Join us in fighting for small classes & student privacy!

Dear Friend,

From the emails filling your inbox you probably know this is Giving Tuesday, the day set aside to make charitable donations.  Class Size Matters is the only nonprofit in the nation focused on providing information on the benefits of smaller classes for all kids, and advocating for class size reduction to improve our public schools.

Our research summaries and links showing the benefits of small classes are frequently consulted by parents and government officials nationwide, and even abroad.  Last winter we received a message from the top policy advisor to the Cabinet Secretary for Education in Wales, who wrote:

Next week we are announcing a new class size reduction fund for schools across the country. I wanted to let you know that much of the research and sign-posting on the Class Size Matters website has been extremely helpful in developing our policy…

Our work in student privacy has also been influential.  After defeating inBloom in 2014, we co-founded the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy in 2014, which has been invited twice in the last two years to testify before Congress on the need to strengthen student privacy and security protections.  We released our Parent Toolkit for Student Privacy last spring, and will be developing a Teacher Privacy Toolkit in collaboration with the Badass Teachers Association.

Just last week, we helped Johanna Garcia, a NYC parent, file a FERPA complaint with the US Department of Education, to stop NYC from violating her family’s privacy by providing her daughter’s personal information to charter schools for the purposes of marketing their schools.

On the issue of class size, we spearheaded a legal complaint to the NY State Education Department in July, joined by nine NYC parents and the Public Advocate, demanding that Commissioner Elia enforce the Contracts for Excellence law passed in 2007, and require NYC to reduce class size in all grades.  If for any reason the Commissioner rules against us, we will take this issue to court.

On Nov. 16, the NYC DOE released new data showing class sizes increased again this year, revealing widening inequities across the city.  The number of students in grades 4-8 in classes of 30 or more has doubled since 2007, and the number of children in classes of 30 or more in grades 1-3 has risen by an incredible 3800%.

Please help us fight for smaller classes, student privacy and a better chance for children to learn by making a tax-deductible donation here.  Under “Designate your donation to a specific program or fund” please specify if you’d like your contribution to support our work on student privacy.

Thanks Leonie on behalf of Class Size Matters & Parent Coalition for Student Privacy