Please fill out our survey today or forward it to your SLT!

Jan. 28, 2025

Dear all:

Before the holiday break, about NYC schools were given an opportunity to apply for funding to lower class size next fall. The UFT now says that about 750 schools did apply, according to an article in Chalkbeat.

We have posted a very short survey, asking if your school applied for these funds, and if not, why not. Any and all identifying information about you or your school will be kept completely confidential.

If you do not know, please forward this message to members of your School Leadership Team, who were supposed to be involved in discussions with your principal about whether and how to apply. FYI, your PTA president and UFT chapter leader, along with the principal, are mandatory members of the school’s SLT.

Although about 500 schools that enroll nearly half of all students do not currently have the space for smaller classes, according to the DOE, schools were still told not to request a lower enrollment even if this would be necessary for them to lower class size. Despite these instructions, we heard from several schools where they did ask for lower enrollments anyway.

In the Chalkbeat article, I pointed out how the DOE has refused to adopt any of the recommendations of the Chancellor’s Class Size Working Group to alleviate overcrowding, either by accelerating school construction or by adjusting enrollment between nearby schools. As a result, it will be nearly impossible for the city to meet the class size benchmarks in the law, unless there is a rapid change in policy.

Please also sign our petition to the Mayor and Chancellor if you haven’t already, urging them to develop a realistic, effective multi-year plan to provide smaller classes, so that all students who need the close support of their teachers can receive them. Before the break, Class Size Matters and the Ed Law Center sent a letter to State Commissioner Rosa, pointing out how the city had never submitted such a plan, though this is required by law.

Finally, we have a updated resolution for CECs, Community Boards and other groups, laying out these issues in more detail. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions about what the law requires, or for the class size and overcrowding data for your school or district.

But please do fill out the survey or forward it to your PTA or chapter leader as soon as you can.

Thank you,

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