Update on survey & new report with shocking findings on NYC school overcrowding & lost seats
Sept. 27, 2017
1. Thanks to those of you who responded to our class size survey posted here; we now have one in Spanish as well. Please take five minutes now to fill it out if you haven’t already; and please share it with friends and colleagues. The variation I’ve found in class size across the country and even between NYC public schools is really distressing, given how important it is as a key factor in students’ opportunity to learn and future success.
2. Last week we released a new report about overcrowding and seat loss in NYC public schools, showing that instead of the 100,000 net seats Mayor Bloomberg claimed to have created during the decade from 2004-2013, only about 45,000 new seats were gained when seat loss was taken into account. This loss of seats resulted from lapsed leases, removal of TCUs, and elimination of mini-buildings and annexes.
Many districts lost more seats than they gained, and of the 45,000 net seats gained, nearly 43,000 were filled by the growing charter school population in DOE buildings. For the first time, this analysis shows why there has been no significant improvement in overcrowding over the last decade, especially at the elementary school level, where our schools are more crammed than ever. System-wide, about 575,000 students attended school in overcrowded buildings last fall, meaning buildings that were 100% utilized or more, according the DOE’s “target” formula.
Please take a look at the summary of some of the most surprising findings on the blog, and the report itself, to see whether your district lost or gained seats over this time period. In the Appendix there is also a list of lost buildings and TCUs by district. And let me know what you think by responding to this email or leaving a comment on the blog!
thanks Leonie
Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011
212-529-3539
follow on Twitter| friend on Facebook
forward to a friend| subscribe to this newsletter
Make a tax-deductible contribution to Class Size Matters now!
Subscribe to NYC education list by emailing nyceducationnews-subscribe@
Social Networks:
