November 29, 2021 1. Only about two weeks remain before the Council adjourns and a new City Council takes office. Please send a letter TODAY to Council Speaker Corey Johnson by clicking here— demanding that he schedule a vote for the class size reduction bill, Int 2347. When Johnson was running for Speaker, he […]
On Saturday, 11/20/21, I gave the following presentation to participants at the Queens parent conference on why we must reduce class size in NYC schools and how you can help. Also downloadable at https://tinyurl.com/Queensclasssize. If you’d like to invite us to your meeting, please email us at [email protected]. thanks!
November 17, 2021 Este mensaje está en español aquí. The good news is that with your help, 39 Council Members out of 49 have now signed onto Int. 2374, the bill that would require class sizes be reduced in NYC schools. This is a veto-proof majority, so that if passed, the Mayor could not block […]
Oct. 28, 2021 1. Check out the compelling testimony including videos from yesterday’s hearings on Intro 2374 and the importance of lowering class size, from Regent Kathy Cashin, Diane Ravitch, Elsie McCabe Thompson and others. Diane Ravitch testified that lowering class size would be the most powerful education reform the Council could enact. My written […]
Oct. 28, 2021 Much of the testimony yesterday at the City Council was compelling about the importance of lowering class size and the need to pass Intro 2374 for the sake of NYC students. Class Size Matters testimony is here. Testimony of Michael Mulgrew, UFT President, is here. An article about these hearings is here. […]
Oct. 27, 2021 Video of Leonie Haimson is above, testifying on behalf of Intro 2374 at the Oct. 26 NYC Council hearings. Class Size Matters written testimony is below. The bill would effectively lower class size by enlarging the per student space required in classrooms. The testimony and videos of some of the other witnesses […]
Oct. 15, 2021 Thanks to all of you who called the Speaker’s office, urging him to schedule hearings on the classroom capacity bill that would phase in smaller classes, Intro 2374, introduced by the Speaker Corey Johnson and Council Education Chair Mark Treyger. Yesterday it was announced that Council hearings would be held on this […]
Oct. 14 Update: The City Council Education Committee hearings for Intro 2374 are now scheduled for Oct. 27, 2021, starting at 10 AM. You can sign up to speak remotely here or submit testimony. Please do! Oct. 13, 2021 Dear all: 1. Exciting news! More than half of all City Council members have now signed […]
Testimony on Mayoral control before the Assembly Education Committee. Most large districts whose schools suffered under Mayoral control including Detroit, Newark, and now Chicago have gone back to elected school boards. Why shouldn’t NYC voters have the same rights?
Sept. 30, 2021 I was asked to provide a brief summary of de Blasio’s educational record for a forum sponsored by CUNY’s School of Labor and Urban Studies today, with other presenters on other issues listed to the left. My presentation was limited to five minutes so I couldn’t present the entire power point, and […]
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 .
