 nationally. In Kindergarten, Washington state had a 32.6 student-teacher ratio compared to 17.3 nationally and in elementary school, Washington state had a 25.6 student-teacher ratio compared to 19.4 nationally. [National Center for Education Statistics]
In the 2005-2006 school year, Washington’s pupil/teacher ratio was 19.3. In the Fall of 2003, Washington’s pupil/teacher ration was 19.3. [National Center for Education Statistics]
Download the bill and read it for yourself.