Union Claims Highest Number of Oversize Classes in Decade
Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesMichael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, joined by Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters and others, spoke on Thursday outside Murry Bergtraum High School, which the union says is experiencing overcrowding this year.Sept. 22, 2011, 1:12 p.m.
3:11 p.m. | Updated The number of overcrowded classes in New York is the largest in 10 years, according to a survey conducted by the teachers union and released on Thursday.
As a result of attrition, budget cuts and increased enrollment in some areas of the city, nearly 7,000 classes are over their contractual limits this year, the survey, by the United Federation of Teachers, found. That figure exceeds last year’s number by almost 1,000.
The union says that about 256,000 students, roughly