School starts, class sizes are bigger (AUDIO)

It’s a day filled with eager anticipation for many students–and a certain amount of dread for others. Most South Carolina public schools crank back up Monday and the remainder will begin at some point this week.

State superintendent of education Jim Rex says there has been a lot of pressure on school districts and individual schools due to major budget cuts over the last two years. Last week Rex spoke to teachers in Greenwood, Beaufort, Clarendon and Jasper Counties.

Teachers seem to me to be the same as they are every year, excited to get the kids back in their classrooms. It’s a little different, however, due to the cuts and the layoffs and furloughs and other things. But at the schools that I have visited, the enthusiasm seemed just as high as it was in the past.

Rex says as students return to the classroom, those in some districts will find more changes due to budget cuts than those in other districts. He says some districts have lost a lot of teachers, and there is a general increase in class size statewide.

AUDIO: Rex on how schools are different this year (:44)

Rex says the first day of school is a tradition in our culture.

The start of the school year is a very common experience when you think about it. We go through it a dozen times or more and parents do it with their children. And there are 3.3 million teachers in America who do it as part of their career. The beginning of a school year is an important experience in this country, the one time we come together for a common cause.

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