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May 14, 2025
LANSING – The Michigan Legislature should reduce class sizes in high-poverty K-3 classrooms, the State Board of Education says in a resolution.
The resolution approved on Tuesday urges legislators to make reducing class sizes in high-poverty K-3 classrooms a priority in the fiscal year 2026 state budget and to require class size limits for all grade levels by the 2030-31 school year.
“Research has shown smaller class size improves the learning environment for students because teachers are better able to address the needs of their students both academically and holistically,” said board member Dr. Mitchell Robinson, who introduced the resolution. “Many studies show that class size reduction leads to better student outcomes in every way that can be measured, including better grades and test scores, fewer behavior problems, and greater likelihood to graduate from high school on time and subsequently enroll in college.”
The resolution says the risk of large classes in Michigan is not evenly distributed across race, economic level, or urbanicity. Black ninth graders are over three times as likely as their white peers to be in large classes, it says.
The Michigan Department of Education has also advocated for lower class sizes in high-poverty K-3 classrooms in its 2025 Legislative Priorities Letter to legislators and its legislative testimony.
“Small class sizes in high-poverty early elementary classrooms help children learn and teachers teach, particularly early reading, writing, and math skills. Small class sizes help facilitate not just strong group lessons but ample time and attention for small-group and one-on-one supports,” said State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice.
The board resolution cites a University of Michigan Education Policy Initiative policy brief on class sizes in Michigan that says in first grade nearly 1 in 20 students have a homeroom of 40 or more students and in seventh and ninth grade more than 1 in 10 students have at least one core course of that size.
The resolution itself calls for class sizes to be limited by the 2030-31 academic year to no more than 20 students per class in grades K-3, no more than 23 students per class in grades 4-8, and no more than 25 students per class in grades 9-12, with reasonable exceptions made for physical education and performing arts classes, for career technical education, and in consultation with specialist teachers in these and other certification areas.
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