The city's latest -- and outrageous -- attempt to avoid public scrutiny and parent input on class size
In June, in response to a lawsuit, New York State Supreme Court Justice Peter Moulton ruled that the NYC Department of Education is obligated to hold annual borough hearings on its Contract for Excellence (C4E) plan and include the transcript of these hearings when it submits its plan to the state – both of which the city has failed to do since 2008. The law is clear that both borough hearings and presentations at Community Education Council meetings are required by the C4E statute passed by the NY State in 2007.
On Friday, the city announced it will appeal the judge’s decision and deny parents the right to provide substantive input on its C4E plan, a plan that determines how more than $500 million per year is spent; and how much is allocated in reducing class size.
Over the last decade, the Bloomberg administration has shown a profound disrespect for parent input and disinterest in following the letter of the law. One of the most egregious examples of this is its refusal to adhere to a robust public process in regards its plan to reduce class, required in the Contracts for Excellence law. Instead class sizes have increased every year of the past five, are now the largest in the early grades in 14 years. Even higher class sizes are expected this fall.
Wendy Lecker, senior lawyer for the Campaign for Fiscal Equity project at the Education Law Center, explained: “In June, a court ruled the state Contract for Excellence law mandates timely public hearings in all five New York boroughs so