NYC Public School Parents: Testimonies of four mothers, speaking about how their children have been affected by the unacceptably large classes in city schools

NYC Public School Parents: Testimonies of four mothers, speaking about how their children have been affected by the unacceptably large classes in city schools

Testimonies of four mothers, speaking about how their children have been affected by the unacceptably large classes in city schools

The testimonies of parents, educators and advocates at the class size hearings at City Hall on Friday were so powerful that I am going to post many of them on this blog.  Here is video of the proceedings -- nearly six hours.  The hearings would have lasted even longer if many of the parents who wanted to testify hadn't been shut out because the room was too crowded. Here's an article about the hearings from Chalkbeat.

Below are the heartbreaking statements of four mothers, Alexa Aviles, Emily Hellstrom, Karen Sprowal and Naila Rosario. Two of these mothers have children with special needs; but none of their kids were served adequately because of the unacceptably large classes in the city's public schools.

The plight of English language learners is also mentioned in Alexa Aviles' testimony, who asked, can you imagine such a child in a class of 32? It would be like trying to learn in Times Square on New Year's Eve.

Karen Sprowal's statement is especially illuminating as she points out how much the city is now paying  for her son to attend a private school where he could be provided with the smaller classes he needs -- $93,000 per year. The expense to the city of private school placements for special needs kids is growing fast -- this year more than  $325 million,  a direct result of the large classes in the city's schools that parents are so desperate to get their children out of.

As Karen put it, "Even as class size reduction may be costly, I would like the DOE and our elected officials to think about the costs of NOT lowering class size."  CONTINUE READING: NYC Public School Parents: Testimonies of four mothers, speaking about how their children have been affected by the unacceptably large classes in city schools