LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — Michigan lawmakers want to shrink some of the state’s most crowded elementary classrooms, proposing a $65 million pilot program to cap K–3 classes at 19 students and target an average of 17.

Senate Bills 493 and 494, rolled out this week by former teachers Sen. Dayna Polehanki (D–Livonia) and Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D–Trenton), aim at districts with high poverty rates. Four districts—Muskegon Heights, Benton Harbor, Flint, and Wayne-Westland—are guaranteed spots in the program, The Detroit News reported. 

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Polehanki said they were chosen for their demographics and geography, but Republican Sen. John Damoose countered that many rural districts cannot find enough teachers to shrink class sizes, no matter the funding.

Outgoing state superintendent Michael Rice has called early-grade class-size reduction a “top legislative priority,” but Polehanki estimates a statewide fix could cost $600 million. “We’re starting with a pilot, and that’s the best we can do right now,” she said.

The Senate Education Committee took testimony on August 13, but no vote was scheduled.