Four ways you can help us fight for smaller classes!
October 18, 2023
1. Class Size Matters, the Education Law Center and AQE sent a letter to the State Commissioner earlier this week, critiquing the final draft class size plan that DOE submitted to the state for approval on Sept. 29. This new plan makes no significant changes from the previous one posted in July, and ignores all the input that we provided, along with more than other 200 other parents, educators and advocates about how the plan should be improved. Indeed, it offers not a single commitment in terms of budgeting, the use of existing space, revising enrollment policies, or expanding the capital plan that would likely enable our schools to meet the benchmarks in the law starting next year.
In the letter, we also counter the misleading arguments put forward by the DOE, Chalkbeat, Michael Bloomberg, and others that the highest need schools and students already have small enough classes, which is far from the truth.
If you’d like to provide your own comments to the State about how DOE should be required to do better, you can email them to Commissioner@nysed.gov, and copy the NYC Regents at Regent.Cea@nysed.gov; Regent.Cashin@nysed.gov; Regent.Reyes@nysed.gov; Regent.Tanikawa@nysed.gov ; Regent.Ferrer@nysed.gov ; Regent.Chin@nysed.gov
2. The NY Times published an article today that highlights the fact that some parents who want their children to be attend the most selective schools oppose the class size law and would like these schools to be exempted, because it might mean smaller enrollments at these schools. Yet as the article points out, adjusting enrollment at the most overcrowded schools to reduce class size would not only benefit their students, but also could help currently underutilized schools, which often have very limited budgets and often have to cut teachers and eliminate enrichment programs.
In fact, the way in which under-enrolled schools are denied adequate budgets was pointed out by a 5th grader at the Mayor’s Town Hall meeting in Brooklyn last week. See the video here. Moreover, there’s no doubt that more school construction is needed in the most overcrowded communities. Here’s a gift copy of the NY Times article; if you’d like to write a letter in response you can do so by emailing letters@nytimes.com.
3. In any case, students at all types of schools need a better chance to fully participate in debate, discussion, and more feedback and support from their teachers, none of which is possible in overly large classes. If you agree, please sign this new petition, co-sponsored by two teachers, including one who works at the very overcrowded Francis Lewis HS in Queens.
4. It is clear that opponents of true equity and expanding opportunities for NYC children are attempting to martial as many arguments as possible, many of them misleading, to overturn or limit the reach of this law. Those of you who support the goal of smaller classes for all NYC children need to speak up loudly, and make your voices heard. If you’d like to volunteer a few hours a week to help us win this fight, please email me at info@classsizematters.org
Thanks as always for your support, Leonie
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