To gather data on English teacher workloads and the conditions for teaching composition in California schools, a survey was undertaken involving a statewide cross-section of 204 teachers from public and parochial schools. The findings show that in spite of the recommendation by the National Council of Teachers of English that English teachers be assigned no more than 100 students a day, only 8% of the respondents had loads of less than 110, while 45% had loads of more than 150 students. The average class size was 28.2 for junior high and 26.7 for senior high teachers. A typical teacher's work week was 35 hours, with 25 hours of actual instruction time. Teachers, however, reported spending 20 hours weekly for preparation and evaluation. Large class size was most often cited as a detriment to composition instruction and the creation of special composition classes with limited enrollment was recommended as a solution to the problem. The major conclusion of the survey was that the total student loads of most full-time teachers of English must be substantially reduced if composition is to receive the attention demanded by the public. (Tables of findings and comments by responding teachers are appended.) (FL)