Isn't Class Size the IDEA of Education?

A quick concept, then I have to bolt.

Isn't the idea of education or having a school to congregate masses into one area so you can efficiently educate the masses? In otherwords, if you can pack 700 people into an auditorium, have one speaker with power point slides, hand outs, etc., you can save a ton of money on teachers and the cost of education would drop?

I only bring it up because I'm sick and tired about hearing from teachers that they have (GASP) "30 students in my class!"

Yeah, so? You can't handle 30 kids?

Or how colleges and the teachers union always brag/cheer for low student teacher ratios. "We have a 8:1 student teacher ratio."

Well then by that logic, wouldn't the ideal educational model be a 1:1 ratio? A teacher per student? If this is the case, then the public teachers union should be all for home schooling. Can't get much of a lower ratio than that.

Now I do know I'm ignoring some things;

1. Back in the 1950's you could have I bet 100 kids in a classroom and the teacher would have been able to educate them just fine. The reason teachers can't do it today, that no matter how skilled they may be, the parents fail to teach their children respect and how to behave. Additionally, with teachers being prohibited from disciplining children (and by discipline, I mean Captain style discipline, like belts, daily beatings, yelling, insulting them, push ups, running, old school drill instructor discipline) they have no fear nor incentive to behave.

2. A class size of 700 you would merely be a lecturer at that point. There is some physical limits where you have to yell or the rooms aren't big enough.

3. Homeschoolers obviously don't make as good as teachers as professionally trained teachers with education degrees...even though their kids score better...but that's not the point! They don't have their license = not good teacher = Bushitler = end of discussion = Obama Ponies.

But in the grand scheme of things as well as from the conceptual idea of education, I can't see why a 100:1 student teacher ratio isn't achievable. I don't see how having more teacher per student would materially benefit a student that is appropriately trained by his parents to not only behave, but to study. A student that pays attention to the lecturer, and let's not forget advances in LCD projectors, books, etc., can just as well be educated if he has 4 peers in the room or 100 if he sets his mind to actually paying attention and studying. Even your Captain is restudying calculus (GASP) WITHOUT A TEACHER!

NOOOOOOO!

He's just reading from the book and (the teacher union's worst nightmare) TEACHING HIMSELF!!!

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

A student teacher ratio of infinity!

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

But of course the popular fad nowadays is to just throw money at education even though it doesn't work. And the dirty deep down secret is the money's never been meant for the kids.