UFT: City’s class-size reduction plan ‘a good first step’

Nov 19, 2007 5:36 PM

After a storm of UFT and parent protests about its initial Contract For Excellence proposal failing to adequately plan for class size reduction, the New York City Department of Education issued on November 19 a revised five-year plan for the additional state education aid with specific targets of lowering class size to 20 students on average in grades K-3 and 23 students on average in the higher grades by 2012.

UFT President Randi Weingarten responded to the news with the following statement:

“Smaller class size is a key educational strategy that parents and teachers have long championed because we know just how crucial it is to raising academic achievement for all students. We’re gratified by the Governor’s, the Regents’ and State Education Department’s persistence and the city’s agreement to shift from its initial proposal this summer of simply promising to address the issue to actually committing to significant class size reduction with a targeted five-year plan. We’re also pleased to see a focused structure for class size reporting so that everyone will have the means to determine a baseline, measure compliance and ensure continued transparency with the goals.

“This plan is a good step. But it’s just the beginning, not the end, because to make it real for all kids we need to have a cap, not an average. That means limiting all general education and special education mainstreamed class sizes to 20 students in kindergarten through third grade and 23 students in the higher grades.”