Join the fight for full class-size compliance

A few years ago, only 43% of classes across the city were in compliance with our small class size law, and this year, we are on track to reach 70% compliance. Almost 90,000 classrooms are at or under the new limits, and 121 schools are in full compliance. This was no small feat and would never have been accomplished without UFT members pushing to make this critical change for our school system. But the work continues.

We have three years to get to 100% compliance, and those years are going to be the most difficult. We have a partner in the new School Construction Authority president, Celeste Ramirez, who is a former UFT member and supports small class size. We are hopeful this change in leadership will help us get the space needed to bring our city into full compliance with the law, but it will still be a challenge.

We saw that the city wouldn’t be able to get to 80% this year because there was no adequate capital plan in place for construction. So, we agreed to support the state in its request for a timeline extension of the class size rollout if, in return, a suitable capital plan was developed.

We also fought to negotiate an accountability measure to compensate eligible teachers whose classes remain above the new class size limits in schools that receive temporary exemptions. We argued that any class that the city Department of Education is using for its exemption is putting the burden on that teacher, and they need to be compensated.

The differential is not a payment for every teacher who currently has a class above the new limits. Right now, 30% of classes are not legally required to be in compliance. It applies only to certain classes that receive an approved space or hard-to-staff exemption as part of the DOE’s plan to meet its required compliance target. We anticipated that this year, when the city only needs to be at 70% compliance, we would not have many classes eligible for the differential. However, that could change at any time depending on how the DOE is doing with hiring new teachers and what classes we discover that may qualify. Information about the exemptions and qualified teachers is expected at the end of November.

However, over the next few years when the city needs to reach 80% and 90%, the number of classes that are not legally required to be in compliance will go down, and the number of members who qualify will likely grow. By the 2029-30 school year, the city will need to be at 100% compliance and maintain full compliance into the future. As the DOE gets closer to 100%, it cannot simply leave the remaining oversized classes unaddressed. Those classes must either come into compliance or, where applicable, go through the exemption process.

Each year, the DOE has to meet an increasing class size compliance benchmark, or we will lose the state funding dedicated to reducing class sizes. So, exemptions are important as we work to get there. But we don’t want the DOE to be able to use exemptions as an easy way of getting around actually reducing class size.

This pay differential is in place as an extra layer of protection for our members if the city is not able to fulfill its responsibility to lower class size. The differential was never about this year; it was always about preparing for the future and ensuring there was extra accountability for the city to get to compliance. It is not the goal. The goal is for more classes to meet the new class size limits. This will be part of our school system forever. These payments will continue when classes are out of compliance, and each year we will have to work on it with the DOE.

The DOE has agreed to instruct principals to hold engagement sessions at their schools with their staff. These conversations are critical because we deserve to know where our school communities are at this moment, and what’s ahead as we work to come into full compliance across the city. We don’t want the DOE telling you what your class size plan should be. They don’t know your building. We believe strongly that the plan should come from the building. We want you to have that ability and that power.

Engagement sessions should be happening at every school. At these sessions, your school community will talk through:

1. Where your school currently is in terms of class size compliance
2. What the future at your school could look like as the DOE works toward 100%

If your school has NOT held an engagement session, let your chapter leader know.

This last 30% of compliance will be the most difficult. If you are part of a school that does not see a path forward for class size compliance, please join our 30 percent group, where we will meet to help chapters identify their next steps. Join using this form.

Together we will keep up the fight and get to the lower class sizes that our students deserve.