How to Remedy the Situation of Overflowing Classrooms

Even before the quarantine hit and the school year was flipped upside down, there were problems in most public school districts. One of the main issues was that classrooms were overflowing with students. It was not uncommon to find a class full of 30 students. 

And while managing 30 students in a college classroom is doable, try doing the same thing in a primary elementary class. If you can keep 20 first grade students on the same page, you are doing an outstanding job as an educator. However, 30 can be just about impossible. 

Plus, when you throw in the threat of a virus breaking out and spreading in your classroom, having such large class sizes needs to be reconsidered. 

Here are a few possibilities to contemplate in figuring out how to ease the dilemma of overflowing classrooms. 

Hire More Teachers

All schools have a budget that they must stick to. Unfortunately, many districts are in the red year after year and are drowning in a sea of debt. This is why they can’t hire more teachers. They can’t afford it! So while it is easy to say there should be smaller class sizes and the solution is to hire more teachers, the possibility of it happening is slim. Plus, most classrooms are already in use in these schools. You would have to add additions to schools to create more physical spaces. While hiring more staff could solve the problem, the money currently isn’t there. 

Focus on E-Learning

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker recently announced that school districts should be prepared to continue with doing e-learning in the fall when the new school year begins because of the threat of the coronavirus. While many other states are easing up on COVID restrictions at the moment, Pritzker is not so quick to do so. 

He is doubling down on e-learning as something that should be considered from here on out. In a recent press conference, Pritzker stated that many school districts were not up to the challenge yet of teaching entirely online. He said this needs to change regardless if there is a quarantine or not. 

“I would encourage administrations and teachers to work very hard on making sure that’s available,” he said. “Just in case and also because I think that in the future, we’ll be using E-Learning more and more, even in the absence of a pandemic along with in-person learning.”

While this could solve the problem of a packed classroom, there are things that need to be considered. Would these students be at home completing their e-learning that is facilitated by the classroom teacher but assisted by the kids’ parents? Are there going to be stay-at-home parents that are even able to do this? Are the kids going to be able to adapt? 

Parents Should Start Heavily Considering Homeschooling

Perhaps this recent quarantine is opening up the eyes of many parents that had only previously considered a public school for their children. Homeschooling is an option if you have a parent that is at home during the day. Plus, this would fix the crowded classrooms in public school districts. 

To homeschool in Illinois, there aren’t any parent qualifications that need to be met. A GED or high school diploma is not even required. Besides, numerous free online programs will make homeschooling your children more manageable. Furthermore, it will save you some money as homeschooling is not an expensive option at all. 

And if you still doubt your skills, you can reach out to us at iAchieve, and we can provide expert tutoring for all subjects and grade levels to help make your homeschooling go more smoothly. 

The World of Education May Have Changed Forever

With the recent coronavirus quarantine and the fear being spread by the media to gain ratings, it will be interesting to see how education is approached from here on out. There are many out there that would rather stay inside their homes instead of risking getting sick. The problem of an overflowing classroom may have just been fixed by families that are worried about sending their kids off to school. 

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