Announcing the 2024 Skinny award winners; get your tickets now!

May 16, 2024

Dear all —

1.     This year’s annual Skinny awards will be held on Wed. June 12 at 6 pm.   Come celebrate and honor six independent parent members of the Panel for Educational Policy, who have valiantly spoken up for the interests of our students, and who despite great odds, have maintained their eloquence,  intelligence and persistence in striving for better policies in our public schools. Not to mention, Class Size Matters really needs your support! Food and wine will be served. Here is the link for more information and to purchase your tickets..

2.     Yesterday the Council held hearings on the Mayor’s proposed education budget. There was much obfuscation and deflection on the part of the DOE officials when asked about the cuts they have planned to our schools, given how they are refusing to hold schools harmless for enrollment decline. They wouldn’t say how many schools will have their budgets cut once again, but our preliminary analysis shows that more than 760 schools are projected to see enrollment decline of more than 1% compared to Oct. 2023 figures, and thus may experience serious cuts.

When asked about their plans to continue to shrink the teaching force, despite the need to lower class size, Deputy Chancellor Weisberg said those decisions weren’t made by Central but by principals – despite the fact the Mayor’s budget clearly calls for a hiring freeze and vacancy reductions adding up to savings of about $100 million. Moreover, the city’s financial plan projects a loss of nearly 1000 teachers next year. Check out our testimony for more details on the DOE’s unacceptable proposed cuts to schools, teachers and the capital plan.

But please, do buy a ticket or two to the Skinny awards. If you have never attended, you’ve been missing out on an inspiring evening in which we honor individuals who often do not get the recognition they deserve. If you have attended in the past, you know how much fun it can really be!

And please also forward this message to friends and allies who may be interested in supporting our work.

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
Follow on twitter @leoniehaimson
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