Since our union leaders ignore the class size issue, parents do the heavy lifting.
This press release is also available here.
For Immediate Release:
July 6, 2017
Contact: Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters,
leoniehaimson@gmail.com
Wendy Lecker, Education Law Center,
wlecker@edlawcenter.org
NYC PARENTS FILE COMPLAINT TO ENFORCE LAW TO REDUCE CLASS SIZE
Demand Department of Education Reduce Class Size as Mandated in State Law
Today, nine parents from every New York City borough filed a petition
with State Commissioner of Education MaryEllen Elia, charging the City
Department of Education (DOE) with failing to reduce class sizes as
mandated by the Contract for Excellence Law (C4E). The City’s Public
Advocate, Letitia James, and two advocacy groups, Class Size Matters and
the Alliance for Quality Education, also joined the parents in the
petition.
Education Law Center (ELC) is representing the Petitioners.
Please see Parent Petitioners’ quotes below.
In 2007, as required by the C4E law, the DOE developed a class size
reduction plan for the City’s public schools, pledging to lower average
class sizes in Kindergarten through third grade over five years to no
more than 20 students; in fourth through eighth grade to no more than 23
students; and to no more than 25 students per class in high school core
classes. The State Education Commissioner approved the plan.
The DOE never delivered on its plan. Instead, class sizes have
increased sharply since 2007, particularly in the early grades, and are
now substantially larger than when the C4E law was enacted. As of fall
2016, DOE data show classes in Kindergarten through third grade were
more than 18 percent larger, classes in grades four through eight were
six percent larger, and high school classes were 1.5 percent larger than
in 2007.
“The growth in class size from 2007 to the present is breathtaking,”
said David Sciarra, ELC Executive Director. “For example, in 2007, a
little over 1,100 students in grades one through three were in classes
of 30 students or more. As of November 2016, a staggering 43,219 first
through third graders were in classes this large, an increase of almost
4000 percent.”
“New York City students have waited too long for a better opportunity
to learn, and it is unacceptable that the City has reneged on its legal
obligations,” said Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size
Matters. “The research is crystal clear that smaller classes benefit all
children, but especially those who predominate in our public schools:
students who are low-income, have special needs, or are English
Language Learners.”
“A decade ago, the City committed to reducing class sizes to
appropriate levels, a resource identified by New York’s highest court in
the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case as essential for a
constitutional sound basic education,” said Billy Easton, Executive
Director of the Alliance for Quality Education. “But now class sizes are
even larger than when the court issued its decision. It is past time
for the DOE to live up to this legal obligation.”
“The research is clear: smaller classes are better for our children.
This indisputable fact can no longer be ignored. I am proud to stand
with a diverse coalition of education advocates to demand the city
provide our students with the smaller class sizes they are owed. There
can be no equity or excellence when students in The Bronx and throughout
New York City must sit in classes this large,” said Bronx Borough
President Ruben Diaz Jr.
The Petitioners are requesting that Commissioner Elia order the DOE
to immediately begin reducing class sizes to the averages set forth in
the 2007 class-size reduction plan and to reach those averages in no
more than five years. Petitioners are also asking the Commissioner to
order the City to promptly align its capital plan for school
construction to the class size averages in the 2007 Plan, another
requirement of the C4E regulations.
_____________________
Parent Petitioners Speak:
“My daughter has been in extremely large classes since Kindergarten,”
said Naila Rosario, a parent in District 15 in Brooklyn. “This year, in
fourth grade, she is in a class of 32 students. She cannot possibly
receive the kind of personal attention and feedback every child deserves
and needs to be successful in school. In fact, often her teacher does
not even have enough time to answer all the students’ questions. There
is no way my daughter or any of her classmates can get a quality
education in a class this large.”
Deborah Alexander has two children at P.S. 150 in Queens, one in 1
st grade and the other in 4
th grade.
Both are in classes of 3O students: “My fourth grader told me he
doesn’t bother to raise his hand anymore, because as he said to me,
there are too many kids, so I’m never picked. My daughter’s class is
full of restless children, waiting their turn to be able to speak. Some
of the children have social-emotional issues and clearly feel deprived,
no matter how hard their teacher tries. It is time to aggressively
address class size reduction once and for all so that all children know
they are seen and heard.”
“My son, who has an IEP, has been held back twice and is at risk of
being held back again,” said Rubnelia Agostini, who has a second grade
child at P.S. 277 in the Bronx. “His class size is now 25, and he was in
a class of 27 in Kindergarten at P.S. 205. After two months in
Kindergarten he was bused to another school to address class size
violations, since Kindergarten classes are supposed to be capped at 25.
Now his independent evaluation says he needs a small class, but his
school doesn’t have any small classes, and some are as large as 27. Why
can’t my son receive the quality education he needs to succeed?”
Litza Stark’s son is in an inclusion, or ICT, Kindergarten class with
28 students at P.S. 85 in Queens. The ICT class contains 10-12 students
with special needs
: “Especially since this is an ICT
class where students present an array of extra challenges, his class
size causes excessive stress on the teachers and the students alike.
PreK is important, but so is the quality of education for children in
Kindergarten and up.”
“My son’s class has 24 children, many of them requiring close
support, and his teacher is not able to individualize instruction as she
could in a smaller class,” said Reeshemah Brightley, the mother of a
Kindergarten child at P.S./I.S. 76 in Manhattan. “Classroom management
is difficult, and students are more disruptive in a large class than
they otherwise would be, making it hard for the rest of the class to
focus.”
JoAnn Schneider’s son is a fourth grader in an ICT class of 31
students at P.S./I.S. 113 in Queens: “My son receives special education
services and has been in an inclusion class since Kindergarten. He’s
making only minimal progress because he needs a more focused environment
that only a small class can provide. It is not right that my child
should be denied the kind of education given to children elsewhere in
the state where classes average only 20-22 students per class –
especially when the law requires it.”
Johanna Garcia, a mother of two children at P.S./I.S. 187 in
Manhattan, explained: “My son is in third grade in a class of 28. He
receives special services, but his class is far too big and he has
trouble keeping up. When he was in Kindergarten, his class size exceeded
the cap, and that’s when it became clear to me that it was impossible
for him to receive the attention he needed with so many other children
in the class. My daughter is in a class of 29 students in fifth grade,
and many in her class have been unable to stay engaged and afloat. The
city owes it to my children and all other students in the public school
system to remedy this egregious violation of their rights.”
_____________________
To read the petition, click here ; a timeline documenting the DOE’s failure to reduce class sizes since the CFE lawsuit is available here; and data showing class size trends is available here.
Opinion 