Testimonies & Comments

Testimony on Attendance Reporting Bills

October 16, 2020 The NYC Council Education and Health Committees held oversight hearings on October 16 on the reopening of schools, as well as two proposed bills to require detailed attendance reporting: Int. 2058 and Int. 2104. Below is my testimony on the issue of class size and how to sharpen these bills to require more precise and disaggregated reporting […]

October 19, 2020 in Testimonies & Comments, Updates by

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PEP Memo on DOE Contracts and Student Privacy (10.19.20)

I sent the below memo to the members of the Panel for Educational Policy last week; questions about their busing contracts, DOE’s lack of compliance with the state student privacy law by failing to post their district data privacy policy and contracts with vendors that have access to personal student data, and problems related to […]

October 19, 2020 in Privacy, Reports & Memos, Reports, Testimonies, Etc., Testimonies & Comments, Updates by

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Letter to regents regarding reopening schools

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 […]

July 7, 2020 in Reports, Testimonies, Etc., Testimonies & Comments, Updates by

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Summary of our June 20 conference, with ideas from parents, educators and others on the reopening of schools

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.

July 7, 2020 in Reports & Memos, Reports, Testimonies, Etc., Updates by

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Testimony on education budget and capital plan

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. […]

May 28, 2020 in Testimonies & Comments, Updates by

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Testimonies from parents, teachers, and students about the importance of reducing class size

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 […]

May 20, 2020 in Testimonies & Comments by

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Why schools should not be reopened next year without reducing class size

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 […]

May 14, 2020 in Reports & Memos, Uncategorized, Updates by

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Videos of parents, teachers and students testifying about the importance of reducing class size

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. […]

March 5, 2020 in Media, Testimonies & Comments, Videos by

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Testimony on the importance of lowering class size in NYC schools

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 […]

March 5, 2020 in Testimonies & Comments, Uncategorized, Updates by

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Memo on how DOE is violating two laws meant to ease school overcrowding

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 […]

February 12, 2020 in Reports & Memos, Uncategorized, Updates by

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