Commissioner King sued in state court for ignoring public participation requirements in C4E law
As we have made clear in our presentations to Community Education Councils and other parent and community groups, the State Education Department and the NYC Department of Education are equally guilty in ignoring the Contracts for Excellence (C4E) law passed in 2007, which requires public participation and accountability in the development of the city's C4E and class size reduction plans.
In recent years, DOE has presented their C4E "plan" at CEC meetings held in the fall and the winter, long after these funds have been already been allocated and spent; and the city has refused to hold borough hearings for many years, as is explicitly required in the law. The result has been dismal -- instead of reducing class size, as the law demands, class sizes have increased for the last five years and are now the largest in 14 years in the early grades.
In recent years, DOE has presented their C4E "plan" at CEC meetings held in the fall and the winter, long after these funds have been already been allocated and spent; and the city has refused to hold borough hearings for many years, as is explicitly required in the law. The result has been dismal -- instead of reducing class size, as the law demands, class sizes have increased for the last five years and are now the largest in 14 years in the early grades.
As far as we know, the city's class size reduction/ C4E plan from LAST year (2011-