History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
Overcrowding
Many urban and poorly funded schools across California are systemically overcrowded, with high school classes of over 30 or 40 students common in many schools. Much of the work of IDEA and its community partners has focused directly and indirectly on overcrowding. Schools that cannot offer students individual attention and force them in large classroom settings often produce lower achieving students. Individual attention and healthy classroom environments has been shown to increase the quality of education for students. Overcrowding in many of these schools is also inextricably linked to more systemic problems of schooling that many communities face: with a lack of adequate funding, facilities, and resources, schools have forced students to learn in overcrowded conditions and have consequently lowered student achievement. This problem, as expected, disproportionately impacts schools that have a majority of students from low-income backgrounds and students of color.
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