Reminder! Class size hearings via Zoom for the Bronx tonight at 6 PM

May 22, 2024

Dear all —

Just a quick reminder that Borough hearings on the DOE’s draft class size plan for next year begin tonight Wednesday, May 22 for Bronx residents via Zoom, and tomorrow Thursday for Manhattan residents. The full schedule is here:

• Bronx – Wednesday, May 22, 2024 (6:00pm)
• Manhattan – Thursday, May 23, 2024 (6:00pm)
• Staten Island – Tuesday, May 28, 2024 (6:00pm)
• Queens – Wednesday, May 29, 2024 (6:00pm)
• Brooklyn – Thursday, May 30, 2024 (6:00pm)

To register and receive the Zoom link, go to https://learndoe.org/contractforexcellence/ Registration will be available by 5 PM the day of the hearing.

If you cannot attend the hearing of the borough where you live, teach or where your child attends school, you can attend a different one that fits your schedule. Transcripts of the public comment are supposed to be made available to the State Ed Department to help them determine if DOE officials have been responsive to the public in their development and/or revision of the plan.  As usual, the DOE has put little or no effort in publicizing these hearings, presumably hoping no one shows up.

We have prepared talking points here, available as a downloadable pdf here. A quick summary: DOE does not intend to hire enough staff or create enough space for smaller classes next year or beyond. Instead, they intend to cut school budgets, shrink the teaching force and slash the capital plan for new schools. While the Mayor intends to spend at least $2.9 billion on building a new Bronx jail, there is not a single new school building specified for borough in their proposed five-year capital plan so far.

Feel free to draw on your experience or perspective, but in any case, please make your voice heard!

thanks Leonie