Dear all, The February 28 hearings on class size were so overcrowded that many people who came did not even get in the room or have a chance to testify. Many others were unable to attend because of other reasons. But I wanted to let you know that you will have a second chance. On […]
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 […]
See the video of Regent Kathleen Cashin’s observations about class size which she made during the City Council hearings on Feb. 28 about what happened when she lowered class size in the District 23 schools when she was Superintendent. As she puts it, when you reduce class size, the “whole world changes.” She explained how […]
For immediate release Friday, Feb. 28, 2020 Contact: Leonie Haimson; [email protected]; 917-435-9329. Council hearings on class size so overcrowded that scores of parents and advocates are turned away Today, from 10 AM to 3:45 PM, the City Council Education Committee held hearings on class size at City Hall. So many people showed up to testify that it was […]
Below is the letter sent out on February 13, 2020 to NYSED about Earth Day and the state middle school math test. Class Size Matters, Senator Jackson’s office, Teachers for the Future, and various other organizations and officials signed off on this letter to reschedule the math exams and support student climate strikes, as well […]
Feb. 11, 2020 Please help us urge the Speaker and NYC Council to invest $100 million in hiring additional teachers to lower class size, starting first in the early grades and in struggling schools. This would pay for the salaries of about 1,000 new teachers, which could reduce class size in as many as 4,000 […]
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 […]
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 […]
You can download a PDF version here. What are we proposing? Class Size Matters is urging that the Mayor and NYC Council allocate $100 million to be allocated towards hiring teachers to lower class size, starting first in the early grades and in struggling schools. That amount could pay for the salaries of about 1,000 new […]
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 .
