Truth-O-Meter: Has class sizes under Rick Perry grown massively?

The Truth-O-Meter Says:

Says Texas schools have had "massive increases" in class sizes with Rick Perry as governor.

Arne Duncan on Thursday, August 18th, 2011 in an interview.

The nation’s education secretary says Texas students have struggled on Gov. Rick Perry's watch.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Al Hunt touching on the new Republican presidential candidate, Arne Duncan said: "Far too few of their high school graduates are actually prepared to go on to college. I feel very, very badly for the children there."

Duncan, the former chief executive officer of the Chicago public schools, continued: "You have seen massive increases in class size. You’ve seen cutbacks in funding. It doesn’t serve the children well. It doesn’t serve the state well. It doesn’t serve the state’s economy well. And ultimately it hurts the country."

The college-readiness of Texas high school graduates is a rich topic. For instance, The Dallas Morning News, citing a report, noted Aug.ust 17, 2011, that a majority of Texas high school graduates who took the ACT college-entrance exam this year lacked the skills to pass introductory college courses in math, reading and science.

Too, the revenue-strapped 2011 Legislature did not provide billions of dollars in state aid to school districts that the schools would have fielded for enrollment growth under existing funding formulas.

We wondered if Duncan was accurate about Texas seeing massive increases in class size.

Read the truth at: PolitiFact Texas | Arne Duncan says class sizes in Texas have grown massively