By Bob Miller

I am speaking out today for a cause I believe in deeply.

More than 20 years ago, when I took office as governor, I made reducing class sizes in Nevada elementary schools the chief goal of my new administration.

I believed then and believe now that nothing is more important than giving children in primary grades the best start in school we can. That means having them in classrooms where they receive more individual instruction in reading, writing and math. In short, it means classes with fewer students per teacher.

The first phase of class-size reduction was put in place for kindergartners and first-graders in the 1990-91 school year. In 1991, the Nevada Legislature appropriated funds to reduce pupil-teacher ratios in the first and second grades and selected kindergartens to 16-1.

It is important to remember that in late 1991, the state faced a massive budget shortfall, and we severely cut back on state spending and programs. But we preserved class-size reduction, because it was a cornerstone of our commitment to helping every child in Nevada succeed in school.

Bob Miller was governor of Nevada from 1989 to 1999.

Read the whole story