Class Size Matters and NYC Kids PAC Legislative Agenda for 2019

See below for a one pager (pdf) you can download.

1. Amend Mayoral control so that there is no longer a mayoral majority on the Board of Education (AKA Panel for Educational Policy) and/or make NYC Department of Education policies subject to city law and checks and balances via the NYC City Council like all other city agencies. Community and Citywide Education Council members should be voted on by all public school parents, not just PTA officers.

2. Increase state education funding via the Contract for Excellence but tied to  accountability, transparency and an actual class size reduction plan that results in smaller classes in the NYC public schools, as envisioned in the original CFE lawsuit and C4E law. Require that the mandated public participation process happens before the funds have been allocated and spent, rather than afterward, as currently occurs.  Specific language to do this is here.

3. Place a moratorium on new charter schools and amend the charter school law to include stronger accountability and transparency requirements, requiring them to report enrollment, suspension and attrition rates over all and for all high-needs students, abide by the same disciplinary and due process rules as public schools, and undergo regular performance audits by the state and/or city comptroller. If space is to be provided to charter schools the cost should be borne by the state not NYC.

4. Impose impact fees on developers to go into a fund to provide for new school construction. Over half of all states have legislation allowing for impact fees, including California, Texas and Florida.

5. Support a pied-a-terre tax for second homes worth over $5 million that would bring a minimum of $650 million per year to NYC.

6. Make explicit in NY state law the right for parents to opt their children out of 3rd to 8th grade state tests, and that public school parents must be notified of this right by their districts. The law should explicitly affirm that families who exercise this right will not suffer any negative consequences, nor will their children’s schools.

1. 1. For more information, please contact Leonie Haimson, Executive Director, Class Size Matters at  leonie @classsizematters.org and/or Naila Rosario, President, NYC Kids PAC at  info@nyckidspac.org
   Categories Uncategorized, Updates | Tags: | Posted on March 6, 2019

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