For Immediate Release

Weingarten on IBO report on class size

Sep 25, 2007 2:40 PM

A report from the Independent Budget Office found that the drop in class sizes has been relatively small despite declining enrollment and nearly $200 million in state and federal funds dedicated to reducing class size. Sixty-one percent of kindergarten to third grade classes last school year had more than the state-recommended early-grade standard of 20 students per class. For kindergarten through Grade 3, average class size declined from 21.12 in the 2005-6 school year to 21.06 in the 2006-7 school year, while for 4th to 8th grade classes, it fell from 25.92 students to 25.71. Over the same period, citywide 158 fewer classes were offered in the lower grades and 303 fewer in the upper grades. The IBO did not report on class size in the high school grades.

UFT President Randi Weingarten’s statement on the IBO report:

“It is disturbing to learn that the Independent Budget Office’s analysis shows that fully 61% of New York City’s public school kindergarten to third-grade classrooms exceeded the state’s early grade class size standard of 20 students per class last year. That target is part and parcel of the early grade class size reduction initiatives approved by the state 10 years ago and was based on what many researchers and educational experts consider best for effectively teaching children. There is universal agreement on class size reduction in the early grades; the question is why is it not happening for all the city’s students in kindergarten through third grade and how do we make it happen?

“The IBO report did not address class sizes in high schools which, as we noted last week, still have too many older students in classes that exceed the contractual limit of 34 high school students per classroom. Overcrowded classes deny students the personalized attention they need to improve academically, which is why the UFT sought the new state law that requires the school system to develop a comprehensive plan to substantially lower class size.”