Class Sizes Increase For 2nd Year In A Row In Most Grades: NYC unlikely to comply with class size law next year
For Immediate Release: Nov. 15, 2023
More information: Leonie Haimson, 917-435-9329; leoniehaimson@gmail.com
Class Sizes Increase For 2nd Year In A Row In Most Grades;
Compliance With New Class Size Law Unlikely Next Year Without Big Changes In DOE’s Policies
The new class size data for the current school year was released by the NYC Department of Education today. It shows continued increase in average class sizes across all grade levels, as shown by this DOE slide posted here:
For elementary and middle schools, this is the second year in a row that average class sizes have increased.
According to the analysis by Class Size Matters, this data also reveals shows a continued decline in the percentage of classes that meet the caps in the new state law of no more than 20 students per class in grades K-3, 23 students per class in grades 4th– 8th, and 25 students per class in core high school academic classes, with an additional 20% of classes required to meet these caps every year.
We expect this worsening trend to continue, as the DOE has made no attempt to stem continued increases in class size. Last week, the School Construction Authority released a new proposed five-year capital plan for FY 2025-2029 that would cut $2 billion in new capacity compared to the current five-year plan, and more than 20,000 seats.
In their Annual Report on Implementation of the State’s class size caps, also released today, DOE estimates that the capital cost of implementation is “up to the tens of billions” and yet they plan to allocate only about $4 billion for this purpose
Moreover, the proposed five-year plan has no information about where 77% of the seats funded will be located, or what grade levels they represent. This complete lack of transparency makes it unlike all previous capital plans. The Mayor has also announced that he intends to cut 15% from the DOE budget for next year, which would likely cause even sharper increases in class size next year.
Said Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters, “If current trends continue, it is extremely unlikely that the 40% goal of compliance with the new class size law can be reached next year and it will be impossible for the city to reach full compliance by year five without significant changes to the capital plan, as well as to budgeting, space, and enrollment planning as soon as possible.”
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