Parents with children in the city’s highest-performing but most overcrowded school districts are pushing back against a controversial state law that would require class sizes to be reduced across the board.
A group of parents living in the 26th District in northern Queens is especially concerned that proposed enrollment caps could prevent their children from attending their neighborhood schools to comply with the law. There is.
“Where are our kids going to go to school if we have enrollment caps to comply with class size laws? They can’t go to their neighborhood school. That’s kind of crazy,” said one parent. said CEC 26 President Albert Suff.
He acknowledged that he and some other parents are at odds with local state Sen. John Lew, who supported the seemingly well-intentioned law and has resisted major changes.
“We are looking for someone who will stand up for themselves and pass a law that will make a difference,” said Sukh, one of the opponents of the prime minister’s working group on the law.
CEC 26 passed the following resolution:[The New York City Public School System] The government has determined that the 26th District is the most overcrowded district in New York City, and the state-mandated five-year grace period for compliance means that each 26th District has an artificially lower number of students. It is very likely that unacceptable harm will be caused by displacing families in the 26th District through the admissions levels imposed on them. school. “
Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature will force New York City schools to reduce class sizes to a maximum of 20 students in kindergarten through third grade and 23 students in fourth grade in 2022 after intense lobbying from the American Federation of Teachers. approved a law requiring it to be done. to her 8th graders and her 25 students from 9th grade through 12th grade by the 2027-28 school year.
The plan calls for the city Department of Education to phase in 20 percent of classrooms in city school districts each year to comply with the law.
But the parent group’s resolution lacks new funding to implement the class size reductions, so the city would be able to implement popular child programs such as Summer Rising, 3-K, social workers, and bilingual services. The company said it may be forced to abolish or reduce services.
The Parent Advisory Group recommended several changes.
- Class sizes will be reduced in stages, starting with elementary schools, then middle schools, and then high schools.
- Efforts to reduce class sizes will first focus on overcrowded schools with the highest poverty levels and lowest academic achievement levels, while simultaneously planning building construction in all other overcrowded areas.
- Prohibits policies that prevent families from enrolling their children in neighborhood schools that would normally be within the district.
- Give parents a greater voice in determining exemptions for gifted students, gifted students, honors students, specialized programs and classes such as advanced placements and electives, and specialized high schools such as Stuyvesant and Bronx Science.
Liu said parents in his district have legitimate concerns, but shifted the blame to Mayor Eric Adams’ DOE for poor planning to comply with the law.
“This is a legitimate concern as CEC26 has some of the most overcrowded schools and classrooms in the city, and the DOE has not articulated a consistent plan to build classroom space in northeast Queens to alleviate overcrowding. ” Mr Liu told The Sunday Post.
“Over the last two years, the mayor and premier could have developed a thoughtful plan to alleviate the problem, but instead they resorted to insinuating false choices and fear-mongering. We need an administration. “We can speak up if we have to, but we shouldn’t continue to hope that our responsibility to reduce class sizes disappears,” said the senator, who chairs the Senate New York City Education Committee.
