Why do I have 30 students in my AP classes when Georgia law says I should have 21? In this Teacher Reality Check, I break down why class size legislation looks perfect on paper but falls apart in real schools. From Georgia's Strategic Waiver system (130 out of 132 districts ignore the caps) to NYC's struggle with 70,000+ overcrowded classrooms, this episode explores why money alone can't fix teacher shortages, scheduling realities, and retention crises. The uncomfortable truth: we're legislating the easy thing to count while ignoring who gets quality teachers and resources. If we're serious about smaller classes, we need to talk about teacher working conditions, not just mandates with impossible timelines.

Episode Topics: class size legislation, teacher shortage, education policy, school funding inequality, teacher workload, AP class sizes

Perfect for: Teachers dealing with oversized classes, education policy advocates, administrators navigating impossible mandates, anyone who wants to understand why education reform fails in practice