Sept. 28, 2021 This Thursday Sept. 30 at noon, I will be speaking on de Blasio’s education record and legacy at a CUNY forum entitled A ‘Tale of Two Cities’ Revisited: The Social Democracy Experiments of the de Blasio Years. To check out the other speakers and issues to be discussed and to RSVP, please […]
Aug. 25, 2021 Dear all – I hope you and your family are enjoying the last few weeks of summer. 1. The bill that would require smaller classes that was introduced by CM Mark Treyger nearly a month ago. Int 2374-2021, has 15 co-sponsors: Corey D. Johnson, Robert E. Cornegy, Jr., Eric Dinowitz, Selvena N. […]
Aug. 9, 2021 Dear all — 1. At this point it is uncertain as to whether Congress will include funds for school construction, repair and upgrades in their infrastructure reconciliation package, even though the need for ventilation and social distancing in our classrooms is more critical than ever. The American Society of […]
July 29, 2021 7:04 PM Exciting news! This morning, the City Council announced a new bill that would require radically smaller class sizes starting in the fall of 2022, by amending the NYC administrative code to allow only one student per 35 square feet of classroom space, on health and safety grounds. This would only […]
July 8, 2021 Instead of the $250 million the City Council proposed should be invested in lowering class size, Mayor de Blasio would agree to only $18 million, for a “pilot” project in a few schools. This despite the fact that there will be a crying need for smaller classes next year, both for social […]
July 20, 2021 Late Friday, the DOE finally posted a schedule for Contract for Excellence (C4E) borough hearings, in response to a letter from Wendy Lecker of the Ed Law Center and I sent nearly a month ago, urging them to schedule timely hearings and to take public input seriously in their plan, as the […]
Friday June 25, 2021 Dear folks — It’s down to the wire. The City Council negotiations with the Mayor over next year’s budget are in their final stages, as the budget is due next week. Reportedly, the Mayor is dragging his feet over the Council’s proposal to allocate $250M towards lowering class size. We have […]
June 20, 2021 On Friday, we released a new short video on why class size matters and why it must be reduced in NYC schools. The video includes the voices of parents, educators, and students, as well as historian Diane Ravitch, former District Superintendent Kathleen Cashin, and CM Danny Dromm, who is leading the charge […]
June 16, 2021 The state bill, S.6296/A. 7447 that would require NYC to update and implement a class size reduction plan did not pass this Legislature this session, despite garnering strong support. We will work to make sure it passes next year. Thanks so much to all of you who made calls and sent emails; […]
June 8, 2021 I wanted to share with you my latest Gotham Gazette piece co-authored with Wendy Lecker of the Education Law Center about why this year, to do right by our kids, the Legislature must restart the clock on NYC’s obligation to lower class size by passing S.6296 and A. 7447. We have only […]
Please join us on Wed. June 18 when we will honor Dr. Betty Rosa, former Bronx principal, District Superintendent, Board of Regents member and now NY State Education Commissioner for courageously standing up against the Trump administration on the importance of preserving Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs in our public schools. Wine and food will be served!
Sign up here for our Annual Parent Action Conference on June 7th 2025, with keynote speaker Jamaal Bowman!
Sign here to urge NYC to implement a real, multi-year strategy to lower class size, as the law intends, without exempting up to half or more of all students.
Talk out of School radio show and podcast airs Sunday night at 7 PM on WBAI 99.5 FM or online at www.wbai.org when Leonie Haimson and Daniel Alicea interview guests and discuss issues affecting public schools in NYC, the state level and nationally. You can stream or subscribe to the podcast here; or at iTunes, Spotify or Google.
