Doubling down on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ recent claim that students “can learn better with larger classes, with more students to collaborate with, to learn with,” President Trump this morning bragged that the U.S. will lead the world in class size. “Under President Trump, our classes will be huge. They’ll be the biggest, most beautiful class sizes you’ve ever seen, believe me!”
“I guarantee you,” he added, “there’s no problem” – leaving the audience a bit confused.
The President then blasted what he called the “pathetic, sad class sizes of lightweight” past presidents. “A lot of people are saying that we have low-energy students with low-energy teachers,” he continued. “Look at China and Mexico with their tremendous class sizes. They’re laughing at us.”
But with “class sizes like never seen before, ever, we’ll beat those choker countries like a dog.”
The President then launched into a rousing speech that left his audience cheering, “Grow the Class! Grow the Class!”
Our class sizes will match all my other phenomenal accomplishments. I had the biggest electoral college victory since Reagan. I passed the largest tax cut in history. I have the biggest and most powerful nuclear button. I have big, beautiful hands. I’m building an impenetrable, great wall. Mar-a-Lago is the biggest, best club in the world. My presidency has had the biggest hurricanes. After 9-11, I now have the tallest building in Manhattan. And of course my inauguration crowd was the biggest in history. Our class sizes don’t stand a chance with me as your favorite President!
The President didn’t mention whether he would pull his son from St. Andrews, which has a far-too-small “median class size of 15 and a 7:1 student to teacher ratio.” Secretary DeVos sent her two sons to Grand Rapids Christian High School, which boasts an average class size of 24, so they were deprived of great opportunities to collaborate and learn.
April 1st News from the US
Reprinted from the April Newsletter of the National Education Policy Center.