Class Size Matters & Education Law Center urge State Commissioner to require NYC to comply with the state’s class size law

For immediate release: December 23, 2024

Contact:  Leonie Haimson: 917-435-9329; [email protected]
Wendy Lecker: (203) 536-7567, [email protected]

On December 18, Class Size Matters and the Education Law Center sent a letter to Commissioner Betty Rosa, pointing out the failures of the NYC Department of Education (DOE) to comply with the class size law. The two organizations urged the Commissioner to require the DOE to submit an actual five-year class size reduction plan and to revise and resubmit the Implementation report so that it fulfills the requirements of the class size law passed by the NY State Legislature in June of 2022.

“Reducing class size in the nation’s largest school district requires a coordinated and comprehensive long-term strategy,” said Wendy Lecker, Senior Attorney at Education Law Center. “That is why the law mandates a five-year plan and detailed yearly implementation reports. Failure to follow the law dooms any chance of ensuring all New York City public school students receive the benefits of reasonable class size, an essential educational resource.”

The letter noted that to date, the DOE has not developed or submitted a five-year class size reduction plan as required by the law. The letter also detailed serious omissions in the DOE’s yearly implementation report, which render it impossible discern whether the Department is making or can make meaningful progress toward achieving the required class size targets by the 2028 statutory deadline.

“The DOE has been dragging its feet ever since the law was passed, two and half years ago. Instead of developing a coherent and coordinated strategy involving capital planning, budget, enrollment, and teacher hiring, with a real chance to achieve the goals in the law, they have proposed a purely voluntary application process for schools that already have sufficient space for smaller classes. This would exclude more than 500 overcrowded schools enrolling nearly half of all students,” said Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters Executive Director.

“This  is clearly inconsistent with the language and the intent of the law, and we are urging the state to step in and immediately demand an actual multi-year plan and an implementation report that contains the required information showing how the DOE will attain the goals in the law before it is too late,” she added.

A petition has been signed by 800 parents and teachers that urges the DOE, the UFT and the CSA to submit an adequate multi-year plan to enable all NYC students to receive the benefits of smaller classes.

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