In his speech to the nation's governors at their annual association meeting in Washington, DC., Bill Gates made remarks which are likely to cause heartburn for some and create excitement for others. Paraphrased: put a good teacher in front of students and the size of the course has less of an impact!
Gates: Spending Cuts Don't Have To Harm Learning : NPR
Gates: Spending Cuts Don't Have To Harm Learning : NPR
Even in the midst of large spending cuts, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said Monday that schools can improve the performance of students if they put more emphasis on rewarding excellent teaching and less emphasis on paying teachers based on seniority and graduate degrees.
Gates spoke to the nation's governors mindful of the severe financial woes that many of them face as they try to bridge deficits totaling about $125 billion in the coming fiscal year. He said there are some clear do's and don'ts. Among the do's: Lift caps on class sizes and get more students in front of the very best teachers. Those teachers would get paid more with the savings generated from having fewer personnel overall.
"There are people in the field who think class size is the only thing," Gates said in an interview with The Associated Press prior to his speech. "But in fact, the dominant factor is having a great teacher in front of the classroom."
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