Feb. 8, 2024 1.Save the date! The City Council Education Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday Feb. 29 at 1 PM on the proposals of the Class Size Working Group, and what the DOE is doing or not doing to lower class size. If you support the goal of smaller classes, please sign up […]
Feb. 7, 2024 Here and below is our Feb. 1 testimony to the State legislature on the budget, and how DOE is doing nothing to comply with the new class size law. In fact, as we point out below, class sizes have increased in most schools over the last two years, a trend that is […]
Feb. 6, 2024 Below is the presentation I gave last night to the Education Committee of the NYC Bar Association, on the history and the myths surrounding Mayoral control. Below that is my longer testimony on Mayoral control to the State Education Department, that goes into more depth on these issues. NYSED is supposed to […]
Jan. 30, 2024 The deadline to submit your views on Mayoral control is tomorrow, Wed. January 31, at 5 PM. You can upload your testimony here. The borough hearings were very well attended, with the overwhelming number of parents, teachers and community members who spoke vehemently opposed to the continuation of mayoral control. You can […]
This document is also downloadable as a PDF. See also our Updated FAQ on the Class Size Law. Myth: The research on the benefits of smaller classes is weak, and the only evidence relates to the early grades. Fact: Studies from Tennessee, Wisconsin, and other states demonstrate that students assigned to smaller classes in […]
Jan. 5, 2024 NYC has plentiful options for raising billions in more funding with the help of the state, including more than $170 million annually if our district was treated the same as any other district in the state by being eligible for charter transition aid and exempt from being forced to pay for charter […]
Below is a draft resolution for CECs and other community and advocacy organizations to consider passing, urging the DOE to adopt the recommendations in the report of the Class Size Working Group and begin to lower class size in compliance with the class size law. So far, resolutions urging the DOE to implement plans to […]
December 12, 2023 Dear all: 1.Yesterday, the report of the Class Size Working Group was finally released – of which I was a member. It is the result of months of hard work and is chock full of detailed, equitable and actionable recommendations for how the DOE can comply with the new class size – […]
For immediate release: December 11, 2023 Contact: Leonie Haimson, 917-435-9329; leonie@classsizematters.org Class Size Working Group members urge the Chancellor of NYC schools to implement their recommendations without delay Here are quotations from the Class Size Working Group co-chair and some of the parent leaders, advocates, and working teachers and other school staff who were […]
December 11, 2023 Our testimony at today’s NYC Council Finance hearings about how the Mayor’s proposed cuts to education would prevent the DOE from complying with the class size law and likely cause even sharper class size increases than students experienced over the last two years. Also available here.
Talk out of School radio show and podcast airs Sunday night at 7 PM on WBAI 99.5 FM or online at www.wbai.org when Leonie Haimson and Daniel Alicea interview guests and discuss issues affecting public schools in NYC, the state level and nationally. You can stream or subscribe to the podcast here; or at iTunes, Spotify or Google.
We held our annual Skinny award dinner Wed. June 28, 2023, honoring Rep. Jamaal Bowman, former Bronx principal and now a progressive trailblazer who is fighting in Congress to protect and improve our public schools. More photos on Facebook .
