We’ve heard from the pundits and the judges and the critics. What they have to say is pretty much what they always have to say: “you can’t do that,” “it won’t work,” “let us handle this,” “we’re scared.” Well, they’re on hold for now.
Lowering class size is a campaign we are waging on the streets. Last week, parents and teachers all over the city handed out flyers and talked one on one about the need for smaller classes. Tomorrow (Thursday) New Yorkers for Smaller Classes and its supporters will be handing out the flyers at transportation hubs in every borough. We’re saying class size reduction works–it helps kids, it improves achievement, it solves problems and enhances teaching. It’s amazing how quickly everyday New Yorkers understand this and how long they’ve waited for their leaders to catch on. When we had our petition drives in 2003 and last year, people were signing for class size reduction faster than we could hand them a pen–over 100,000 of them.
Here’s a list of the hubs we’re covering tomorrow. We’ll have flyers in English and Spanish. Come and join about 5:00 p.m. at any location you’d like. It’s going to be a beautiful day to be on the ground.
Brooklyn
Jay St/Boro Hall
Willoughby/Jay Street
Atlantic/Flatbush Avenues
4th Avenue/9th Street
7th Avenue/9th Street
Church Avenue (F train)
Fulton St/Malcolm X Blvd
Fulton St/Ralph Avenue
Grand Army Plaza
Nostrand Avenue/Eastern parkway
Utica Avenue/Church Avenue
Ralph Avenue/Tilde towards Flatlands
Starrett City Shopping Center
Van Sicklen Avenue (IRT station and IND station)
Atlantic Avenue/Linwood Street
Church Avenue/McDonald
Bay Ridge Avenue/4th Avenue
Staten Island
Ferry Terminal – Staten Island
Manhattan
Brooklyn Bridge/Chambers Street
Union Square
135 Street/Lenox Avenue
125th Street/Lenox Avenue
168th Street/Broadway
Queens
Flushing – Main and Roosevelt
Jackson Heights – Roosevelt Avenue
Bronx
161st
Fordham/Grand Concourse
9 Comments:
1 northbrooklyn
· May 24, 2006 at 6:38 pm
Let’s go on strike in ‘07 for smaller class size and more teachers in the building. We can’t rely on the administration of the building to do any more than they have to; so give us the people we need to do our job. It would be a noble act and successful one.
2 xkaydet65
· May 24, 2006 at 10:57 pm
This class size thing is going to backfire because we are not dealing with idiots. Bloomberg and Klein will call our hand and say they are ready to spend the bucks to lower class size to a suburban level. The price? No raises! When we howl Bloomie will retort that our claim about being in it for the kids is hot air. I don’t doubt for one minute that the budget folks at Tweed and City Hall aren’t already investigating the cost of smaller classes with the purpose of making us put our money where our mouth is.
3 Kombiz
· May 24, 2006 at 11:28 pm
xk, The issue is completely tied into CFE, and how much of that money should be set aside to reduce the overcrowding in NYC schools. Tweed wants 2%, but from the Hevesi audit even when they are mandated by state law to lower class size they’ve failed. The UFT and a whole host of civic organizations and parent organizations (including a vast majority of voters) in New York City want 25% to be dedicated to lowering class size. No doubt there’s push back from Tweed, but a ballot measure allows New Yorkers to vote on the issue and that’s the goal of New Yorkers for Smaller classes, the UFT and parents at the moment.
4 curious3
· May 25, 2006 at 10:40 am
I would be interested in visiting some of the most overcrowded schools in NYC. Is there a way I can get a listing of them?
5 ampd90
· May 25, 2006 at 7:39 pm
This would take quite a bit of time, but you could look up individual school’s report cards, and check their building utilization rates (usually on the second page). If the building utilization rate is over 100%, then the school is officially overcrowded.
I don’t think that there is any specific way to pull the info without looking at individual school report cards
I would think you should try looking at schools in upper Manhattan to start.
6 Maisie
· May 26, 2006 at 9:41 am
The best way I know is the “Blue Book” put out each year by DOE. It lists the capacity and enrollment of every school.
Check it out here. Each school is rated for a certain maximum occupancy which is 100%. Anything over that is overcapacity.
