Mayor’s record on education so far, update on AI, and request re info on class size

July 10, 2026

Hello everyone:

1.     Chalkbeat published a piece on the Mayor’s education record after six months in office. Take a look and see what you think. If you can, call into my WBAI radio show at 7 PM this Sunday night at 212-209-2877 to say what grade you’d give him or if it’s too soon to tell. On the show I’ll be interviewing Michael Elsen-Rooney, the reporter of the story.

2.     The Chancellor sent an email to principals on Monday, telling them to hold off on any software purchases until the DOE has released their revised guidance on AI. At least this shows he is thinking more carefully than before about its potential harm to students. Free link to the Daily News article about this.

3.     Finally, I have heard concerning reports from several parents and teachers that, instead of expecting smaller class sizes next year, some schools are anticipating larger classes because of higher enrollment and/or fewer teachers on staff.

If this is happening at your school, please email me at leonie@classsizematters.org with the details as soon as possible. I have been concerned about this possibility for some time and would like to include the info in my comments to the city and state about the DOE’s problematic draft class size plan.

In any case, I promise to leave your name and/or school out of it, if that’s what you prefer.

Thanks so much, Leonie