Wednesday, March 27, 2013

NYC Educator: Smaller Class Sizes or Increased Pay?

NYC Educator: Smaller Class Sizes or Increased Pay?:


Smaller Class Sizes or Increased Pay?

There's a lot of talk from demagogues like Arne Duncan and Mike Bloomberg about values. While many of us, parents and teachers, demand smaller class sizes, Duncan will say things about teacher quality being more important, echoing the AFT's partner, Bill Gates. Bloomberg, whose mayoral control we've supported twice for reasons that elude me utterly, gets up and says he'd rather fire half of working teachers and 70 kids in a class.

Class sizes in NYC have remained static since I started teaching in 1984, and I have no idea how long before that. When we bring that up to UFT reps, they say class size reductions would have to come in lieu of raises. Bloomberg has made agreements, NY State has made