May 22, 2023 On Friday, DOE posted what is purported to be their draft five- year class size reduction plan, in accordance with the new state law. As I was quoted in the Daily News, “It’s a big nothing burger. There is no plan. They’re hoping just to coast on enrollment decline until it’s too […]
April 25, 2023 It’s crunch time for the budget. We are now getting word from insiders that a budget deal may be finalized soon that would include allowing 22 more “zombie” charter schools above the cap, the number of charters which closed or never opened, which could turn into 66 more charters, due to a […]
Corrected link to Feb. capital plan and Michelle Joseph’s email address below. I have also added the email of another PEP member Lily Chan. Unfortunately, eight out of 23 PEP members still do not have their email addresses posted on the DOE website. Please also speak at tomorrow’s PEP meeting if you can about the […]
March 13, 2023 1. The Chancellor is forming a working group to help DOE develop their class size reduction plan. You can apply to be a member of the group here; with a deadline of tomorrow, March 14 at 5 PM. 2. The City Council will be holding hearings […]
March 22, 2023 Dear all– During the NYC Council education hearings last week, the DOE finally admitted that the $800 million in reductions to DOE in the Mayor’s preliminary budget will cause school budgets to be cut again next year, though they refuse to say by how much. Instead, the Council should insist on restoring […]
April 12, 2023 Dear all: The state budget is now nearly two weeks overdue, with negotiations showing little evident progress so far. As a result, Gov. Hochul’s controversial proposal to raise the NYC charter cap is still up in the air, that the city says would cost another $1.3 billion, over and above $3 billion […]
See the fact sheet here and below, showing how DOE wants to cut more than 22,000 new school seats from 15 school districts, and more than $2.2 billion from new capacity out of the capital plan, compared to the plan adopted in June 2021 — just when there needs to be MORE seats to lower […]
Our education budget priorities for next year, FY 2024, along with Alliance for Quality Education, NYC Kids PAC and the Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Council are here and below . They are focused on the need for schools to have their budgets restored and the cuts made this year reversed, and for the capital plan for […]
March 9, 2023 See here or below, presentation provided the Public Advocate’s office.
March 5, 2023 Tonight, Sunday on the WBAI radio show #Talk out of School at 7 PM EST, I’ll be interviewing new PEP member Naveed Hasan on the influx of refugee children in NYC schools – are they getting enough support? Also, parent advocate Cassie Creswell will talk about the fascinating Chicago mayoral race in […]
You’re invited! Class Size Matters will hold our annual Parent Action Conference co-sponsored with NYC Kids Pac on May 11th. You can sign up for the conference here.
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 .
