Sept. 2, 2021 1. Tomorrow, Friday Sept. 3 is the last day to submit your comments on DOE’s Contract for Excellence proposal, which allocates not a single cent towards lowering class size — even though this was a central issue that led the court to decide in the CFE case that NYC children were denied […]
Sept. 8, 2021 Schools reopen next Monday, Sept. 13, only five days away. Meanwhile, over the weekend I had an oped in Gotham Gazette pointing out the many serious weaknesses in NYC’s school reopening plan. Please check it out. Here it is in Spanish. Please also read this terrific oped in today’s NY Daily News […]
Sept. 28, 2021 This Thursday Sept. 30 at noon, I will be speaking on de Blasio’s education record and legacy at a CUNY forum entitled A ‘Tale of Two Cities’ Revisited: The Social Democracy Experiments of the de Blasio Years. To check out the other speakers and issues to be discussed and to RSVP, please […]
Sept. 1, 2021 City Council hearings on DOE’s school reopening plan are being held today. Here and embedded below is the testimony that Class Size Matters will give.
Aug. 25, 2021 Dear all – I hope you and your family are enjoying the last few weeks of summer. 1. The bill that would require smaller classes that was introduced by CM Mark Treyger nearly a month ago. Int 2374-2021, has 15 co-sponsors: Corey D. Johnson, Robert E. Cornegy, Jr., Eric Dinowitz, Selvena N. […]
The DOE has proposed a Contracts for Excellence spending plan that is completely inadequate to provide an equitable or adequate education to NYC kids — contrary to the intent of the law, which was passed to fulfill the goals of the CFE lawsuit. The DOE claims that the state has allocated no more funding to […]
Aug. 9, 2021 Dear all — 1. At this point it is uncertain as to whether Congress will include funds for school construction, repair and upgrades in their infrastructure reconciliation package, even though the need for ventilation and social distancing in our classrooms is more critical than ever. The American Society of […]
August 9, 2021 Below and attached are talking points in English and in Spanish on how parents and teachers directly or through your School Leadership Teams should urge your principal to use available funds to lower class size and to help ensure social distancing next year, for the sake of stronger academic support and health […]
July 29, 2021 7:04 PM Exciting news! This morning, the City Council announced a new bill that would require radically smaller class sizes starting in the fall of 2022, by amending the NYC administrative code to allow only one student per 35 square feet of classroom space, on health and safety grounds. This would only […]
July 29, 2021 The DOE is holding borough hearings on their proposed Contracts for Excellence plan from Aug. 2-Aug. 5 at 6:30 PM. The location of these hearings and the proposed plan are posted here. You can also send your comments on the plan by emailing [email protected] Below are some questions you can ask and […]
Sign here to urge NYC to implement a real, multi-year strategy to lower class size, as the law intends, without exempting up to half or more of all students.
Talk out of School radio show and podcast airs Sunday night at 7 PM on WBAI 99.5 FM or online at www.wbai.org when Leonie Haimson and Daniel Alicea interview guests and discuss issues affecting public schools in NYC, the state level and nationally. You can stream or subscribe to the podcast here; or at iTunes, Spotify or Google.
We held our annual Skinny award dinner Wed. June 28, 2023, honoring Rep. Jamaal Bowman, former Bronx principal and now a progressive trailblazer who is fighting in Congress to protect and improve our public schools. More photos on Facebook .
