Class size emerges as an issue in the Mayoral race, and more!

June 16, 2021

The state bill, S.6296/A. 7447 that would require NYC to update and implement a class size reduction plan did not pass this Legislature this session, despite garnering strong support. We  will work to make sure it passes next year. Thanks so much to all of you who made calls and sent emails; we generated nearly a thousand emails & more than a 100 calls, and got the attention of our state leaders.

Millions of dollars for class size reduction in the city budget for next year are still in play; if you haven’t signed our petition to the Mayor, please do! We are planning a rally at City Hall to deliver it; date TBD soon.

—The topic of class size came up over the weekend in the Mayoral race. A video was tweeted showing candidate Eric Adams saying at a forum in February that if elected, he would create a summer school program in which teachers would be assigned remote classes of 300-400 students each. Though in response to the ensuing controversy, he claimed he had “misspoke” and had meant classes of 30-40 students, in reality he had proposed much the same thing in an interview with Bloomberg News, just a few days before the forum.

Ignored in most of the reporting so far is that Adams’ top priority for education, according to his campaign literature, is mandatory year-round schooling for all children, in which very large summer school remote classes would be a component. More on this here.

— We’ve created a helpful comparison chart, which summarizes the education proposals of all the major Mayoral candidates, on a wide range of key issues including class size, charter schools, Mayoral control and more. Please check it out if you are still considering how to vote.

Thanks, Leonie