Frequently asked questions on class size rules and funding in NYC schools
What are the current class size limits? Are they set by the teacher contract?
Yes. The UFT class-size limits are as follows:
• In kindergarten, 25.
• In grades 1-3, 29.
• In grades 4-6, 32.
• In Title I middle schools, 30.
• In non-Title I middle schools, 33.
• In high schools, 34 for academic classes.
However, the NYC Department of Education sometimes takes up to two months to address contractual violations; there are also allowances having to do with "breakage," meaning that if there aren’t enough students at any grade level to form a new class that is at least half of the size allowed for that grade level, the principal can choose not to form a new class.
Can fundraising efforts pay for classroom teachers? Classroom assistants? Enrichment teachers?
Official policy has long been that PTA funds cannot be used to hire classroom teachers to reduce class size, though these funds can be used to hire enrichment teachers and/or classroom assistants. The parents in many of the wealthier schools contribute funds for "assistant teachers" in grades K and up, to work alongside regular classroom teachers. These assistants often have all the regular qualifications to become teachers except for formal certification. In some schools, their salaries come out of general PTA funds; in others, parents of children in specific grades are asked to contribute a set amount. There are schools where parents are asked to donate as much as $600- $1000 for these purposes.
What are some other sources of funding that are used to make classes smaller?
Title One funds can be used to reduce class size in any school; in addition, over the past six years, the state and federal government has given hundreds of millions of dollars to NYC schools to reduce class size in grades K-3. Unfortunately these funds have not been used appropriately.
What is the evidence that these funds have been misused?
According to an audit from the State comptroller’s office released on March 15, 2006, instead of 1586 additional classes as claimed, the NYC Department of Education had formed only twenty additional classes in K-3 with $89 million in state funds, over the number of classes that existed before the state-funded program began.
The audit also found that over the last four years, the number of early grade classes in NYC schools had declined by 876. The worsening compliance on the part of the NYC Department of Education was not a result of lack of space, as there was sufficient room for almost 900 more classes four years earlier, elementary school enrollment had declined significantly over this period, and new seats had been added. Instead, the audit concluded that DoE had used millions of dollars of state funds to pay for teaching positions which had existed before the program began – contrary to law – and the situation had gotten considerably worse over time.
“….we believe that the DoE’s calculations are not consistent with the Law, because DoE’s method substitutes Program funding for local funding that was used previously for early grade classes (and teachers) that existed prior to the Program’s implementation.”
(For the full audit, see http://www.osc.state.ny.us/audits/allaudits/093006/05n3.pdf; for a memo summarizing its findings, see http://www.classsizematters.org/auditresults2006.html)
How can I tell if my school is receiving funds that are supposed to be used to reduce class size?
Each year, DOE posts a class size funding allocation memo online, listing schools by region and district, and indicating the grade levels from K-3 at which extra teachers have supposedly been hired to reduce class size in each school. Here is this year’s memo:
http://schools.nyc.gov/offices/d_chanc_oper/budget/dbor/allocationmemo/fy06_07/fy07_pdf/sam04.pdf You can check to see if your school is been allocated state funds. If so, classes are supposed to be no more than 20 students in the grades indicated.
The federal funds are more flexible, and are generally used to hire push-in teachers to provide individualized and small group instruction for schools too overcrowded to form new classes. You can also check the above allocation memo to see if your school has been allocated federal funding for push-in teachers, and then ask or try to figure out how these teachers are being used, whether for instructional purposes as supposed, or for administrative or assessment tasks, as some parents have reported. In either case, if you find evidence that the state or federal funds are not being used as indicated, please email me at leonie@att.net , with full confidentiality assured.
How does a school qualify for federal or state funds to reduce class size?
The funds are allocated by DOE to districts and schools, and schools are supposed to be identified based on need. In reality, principals lobby to receive this extra funding.
If a school opts to have smaller K/1/2 classes does that have any impact on class sizes in the upper elementary grades?
No, it's not supposed to.
How does it come to the school - as dollars, as teacher salaries?
Does the school have discretion over its use - could a school 'buy' paras and not a teacher? No, these funds are supposed to be used to hire classroom teachers to reduce class size.
What grade levels can the class size reduction monies be applied to?
The state and federal funds are supposed to be used primarily for grades K-3, and class size is supposed to be reduced first in K, then 1st grade, and onwards -- though principals of low-performing schools have the option to use a small portion for smaller classes in grades 4-5 as well. Yet DOE reports all additional 1586 teachers over the last few years were hired in grades K-3.
What if my school was not allocated these funds?
Can a principal (or SLT) decide to reduce class size on his or her own? As DOE often argues, principals (and SLTs) have the flexibility to reduce class size through their overall budget, though whether they actually have enough funding to do this – as well as the space and the ability to cap enrollment -- is debatable. Many schools do not. Title One funds (see above) can be used to reduce class size, but appear to be rarely employed for this purpose in NYC schools. Additional state funds for landing on the SURR (failing) list can also be used for smaller classes. A NY Times article profiled P.S. 45 in Queens last year, which made big strides in achievement, which the principal credited to the fact that she had been able to reduce class size to 18 in most grades, as result of obtaining additional state funds after the school landing on the SURR list. Yet once a school gets off the failing list, the SURR allocation money begins to phase out.
Are there any other rules limiting class size, such as space requirements?
Yes, though unfortunately these rules are only rarely enforced. Each kindergarten student is supposed to receive at least 35 square feet of space in a class of no more than 25 students. Thus, the capacity of a 700-square-foot classroom is 20 students, and the capacity of a 1,050-square foot classroom is 25 students; a classroom larger than 1,050 sq. ft. only has a capacity of 25 students no matter how much larger it is.
For first through third graders, each student is supposed to require 20 sq. feet, to a maximum of 25 students per class. Thus a classroom of 500 square feet or more has a capacity of 25 students. For fourth through ninth grade, classrooms are supposed to have 20 sq. ft. per student, with no more than 31 students per room (or 29 for Title I schools). Thus a classroom of 620 square feet or more will have an official capacity of 31 students. The capacity formula also includes adjustments for room use, type of student and other factors.
What should I do if my child has larger classes than s/he should?
Join Class Size Matters, by sending an email to leonie@att.net, checking out our website at www.classsizematters.org, or calling 212-674-7320.
Prepared by Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters, Sept. 2006
