UFT on 2026 class size agreement

Highlights:

• Gives New York City an additional two years to reach full compliance. 
• Sets a new timeline to reach full compliance: 70% of classrooms for 2026-27; 80% for 2027-28; 90% for 2028-29; 100% for 2029-30. 
• Creates a clear timeline for NYC to build new classroom seats where needed.
• Creates an accountability incentive for New York City to treat space and hard-to-staff exemptions as temporary tools to reach full compliance, not permanent workarounds to avoid implementing the law. 
• The accountability incentive requires New York City to pay educators a differential when working at schools given space and or hard-to-staff exemptions to reach the citywide compliance rates, and class sizes are still larger than the law allows. 

"We did not want an extension - we want compliance. But the reality is that New York City, up until now, had not done all that was needed to make this law a reality in every classroom. If giving this new administration two more years gets us a partner committed to building the necessary seats, then it is the fastest way to turn the law into reality," said Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers.

"Our goal is compliance. We hope a differential will be an incentive to do the recruitment, hiring, and construction needed to fulfill the law. Smaller classes are the future of our school system. No one thought it was possible, but now more than 60% of classes are smaller as a result of this law. We have to keep pushing to bring this change to all children and all schools," Mulgrew said.

Background:

For the first time since the class size law was signed in 2022, the city will provide real, concrete timelines for when they plan to build additional seats in overcrowded New York City school communities. 

This is possible because City Hall and the DOE are - for the first time- using the class size requirements to site and build schools, annexes, and additions. 

The agreement also recognizes that it is now June. Other school districts have been recruiting and hiring staff since February. It may not be possible to hire all the staff that schools need to comply with the law.

Funds for new hires for September will be prioritized and distributed to the schools with the highest economic need.

Because New York City did not have a recruitment or capital plan in place, the school system will need to rely on space and hard-to-staff exemptions to reach this September's city-wide 70 percent compliance rate.

To ensure these exemptions are temporary, all parties agreed to an accountability incentive. 

Educators in schools granted space and or hard-to-staff exemptions to reach the citywide compliance rates will be eligible for a pay differential when class sizes exceed the state law. Funds distributed to schools with hard-to-staff exemptions will be based on economic need.