7 curious3
· May 26, 2006 at 10:59 am
This is great! I am curious to review the 2005-06 version and then visit some of the schools with the biggest problems in September. If I get this done, I will report back! Thanks for your help.
Ken
8 phyllis c. murray
· May 28, 2006 at 9:02 pm
Ask Not What Your Union Can Do For You, But What You Can Do For Your Union
By Phyllis C. Murray
Were you there in solidarity on May 18th and May 27th to talk to the public about the issues we face in our over crowded classrooms? We were!
On Thursday, May 18, 2006, at 8:00 a.m., P.S.75X teachers, paras, and parents joined their sisters and brothers in solidarity throughout the city in an informational picketing campaign. The picketing took place outside the school. We even marched along Bruckner Blvd. This was just one of a series of actions in May, which the United Federation of Teachers’ Delegate Assembly had declared “Class-Size Month.” And we were there to walk the talk.
The UFT had done its Homework. And the research told us that Smaller Classes:
1. Raise student achievement
2. Lower dropout rates
3. Make classes more orderly
4. Give Students the individual attention they need
We know that 100,000 New York City voters have signed petitions to put an amendment on the ballot in November that will make smaller classes the law in all schools. We were a part of that UFT petition drive. We were hoping that 25% of the funds from the Campaign for Fiscal Equity settlement would be used to make class size in New York City the same as the rest of the state.
Our next action was on Thursday, May 25, at 4:00 p.m., when our P.S. 75X educators passed out class-size leaflets at a major transportation hub: the Hunts Point Station. Around that time, the UFT was launching a major ad campaign urging the city to make class-size reduction a priority.
WHAT DO WE WANT? SMALLER CLASS SIZE.
WHEN DO WE WANT IT? WE WANT IT NOW.
We know what it is like to have 28 students in Kgn. and 36 in Grade 6. Relief cannot come fast enough.
Again, I say: Ask not what your union can do for you, but what you can do for your union. The next opportunity to support this campaign for fiscal equity will be on Wednesday, June 7, 2006, 6:00 – 8:00 PM at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Park Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets. JOIN US!
http://www.cfequity.org/RallyJune7Flyers.pdf
9 phyllis c. murray
· May 29, 2006 at 6:03 am
Ask not what your union can do for you, but what you can do for your union
By Phyllis C. Murray
Were you there in solidarity on May 18th and May 27th to talk to the public about the issues we face in our over crowded classrooms? We were!
On Thursday, May 18, 2006, at 8:00 a.m., P.S.75X teachers, paras, and parents joined their sisters and brothers in solidarity throughout the city in an informational picketing campaign. The picketing took place outside the school. We even marched along Bruckner Blvd. This was just one of a series of actions in May, which the United Federation of Teachers’ Delegate Assembly had declared “Class-Size Month.” And we were there to walk the talk.
The UFT had done its Homework. And the research told us that Smaller Classes:
1. Raise student achievement
2. Lower dropout rates
3. Make classes more orderly
4. Give Students the individual attention they need
We know that 100,000 New York City voters have signed petitions to put an amendment on the ballot in November that will make smaller classes the law in all schools. We were a part of that UFT petition drive. We were hoping that 25% of the funds from the Campaign for Fiscal Equity settlement would be used to make class size in New York City the same as the rest of the state.
Our next action was on Thursday, May 25, at 4:00 p.m., when our P.S. 75X educators passed out class-size leaflets at a major transportation hub. We were at the Hunts Point Station. Around that time, the UFT was launching a major ad campaign urging the city to make class-size reduction a priority.
WHAT DO WE WANT? SMALLER CLASS SIZE.
WHEN DO WE WANT IT? WE WANT IT NOW.
We know what it is like to have 28 students in Kgn. and 36 in Grade 6. Relief cannot come fast enough.
Again, I say: Ask not what your union can do for you, but what you can do for your union. The next opportunity to support this campaign for fiscal equity will be on Wednesday, June 7, 2006, 6:00 – 8:00 PM at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Park Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets. JOIN US!
http://www.cfequity.org/RallyJune7Flyers.pdf