March 25, 2026 A lot has happened in the last two days. On Monday, education budget hearings were held at City Hall. It soon became apparent that nearly four years since the class size law was passed, the DOE still has no actual plan to comply. Chancellor Samuels admitted that it is unlikely that they […]
March 16, 2026 We’re holding a class size briefing and conversation via Zoom this Thursday, March 19 at 6 PM for anyone who has questions about what the DOE is currently doing or not doing on class size, what they are proposing to do next year, and/or if you would like to share what’s happening […]
March 10, 2026 Dear all: Parents, teachers and others should attend the Chancellor’s upcoming Listening Sessions to make your voice heard on the issues that concern you, whether this be the failure of the DOE to provide space for the hundreds of schools that do not have the room at their current enrollment to lower […]
January 22, 2026 The Brookings Institution released a new report, saying the risks of using AI in schools to student learning, privacy, safety, and social and emotional development currently outweigh the benefits. Check out the one-page summary, the full report here, or this NPE piece. I am interviewing the main author of this report, Rebecca […]
Jan. 1, 2026 Just a quick update to let you know that yesterday, Zohran Mamdani announced that he was appointing District 3 Superintendent Kamar Samuels as his Chancellor. He also said he was renouncing his previous position that Mayoral control needs reform, expressed frequently during his campaign, and that he would ask the Legislature to […]
Dec. 29, 2025 This has been a watershed year for class size in NYC public schools. Nearly 750 schools lowered class size this fall to far smaller levels, and about 60% of classes achieved the benchmarks required by the law which we helped pass in 2022. In these classrooms, teachers are ecstatic about the changes […]
Dec. 22, 2025 The DOE is rapidly expanding the use of AI in our schools, despite the glaring lack of guidelines or guardrails, and despite the growing evidence that AI use may undermine student privacy, cognitive skills, critical thinking, creativity and the health of the local and global environment. I was quoted in this Chalkbeat […]
Dec. 17, 2025 This is a last minute email to let you know that DOE has removed the AI products from tonight’s PEP agenda, because they were told they would not be approved! A big thank you to those of you who sent emails in opposition. And for those who were planning to attend to […]
Dec. 16, 2025 1. Today the IBO released a report with their estimate of the costs of staffing to comply with the class size law; check out our response on how compliance could be achieved more thoroughly, equitably, efficiently and affordably than DOE currently plans to do. More on this soon. 2. […]
Dec. 9, 2025 The forum on Saturday explaining the serious risks of AI use in schools was standing room only, and there were many others attending via Zoom as far as away as Idaho. Thanks for those of you who came! The video will be posted soon, but meanwhile, here are three important steps you […]
Sign the petition asking for a moratorium on the use of AI until rigorous safeguards are established to protect student privacy, learning and the environment.
Click to see our presentation!
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, Daniel Alicea and Kaliris Salas Ramirez interview guests and discuss issues affecting public schools in NYC, the state level and nationally. You can stream or subscribe to the podcast here at Simplecast; or at iTunes, Spotify or Google.
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.
