Senators quizzed Tenaly Smith, a student at Vallivue High School in Caldwell, after she spoke against increasing class sizes and said her AP chemistry class already has 30 students, and her AP English class has 28. "I hate being in a crowded classroom," she told senators. "Many times we seem to get lost in the crowd." She said, "Teachers are what motivate us. ... If they are inspired and they can inspire us, then we will take our education seriously." Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, told Smith the state would save millions if it increased class sizes by only a small fraction, and it needs to fill a budget hole. "How do we do that unless we increase class sizes?" he asked the teen.

She responded, "I would say we have to think about what is more important - is money more important, or are the students more important?" She said it's "been said that school's a business, well, it's not, because I'm not a product, I'm a person. ... I'd have to say don't increase class size. Just at least keep it the same, just don't increase it. There has to be some other way."