Talking points for Class size hearings, June 10-June 16 2025

July 9, 2025

There will be hearings on the city’s class size plan July 10-June 16, 2025.  Each session starts at 6 PM via Zoom; but you can start logging on at 5 PM at  https://learndoe.org/contractforexcellence

The list of hearings by borough is below but you can attend ANY of these meetings, wherever you live, work, or your children attend schools.

• Tuesday June 10, 2025 – Manhattan
• Wednesday June 11, 2025 – Staten Island
• Thursday June 12, 2025 – Queens
• Monday June 16, 2025 – Brooklyn

Some suggested talking points are below; please feel free to add or subtract anything – the more personal the better.  You may only have 2-3 minutes. You can check to see if your school is receiving additional funding to hire teachers and for how many here.

More information and data on the critical issues in DOE’s lack of planning and especially providing enough space for class size reduction is  here.

If you’re willing to speak at either the borough hearings or at your CEC meeting on behalf of Class Size Matters, or if you have any questions, feel free to email us at info@classsizematters.org Thanks!

 

———————————–

My name is ___, and I am a [parent/teacher/etc.] at [school/organization]. My child’s class [or the class that I teach] has ___ students this year, which is unacceptable to me.

I am here to support the class size law, as lowering class size has been shown to be one of best ways to improve schools academically and holistically.

It is terrific that nearly 750 schools will be getting some funding for additional teachers to lower class size,  including mine [check to see if your school is receiving additional funding here] but we won’t get enough funding to meet the caps in all grades.

Or:  My children’s school is not getting class size funding next year, [either for reasons I don’t understand, or because we don’t have enough space.]

It has been more than three years since the class size law was passed, but STILL the DOE has no actual multi-year class size reduction plan as required by law.

In fact, there are nearly 500 schools citywide [82 in Manhattan, 133 in Brooklyn, 165 in Queens, 41 in Staten Island, 74 in the Bronx] that DOE admits do not have the space at their current enrollment, [including my school  if it’s on the list here].

These schools enroll nearly half of all NYC students, yet DOE has told principals that they are not allowed to ask for lower enrollments to be able meet the mandate in the law – even when there are underutilized schools nearby.

DOE claims that this is in response to “parent choice”, yet most parents would love their kids to have smaller classes.  According to a recent DOE survey of parents who took their children out of the public schools, 83% said that class size contributed to their decision.

The School Construction Authority testified in March that 75,000 new school seats would be required to allow all schools to meet the limits, yet less than half that many are funded in the five-year plan.

District planning is continuing to propose school closures and co-locations without even considering how this may prevent existing schools from having the space to lower class size in the future.

Instead, there needs to be a coordinated, multi-year plan, including DOE’s Budget division, District planning, Enrollment office, and the SCA, all geared towards making smaller classes available to NYC students, which according to our state’s highest court is necessary for them to receive their constitutional right to a sound basic education.

Thank you for your time.