Fla. Class-Size Mandate Sends Districts Scurrying

By Cheryl Gamble

Nobody had to tell Superintendent Cynthia Pino of the Volusia County, Fla., school district that the state's classrooms are overcrowded.

In a state where 25 percent of the students attend schools with 1,500 pupils or more, many teachers and administrators are faced with too many students in too little space every day.

Ms. Pino is among the school leaders struggling this fall to put into place a new state policy based on the belief that children learn better in smaller classes. The policy calls for all 1st-grade classes to be limited to 20 students beginning this year, with the cap extending to 2nd-grade classes next year, and to 3rd grade in...