[Editor’s note: The Independent Budget Office released a report (pdf) that found a relatively small drop in class sizes despite declining enrollment and nearly $200 million in state and federal funds dedicated to reducing class size.]
It is disturbing to learn that the Independent Budget Office’s analysis shows that fully 61% of New York City’s public school kindergarten to third-grade classrooms exceeded the state’s early grade class size standard of 20 students per class last year. That target is part and parcel of the early grade class size reduction initiatives approved by the state 10 years ago and was based on what many researchers and educational experts consider best for effectively teaching children. There is universal agreement on class size reduction in the early grades; the question is why is it not happening for all the city’s students in kindergarten through third grade and how do we make it happen?
The IBO report did not address class sizes in secondary schools which, as we noted last week, still have too many older students in classes that exceed contractual limits of 33 junior high school students and 34 high school students per classroom. Overcrowded classes deny students the personalized attention they need to improve academically, which is why the UFT sought the new state law that requires the school system to develop a comprehensive plan to substantially lower class size.
