6100 classes that violate union contractual limits this fall
This morning, at a press conference, Michael Mulgrew president of the UFT announced that over 6,100 classes at 670 NYC public schools this fall violate contractual class size limits, compared to 660 schools last year.
This means that class sizes are above these (already too-high) levels: more than 25 students per class in Kindergarten; more than 32 students in grades 1-5; more than 33 students in non-Title one middle schools; more than 30 students in Title one MS; and more than 34 students in high school academic classes.
In addition, there are 270 schools where self-contained special education class sizes exceed what is required on their students’ IEPs -- more than double the number last year. The UFT estimates that nearly a quarter of all students are spending part or all their days in schools in overcrowded classes. While many of these violations will eventually be addressed, last year the DOE took up to seven months to do so! The first arbitration hearings are in October.
Last week, the city released the Mayor’s Management Report, confirming the dismal long term trend in class size; up in every grade since 2007-8, as we already knew:
The number of teachers has also been cut sharply by about 8 percent since 2007-8; a trend that the DOE for