Below is a letter we sent last week from Class Size Matters and NYC Kids PAC to Chancellor Rosa, the Board of Regents and the NY State Education Commissioner, with copies to Chancellor Carranza and other education decision makers, highlighting some of the most important concerns and ideas offered by parents, teachers and others who […]
The following PowerPoint is a summary of concerns and ideas offered by parents, teachers and others who contributed to our online survey and our June 20 conference on the reopening of schools.
The following is my written testimony on the education budget and five-year capital plan, detailing the additional staffing and space that will be needed for schools to reopen safely next year. Smaller class sizes are always of concern, but are especially critical now given the need for social distancing in light of the COVID-19 crisis. […]
On Friday, Feb. 28, 2020, parents, students, educators and advocates testified on the importance of reducing class size at City Hall hearings of the NYC Education Committee, chaired by Council Member Mark Treyger. Below are links to written statements of some of these testimonies. Video testimony can be found here. Regent Kathy Cashin testifies how when she was […]
The need to reduce class size next fall to improve health and safety and strengthen academic and emotional support and how this could be achieved through budget savings Download the PDF version here. Shorter version in the Gotham Gazette, “To Reopen Schools, The Mayor Needs Smaller Classes — Here’s $570 Million in Potential Department of […]
On Friday, Feb. 28, 2020, parents, students, educators and advocates testified on the importance of reducing class size at City Hall hearings of the NYC Education Committee, chaired by Council Member Mark Treyger. Below are videos and links to written statements of some of these testimonies. The full unedited video of the hearings is here. […]
A pdf of this testimony is posted here; a video of my abbreviated remarks is here. Leonie Haimson’s Testimony before the NYC Council Education Committee on the Need to Reduce Class Size in the NYC Public Schools Feb. 28, 2020 Thank you Chair Treyger for holding these important hearings today on a subject that is […]
Update: 10/26/2023: The SCA has posted a spreadsheet that shows how many seats were lost in the 2021-2022 school year that includes the seats lost in 2019-2020, but has added no other information required by law. The spreadsheet lists “0” for the number of seats lost in a D75 school on Staten Island, at 669 […]
In October of 2019 Class Size Matters released a report on charter facility funding in New York City. This report reveals that the NYC DOE spent more than $377 million on charter school facility costs from FY 2014 to FY 2019. This includes matching funds for public school facility upgrade costs as well as rent […]
The Board of Regents and the New York State Education Department are re-examining the use of Regents “exit exams” as a requirement for high school graduation, and are holding a series of regional public sessions to gather input from parents, teachers and other stakeholders before making any changes to the current policy. These meetings will […]
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.
We held our annual Skinny award dinner Wed. June 28, 2023, honoring Rep. Jamaal Bowman, former Bronx principal and now a progressive trailblazer who is fighting in Congress to protect and improve our public schools. More photos on Facebook .
