Class size at the Renewal schools: my testimony today
Testimony of Leonie Haimson before the NYC Council Education Committee
On the Renewal Schools
November 23, 2015
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. My name is Leonie Haimson; I run Class Size Matters, a citywide advocacy group devoted to providing information on the benefits of smaller classes to NYC parents and concerned citizens nationwide.
Since last year, the Department of Education has repeatedly claimed in their Contract for Excellence presentations that they would focus their state-mandated efforts to reduce class size on the 94 Renewal Schools. This claim was made in December 2014, in their response to public comments to last year’s (2014-2015) Contract for Excellence plan, and in two presentations, in the spring of 2015 and this fall, for this year’s (2015-2016) C4E plan, posted online and provided at borough hearings and Community Education Council meetings.
“To better align with the Chancellor’s priorities, C4E’s class size reduction plan will now focus on the 94 schools in the School Renewal Program. For more information and for a list of Renewal Schools please visit: http://schools.nyc.gov/AboutUs/schools/RenewalSchool. [1]
A link is provided to the School Renewal page where no mention of class size can be found.[2]
This fall I received complaints from parents and CEC members about the increase in class sizes at their schools, including PS 111, a Renewal school in District 30 Queens where Kindergarten class sizes increased to 27 and first grade class sizes to 31. Though the CEC co-chair communicated with the Aimee Horowitz about this, the Executive Superintendent of the Renewal Schools, Ms. Horowitz refused to express any view or to take any action to lower them. [3] On October 19, the UFT also reported that there were hundreds of classes in Renewal schools that violated the union contractual limit of 34 students per class in high schools, and 30 in Title I middle schools. [4]
This fall, Class Size Matters and parents have repeatedly asked DOE officials at CEC meetings and by email for the list of Renewal Schools in which class size has been lowered, what funds are being used to accomplish this goal, and what oversight DOE is exercising to see that this goal is accomplished.[5]
On November 12, I attended an hour long briefing at City Hall by Ms. Horowitz about the various programs the DOE was implementing in the Renewal schools. She made no mention of class size. When I asked her specifically which Renewal schools had reduced class size, and what funding and strategies were employed to accomplish this, she said that all 94 Renewal schools were expected to have “proper” class sizes through the use of their additional Fair Student Funding. [6] When I followed up with an email asking what the definition of “proper” class sizes was, I received no response.
After the DOE released their annual class size reports on November 15, we analyzed the average class sizes at the 94 Renewal schools this year compared to last year. We found that 36 out of 94 schools (about 38 percent) did NOT reduce average class size this year.[7] The highest rates of non-compliance were in Queens, where 50 percent of Renewal schools failed to reduce class size, and in the Bronx, where 40 percent of schools failed to reduce class size.We further found that 56 schools (about 60 percent) had at least some classes at 30 or more, and only seven schools (about 7 percent) capped class sizes at the C4E goals of 20 students per class in grades K-3, 23 per class in grades 4-8, and 25 in core high school classes.[8]
In June 2003, in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case, the state’s highest court wrote that “[T]ens of thousands of students are placed in NYC Public School Parents: Class size at the Renewal schools: my testimony today:
After the DOE released their annual class size reports on November 15, we analyzed the average class sizes at the 94 Renewal schools this year compared to last year. We found that 36 out of 94 schools (about 38 percent) did NOT reduce average class size this year.[7] The highest rates of non-compliance were in Queens, where 50 percent of Renewal schools failed to reduce class size, and in the Bronx, where 40 percent of schools failed to reduce class size.We further found that 56 schools (about 60 percent) had at least some classes at 30 or more, and only seven schools (about 7 percent) capped class sizes at the C4E goals of 20 students per class in grades K-3, 23 per class in grades 4-8, and 25 in core high school classes.[8]
In June 2003, in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case, the state’s highest court wrote that “[T]ens of thousands of students are placed in NYC Public School Parents: Class size at the Renewal schools: my testimony today: