Important dates next week to provide input on the need for smaller classes & a moratorium on AI in schools

July 22, 2026

Dear all:  Hope you are having a relaxing summer. Meanwhile, here are some important dates and events coming up in the next week:

1-     The deadline for families to sign up for a portion of the $17.25M Naviance court settlement for violating student privacy is this Monday, July 27. You can sign up here. Naviance has been used in many NYC high schools for college advising purposes. Any NYC family is eligible if your child logged into the Naviance platform at least once between August 18, 2021, through January 23, 2026. Reminder: if your child is over 18, they must apply themselves.

We are very disappointed that DOE has failed to inform families of this alleged breach or their right to apply for a portion of the settlement.

2-     Another important deadline is on Wed. July 29 – when public comments on the DOE”s inadequate draft class size plan are due. If your school had large classes last year and did not receive funding to lower them next year, and/or the DOE has not announced any specific plan to address your school’s class sizes in the future, you should email ContractsForExcellence@schools.nyc.gov by that date to insist that they develop and articulate such a plan in this document so your children can receive the unparalleled benefits of smaller classes – which according to the state law and constitution, is their right. DOE is supposed to take public comments into account and revise their plan accordingly before it is sent to the State Education Department for their review on August 14.   If you do send a comment, please copy us at info@classsizematters.org

3-     Meanwhile, the DOE has failed to issue any report summarizing the public feedback to their totally inadequate AI guidance, and no improved guidance, despite promises that both would be released last month. Nor have they announced any AI moratorium, which thousands of parents and teachers have urgently called for. The Mayor is also more than a month late in establishing an Office of Algorithmic Accountability, required by a law passed by the City Council last year, supposed to gather public feedback and develop responsible citywide policies on AI, as explained here.

4-     Also on Wed. July 29, the Panel for Educational Policy is meeting at the High School for Fashion Industries at 225 West 24th Street at 6 PM. The AIM coalition will be holding a rally outside the school at 5:30 PM. This is an important meeting as many new Mayoral appointees will be attending for the first time. It is critical to make these new members aware of how many thousands of NYC parents and teachers strongly believe in the need for a real class size plan for the 600 plus schools that DOE admits do not have space at their current enrollment, and for an immediate moratorium on using AI in schools. Here is more information about this meeting, and a link to RSVP.

5-     Finally, an important bill S9051B passed the State Legislature unanimously during the last session which would prohibit the use of unsafe AI chatbots by kids, including in schools. Google Gemini has been rated as one of the most unsafe chatbots by both Commonsense Media and by the independent nonprofit KORA, and yet last year was assigned to many young students in NYC schools. More than sixty organizations have sent a letter to the Governor in support of this bill, including our Parent Coalition for Student Privacy. Please call the Governor today at (518) 474-8390 or email her to urge her to sign this bill!

Thanks, Leonie