School overcrowding: Please come to our press conference Thursday at 1 PM

June 15, 2015

Dear Friends,

1.   This Thursday, June 18 at 1 PM, we will be holding a press conference on the steps of City Hall. We will be speaking about the need to expand the school capital plan and appoint a Commission to improve the efficiency of school planning and siting — to ease overcrowding and make room for smaller classes and a well-rounded education.

If you’d like to speak at the press conference, please email us by responding to this message. The City Council is in the midst negotiating with the Mayor over the budget and many members are clearly aware how the problem of school overcrowding is critical and is worsening. Please come!

2.  The Public Advocate’s letter pointing out the deficiencies of the capital plan now has 22 Councilmembers co-signers, as well as Michael Mulgrew, President of the UFT, 18 Presidents of Community Education Councils and Citywide Councils, as well as many other parent leaders. The letter to the Mayor and Chancellor with its current list of signatures is below.

Please let me know if you will be able to attend THURSDAY’s press conference, and please forward this message to other parents and advocates who might be interested in coming.

Hope to see you on Thursday, and thanks as always for your support,

Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters

---

Cc: Mayor de Blasio

Dear Chancellor Fariña:

As you may know, nearly half a million students already attend schools that are severely overcrowded and the situation is worsening. We are writing with great concern regarding the recent release of the city’s capital plan. Specifically, we are interested in learning more about the rationale for the number of new schools being built. Given the Department of Education’s (DOE) own data on current overcrowding and enrollment projections, the capital plan as currently designed will meet less than one half of the need.

According to an audit from the NYC Comptroller, at least one third of public schools are overcrowded, according to the DOE’s own data, without the city having a clear plan to deal with the problem. A third of the city’s elementary schools are at least 138% of capacity.[1] At the same time, enrollment is increasing and just-released Census data show that New York City is the fastest growing large city in the country.

Moreover, there is a widespread consensus that the DOE’s formula for estimating school utilization levels in the Blue Book underestimates the actual level of overcrowding and the space needed to provide a sound basic and legal education. Though a working group appointed by the Chancellor made proposals to improve the accuracy of this formula in December, their recommendations still have not been released. Therefore, the City continues to make crucial decisions on co-locations, and now the capital plan based on inaccurate data.

The well-documented result is that hundreds of schools have lost their cluster rooms; thousands of students are assigned to lunch as early as 10 a.m., and/or have no access to the gym. Many special needs students are forced to receive their services in hallways and/or closets rather than in dedicated spaces, and class sizes in the early grades have reached a 15-year high.

The Mayor’s ambitious plan to build an additional 160,000 market-rate housing units, on top of 200,000 affordable units over the next ten years will create the need for even more school seats.In addition, his effort to expand community schools will require more room for wrap-around services in schools that are already suffering from an extreme space crunch. Yet, there have been no adjustments or significant increase in the number of new seats since either of these plans was announced.

We urge you to double the number of new seats in the capital plan, which would more nearly achieve the goal of alleviating current overcrowding and accommodating projected enrollment growth. According to the Independent Budget office, this would cost $125 million per year.

Just recently the DOE proposed a five year contract with an IT vendor, Computer Consultant Specialists, to wire NYC schools at a cost of $127 million a year, renewable for four more, at a cost of more than $1 billion. (Originally the contract was nearly twice that high, at a potential cost of more than $2 billion. But after the media raised questions about the contract, the DOE managed to cut nearly half out of the annual amount. [2] The city ended up cancelling the contract after it was pointed out that the company was implicated in a kickback scheme that had robbed DOE of millions of dollars.[3]

For approximately the same amount that the DOE was prepared to pay for this contract, the number of seats in the capital plan could be doubled and we could begin to meet the real needs of NYC public school students.

As the Public Advocate has advocated previously, we also urge your office to form an independent commission to improve the planning process and efficiency in siting new schools, which now lags far behind private and public development efforts. The OneNYC plan released by the Mayor’s office projected the need for infrastructure improvements to meet the requirements of a growing population in housing, transportation, health care and many other areas, but gave little or no attention to the worsening crisis of school overcrowding and the need for new schools to accommodate this growth.

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Letitia James, NYC Public Advocate

Daniel Dromm, Chair, New York City Council Committee on Education

Michael Mulgrew, President, United Federation of Teachers

Council Member Inez Barron

Council Member Margaret Chin

Council Member Robert Cornegy

Council Member Laurie Cumbo

Council Member Daniel Garodnick

Council Member Vincent Gentile

Council Member Corey Johnson

Council Member Ben Kallos

Council Member Karen Koslowitz

Council Member Andy King

Council Member Brad Lander

Council Member Stephen Levin

Council Member Mark Levine

Council Member Carlos Menchaca

Council Member Rosie Mendez

Council Member Antonio Reynoso

Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez

Council Member Helen Rosenthal

Council Member Richie Torres

Council Member Mark Treygar

Council Member Paul Vallone

Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters

Lisa Donlan, President, Community Education Council 1

Shino Tanikawa, President, Community Education Council 2*

Joe Fiordaliso, President, Community Education Council 3

Miriam Aristy-Ferer, President, Community Education Council 6

Bryan D’Ottavi, President Community Education Council, District 8

Marvin Shelton, President, Community Education District Council 10

Ilka Rios, President, Community Education Council 12

David Goldsmith, President, Community Education Council 13

Naila Rosario, President, Community Education Council 15

Laurie Windsor, President, Community Education Council 20

Melanie Mendoca, President, Community Education Council 23

Nick Comaianni, President, Community Education Council 24

Dr. Vera Daniels, President, Community Education Council 28

Jeffrey Guyton, President, Community Education Council 30

Mike Reilly, President, Community Education Council 31

Teresa Arboleda, President, Citywide Council on English Language Learners

John Englert, Co-President, Citywide Council on Special Education

Alleyne Hughley, President, Citywide Council on High Schools

Michelle Kupper, Vice President, Community Education Council 15

Deborah Alexander, Treasurer, Community Education Council 30

Karen Sprowal, NYC Kids PAC

Andy Lachman, Parent Leaders of Upper East Side Schools

Eduardo Hernandez Ph.D, member, Community Education Council 8

Michelle Noris, PE, member Citywide Council on Special Education

Rubnelia Agostini, member, Community Education District Council 10

Ellen McHugh, member, Citywide Council on Special Education

Banghee Chi, member, Community Education Council 2

Claude Arpels, member, Community Education Council 2

Jacqueline Colson, Member, Community Education Council 25

*organizational affiliation for identification purposes only