Challenging NYC class sizes & school overcrowding Parent Action Conference January 17, 2018 Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters www.classsizematters.org

CFE lawsuit & decision re: class size In 2003, NYS Court of Appeals concluded NYC students deprived of constitutional right to a sound basic education. Key issue: class size. “Plaintiffs presented measurable proof, credited by the trial court, that NYC schools have excessive class sizes, and that class size affects learning.” “Plaintiffs' evidence of the advantages of smaller class sizes supports the inference sufficiently to show a meaningful correlation between the large classes in City schools and the outputs...of poor academic achievement and high dropout rates.” “[T]ens of thousands of students are placed in overcrowded classrooms…. The number of children in these straits is large enough to represent a systemic failure.”

Researchers agree Class size reduction one of handful of reforms proven to work through rigorous evidence, acc. to Inst. Education Sciences of US Ed Dept. Students in smaller classes do better in every way can be measured; better test scores, grades, fewer disciplinary problems Higher HS grad rates & college-going rates More likely to major in STEM field & own home and have 401k years later Benefits of small classes twice as large for disadvantaged & students of color, very effective at narrowing the achievement gap.

Contract for Excellence law passed in 2007 April 2007, NY State settled CFE lawsuit by passing the Contracts for Excellence (C4E) law. Legislature agreed to send billions in additional aid to NYC & other high needs school districts to be spent in six approved areas, including class size reduction, and to reform the funding system. In addition, NYC had to submit a plan to reduce class size in all grades •In fall of 2007, NYSED approved NYC C4E plan to reduce class sizes to average no more than 20 students per class in K-3; 23 in grades 4-8 and 25 in HS classes to be achieved over 5 years In return, NYS has sent billions in C4E funds cumulatively to NYC since 2007, though funding has never reached its promised full level & other state cuts have intervened

Yet average K-3 class sizes INCREASED since 2007 & are 15% larger than when C4E law was passed

Average class sizes in grades 4-8 also increased & are 6% above 2007 levels

Average HS class also above 2007 levels

What these class size averages do NOT show There are extreme inequities across the city in class size according to neighborhood and school The number of students in very large classes has grown sharply since 2007 in grades K-8

This year, at least 291,809 students are in very large classes of 30 or more

The number of Kindergarten students in classes of 25 or more has nearly doubled since 2007

Number of 1st thru 3rd graders in classes of 30 or more has exploded by nearly 3800%

Number of 4th-8th graders in classes of 30 or more has nearly doubled since 2007

DOE promised SED in 2014 that they would focus their C4E class size efforts on Renewal schools Yet between Feb. 2014- Feb. 2017, nearly 40% Renewal schools did not reduce class sizes In 2017, 73% of these schools continued to have maximum class sizes of 30 or more No Renewal school capped class sizes at C4E levels of 20 in K-3, 23 in grades 4th-8th, and 25 in HS core classes

What about space? C4E law required that NYC would align its school capital plan with its class size reduction plan; that never happened School capital plan is underfunded & will only create about ½ seats necessary according to DOE School capacity formula aligned with larger class sizes than existing average in 4-8th grades (28) and high school (30) So in July 2017, along with 9 NYC parents, the Public Advocate and AQE, we filed a class size complaint with the State Education Department