Texas Loosens Requirement on Class-Size Waivers

The Texas Education Agency made it easier this month for Texas school districts to apply for waivers from the state’s class-size requirements, without needing a public discussion every time a waiver request is made.

The change is intended to give districts flexibility in meeting the state’s class-size maximum of 22 students per teacher, established by a 1984 law. But the loosening of the procedure provoked an immediate and negative response from parent and teacher groups.

“I think it’s an effort to fly under the radar, and obliterate one of the key things that has improved student learning in Texas,” said Aimee Bolender, the president of the Alliance of Dallas Educators, an affiliate of the...