September 9, 2024 Below and here is our recent testimony on Foundation Aid. We point out how over the past 24 years, the DOE has repeatedly supplanted of state aid meant for class size reduction , and caution that creating any dedicated funding stream for that purpose for NYC as part of the Foundation Aid […]
August 7, 2024 An updated version of the NYC School Capital plan for FY 2025-2029 was posted by the School Construction Authority on July 30, 2024. It contains an additional $2 billion for new capacity, as required by the state budget, and an additional 10,382 school seats, for a total of 33,417 seats. However, the […]
July 22, 2024 This morning, Class Size Matters sent the following letter to Commissioner Betty Rosa, urging her to require that NYC revise and fundamentally improve their submission to the state, and create and implement a real, multi-year class size reduction plan in compliance with the law. The letter is below and posted here; our […]
Articles about the letter were published in Politico and the Daily News. For immediate release: July 22, 2024 Contact: Leonie Haimson, 917-435-9329; [email protected] Class Size Matters urges Commissioner Rosa to require NYC DOE to revise and fundamentally improve their second year class size “plan” On July 22, 2024, Class Size Matters sent a detailed […]
Update: After receiving three extensions, the city finally replied to our Commissioner’s Appeal on Aug. 12, 2024; we responded to their reply on September 9, 2024. And on September 13, Advocates for Justice wrote a terrific letter of support, saying a new IEP meeting should be required before any school enrolls students in an online […]
July 2, 2024 1. The city budget, including for education, was approved last Sunday. The good news is that most of the Mayor’s egregious cuts were restored. But three Council Members voted no — Alexa Aviles, Shahana Hanif and Tiffany Caban –because while they said they were glad that the Council was able to prevent […]
June 29, 2024 The vote is tomorrow at 2 PM. Feel free to forward to your Council Members. You can find their contact info here. Full pdf below and here.
Press release here. Articles in Chalkbeat and Brooklyn Reader. June 24, 2024 This afternoon, we sent this petition to the Mayor and Chancellor, with copies to UFT and CSA, about the profound inadequacies in their draft class size “plan.” It was signed by about 570 NYC parents, educators, school staff, advocates and community leaders. If […]
Legal documents, including the petition to the State Commissioner, the affidavits, DOE guidance, and the state regulations are posted here. On On June 16, a corrected version of the Appeal was filed, as well as an additional affidavit from Amy Ming Tsai, Bronx parent, so that parents from all five boroughs are represented. Articles about […]
The just-released DOE class size “plan” for next year fails on every account. Class size borough hearings begin this Wednesday May 22nd. Make your voices heard! Bronx – Wednesday, May 22, 2024 (6:00pm) Manhattan – Thursday, May 23, 2024 (6:00pm) Staten Island – Tuesday, May 28, 2024 (6:00pm) Queens – Wednesday, May 29, 2024 (6:00pm) […]
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 .
