Class Size Sellout as UFT Contract/Farina Endorse Continued High Class Sizes

Mulgrew claims to be against ed deform are smoke as the contract clearly supports the ed deform emphasis on PD while disparaging class size reform.

Video of Farina comments on class size below.
 
I'm home today and have many posts to go so take your time and read them all. With Ravitch having her knee replaced today  - did ed deformers CAP her?, I have to make up the difference. And good luck Diane. Use that new knee to good use. 


A YES vote for the contract is a vote for continued high class size. NYC teachers are working under class size limits - with loads of loopholes - that was codified almost 45 years ago. Under the last 20 years of BloomIani there was no chance of improving those numbers. And now with a more friendly mayor - supposedly -- the UFT had its chance to make a dent in these numbers. But instead it codified these class sizes basically in perpetuity. Shame on them. And on Farina, who has never been a big supporter of class size reductions, feeling more PD is the answer. Sure let's do PD with 80 in a class.

What a tandem -  it is not only the UFT/Unity Caucus leadership that feels class size is not an important enough issue to address in the contract but Farina too. Both entered into negotiations with no thought to class size but more PD instead.

When Unity people challenged me on my NO Vote stance I threw the class size issue back in their faces and they just shut up. Please use this point when they come a callin' to your school.

Fred Smith asks:

Folks,

Remember Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?  According to Wikipedia this is the title of several edutainment computer games... that teach geography and reference skills.

Based on Leonie's question about the Chancellor's acceptance of large class sizes--and our vigorous string of emails trying to nail down exactly what she said, I propose we keep chronicling remarks she makes at public forums (i.e., generalities and statements like: "We're looking into it."; "Give us some time."; and "We can't do that because we must follow state and federal mandates.") 

Let's put them together and follow up on them under the heading Where in the World is Carmen Farina?! 

I get the feeling we're all becoming exasperated by too much slipping and sliding on her part. Maybe this is a way we can pin her down.

Fred

Follow this thread from parents on the CTS listserve on Farina views on class size:

I read a tweet that in response to a parent’s concern about large classes at the d15 townhall, Carmen said that a 3rd grade class of 30 which includes special ed students is not too large. Janine, or anyone else who was there, can you confirm this?

I am so disheartened – the Council hearings yesterday about charters featured the same BS from DOE w/ no change in terms of increased transparency or honesty as far as I could see. Elizabeth Rose even said that it would be impossible to estimate the increased cost of busing charter students even though the IBO has already done this.

Please let me know what Carmen said.

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I was there and heard this but it sounded so unbelievable that I assumed I heard wrong. I would triple confirm!
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I was there too & she did say it. I think she made some casual remark that it's on the large side, but as though it was no big deal. In general, I thought she was minimizing things &/or saying Well we just don't have the money. One of her pro-test lines was one I particularly hate: kids are going to have to take tests sometime in their lives.... (So let's start assaulting them early?) How did the rest of us, especially us older farts, manage to survive & even thrive without being given standardized top-down tests when we were little?
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unfortunately, what ch farinia says here is true. it is hard to find a school where class size is under 30. in fact, i find this is the norm. we now see 31, 32. this is because every student brings a little pot of $$ to the school. what is an admin to do when the budget cuts so deeply that this little pot of $$ is now how we fund things. this sucks, and this is what needs to be addressed. you cannot shrink class size w/o properly funding schools. period.
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Video by Michael Elliott re: Farina on class size question:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPPqN0-ytq0&feature=youtu.be