New class size data & proposal for next year, and our reso urging DOE to do better

Nov. 20, 2024

On Oct. 31, DOE released their proposal for the third year phase-in of class size reduction. Principals in consultation with their School Leadership Teams can apply for additional funds to lower class size; with a deadline of Dec. 20, one month from today. The process is completely voluntary, with no total amount of funding reported, nor how many teachers and classes may be added with these funds.

More than half of principals responding to a DOE survey last year said they do not have enough space to lower class size to mandated levels, and nearly 325,000 students were enrolled in overcrowded schools last year, yet principals are being told they cannot ask to cap enrollment at lower levels. They have been told they can only apply for class size funds if they have available space for smaller classes or can produce more space by converting non-instructional rooms to classrooms, expanding multi-session programming, or instituting online learning, the latter which we not believe would benefit most students.

We are urging all schools to apply for these funds anyway, and if they do not have the space to lower class size to mandated levels, ask that they be allowed to lower their enrollment, especially if there are underutilized schools nearby, as the Class Size Working Group recommended.  At the same time, schools should also demand that their overall funding be maintained, including through the Fair Student Funding formula, because if other budget lines were cut, this would undermine their ability to hire the additional teachers necessary.

Currently, DOE controls enrollment in a non-transparent manner that hurts all kinds of schools: in overcrowded schools, students are subjected to classes too large and forced to eat lunch either too early or too late in the day. In underutilized schools, they are unable to have art, music, and/or advanced classes, because their school’s budget is too small to provide these opportunities. To make things worse, the DOE is now pushing for permanent exemptions for overcrowded schools from ever having to lower class size, meaning that half of all students or more, and their teachers, would never receive the benefits of smaller classes.

An updated version of the capital plan was also released, which fails to say where 70% of new schools will be sited as to district, subdistrict or grade level; providing yet more evidence that the DOE has no intention of accelerating the pace of school construction quickly enough, even in the most overcrowded areas.  

We have drafted a resolution for PTAs, SLTs or CECs, urging the DOE to implement a multi-year class size plan that among other things would allow overcrowded schools to cap enrollment at lower levels and would require them to accelerate their own efforts to build more schools. Feel free to make any changes you like to the resolution, including adding school-specific or district info, but please let us know if you do pass it.

2. Last Friday, the DOE posted updated class size data by school, district, and citywide, as required by law. While it appears that they met the required benchmark of 40% of classes meeting or below the legal caps for this year, class sizes on average are still larger in most schools than they were in Nov. 2021 – before the class size law was passed.

There is also data now posted that shows the percentage of classes in each school that met the legal limits this year, and the percentage of classes for each that the DOE projects will meet the limits next year. We have put together a spreadsheet so that you can check the figures for your own schools. Please let us know if you think the data is inaccurate on either count. If you believe your school will not be able to make the projections claimed for next year, some of which look farfetched, unless you have the ability to cap enrollment at lower levels, please let us know that as well at [email protected]

3. Finally, we have good news to report about the student privacy regulations that were drafted by DOE and were supposed to be voted on tonight by the PEP. The vote has been postponed for the second time, due to the serious concerns expressed by advocates, elected officials, members of the PEP, and parents like you, including how the unrestricted release of highly sensitive personal info could be used to identify, harass and deport migrant students. Chalkbeat ran an article today, detailing additional concerns about how these regulations could seriously undermine the safety and privacy of all NYC students.

But please take a look at your school’s class size data, check out our reso, and share the info with others who care!

Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011
phone: 917-435-9329
[email protected]
http://www.classsizematters.org/

Follow on twitter @leoniehaimson