Not a match: class size spending and class size

The UFT published a report on class size yesterday with some remarkable findings.

1) Of 390 New York City elementary and middle schools that received targeted state class size reduction funds this year nearly half (48.5%) did not lower class sizes. In fact, class sizes actually increased at 33.8 percent of those schools.

2) At 43 percent of schools citywide with kindergarten-through-8^th grades, class sizes increased, despite $152.7 million from the Campaign for Fiscal Equity that was supposed to go to class size reduction.

3) About 60 percent of our middle schools failed to meet this year’s class size reduction targets

4) In large high schools (with 1,500-plus students) there were four more students per class on average than in the small schools (those with fewer than 1,500 students).

These findings, which were the work of an independent researcher hired by UFT, show that while the city Department of Education lowered average class sizes by a fraction this year to comply with state mandates, in truth many class sizes increased. Even in schools where they pledged to spend state Contract for Excellence money on class size, a third of schools had bigger classes. Even in the neediest schools–those on the state’s “in need of improvement/requiring academic progress” lists, class sizes rose.

The DOE replied by saying that teachers union reps should teach more classes. Kind of a lame response. Read the full report here [PDF]. Read the press release here.

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