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‘Go all out’ to achieve class size reduction
Teachers in Queens, the city's most crowded borough, said the benefits of lowering class size were seen almost immediately, and they encouraged their colleagues to stay the course in pressing school leadership to do the work.
Union eyes ‘voucher’ fight
In the last Delegate Assembly speech of the 2025-26 school year, UFT President Michael Mulgrew extolled union victories on Tier 6 reform, Foundation Aid funding gains and more, while warning members about a coming battle over federal tax credits for...
The big lessons of smaller class sizes
Three teachers in Queens — the New York City borough with the most overcrowded classrooms — drive home the benefits of the state's class size law, which mandates smaller numbers of students per class, by sharing their experiences from the front lines...
UFT vows to light a fire under DOE
The UFT has struck a deal with the city Department of Education to have some teachers compensated as much as $9,500 due to delayed compliance with state class size law mandates.
City must ‘build’ capacity
The UFT is taking aim at the School Construction Authority as it forecasts that when New York City public schools enter year four of the phased implementation of the state’s class-size reduction law, they will fall slightly short of the 80%...
Room to breathe
A calmer pace. More individualized attention. Fewer distractions. Those are among the greatest benefits teachers say they’re seeing in their classrooms this year as the state class size law enters its third year of implementation.
Kudos to Melissa Wall, IS 109, Queens
The efforts of Chapter Leader Melissa Wall of IS 109 in Queens Village saved five teachers from being excessed — and preserved the school's already approved plan to reduce class sizes in its 6th-grade classes.
UFT welcomes new teachers
The number of new teachers who turned out on Aug. 26 for the kickoff of New Teacher Week was about twice as large as last year, thanks to the surge of hiring over the summer to reduce class sizes in some 750 schools. As the new hires lined up outside...
3,000 additional educators hired to reduce class size
As of Aug. 6, the DOE had hired more than 2,300 educators for the 3,700 open positions for class size reduction — about 62% of the need. The progress is significant, but the UFT notes that with hiring shortages throughout the city school system, the...
Schools enact class size plans
With the state funding that 750 schools received to bring class sizes into compliance with state law, more UFT members will have optimal teaching conditions next school year and are confident that students will benefit from the additional time and...