By Jennifer Medina, The New York Times, February 21, 2009

In many circles, class size is considered as fundamental to education as the three R’s, with numbers watched so carefully that even a tiny increase can provoke outrage among parents, teachers and political leaders. Alarms went off in New York and California last week, as officials on both coasts warned that yawning budget gaps could soon mean more children in each classroom.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/education/22class.html?_r=1