We urge the state to require DOE submit a corrective action plan on class size

December 5, 2023

Dear all:

1. I wanted to let you know that on Friday, Class Size Matters and AQE sent a letter to the State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa, urging her to require that NYC develop a corrective action plan to show what steps they are taking that would enable them to meet the goals in the class size law. The letter was reported in the Daily News.

Average class sizes increased this year at all grade levels, and this was the second year in a row for elementary and middle schools. Given that the current intention of the DOE is to continue to cut school budgets, as well as the number of new school seats in the new five-year capital plan, this will lead to even sharper increases in class size and make it impossible for schools to comply with the mandates in the law, unless they are forced to do better.

2. The City Council is holding hearings on Dec.11 at 10 AM on the city’s planned cuts to education and other agencies. If you’d like to testify you can sign up here; and let us know if you want some talking points related to the likely impacts of these cuts on class size. You can also check this spreadsheet prepared by PEP member Naveed Hassan to see if your child’s school is one of the 665 schools whose budget is being cut mid-year; but beware, the Mayor plans to make additional cuts of more than a billion dollars to the DOE in the months to come. A rally will be held at 9 AM before the hearings in City Hall Park on Dec. 11 to protest these proposed cuts- all are invited.

3.   State Education Department is holding hearings on Mayoral control, starting tonight Tuesday in the Bronx and running through mid-January; dates and times here. You have to sign up to speak, so keep that web link for future reference. There is a growing consensus that Mayoral control without any checks and balances just doesn’t work.  Our latest WBAI podcast, Talk out of School, features an interview with two parent leaders, Shino Tanikawa and Jonathan Greenberg, who describe many of the deep flaws of this system and their effect on our schools. Mayor Adams has repeatedly claimed that Mayoral control allows for more accountability, but there’s little evidence for that given his continued cuts to school budgets and his refusal to lower class size in compliance with the law. We have talking points on Mayoral control as well, so please let us know if you plan to testify.

thanks Leonie

Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011
phone: 917-435-9329
leonie@classsizematters.org
www.classsizematters.org