Just two of this school year’s grievances over excessive class sizes citywide remained unresolved by Thanksgiving — thanks to a powerful provision in the 2018 Department of Education-UFT contract.
The UFT calls on the New York State Legislature to rescind its 1995 mandate relief. The union also calls on NYS to require that the city's schools adhere to a maximum of five students to one teacher or provider in SETSS and related-service settings...
New York City’s public schools had 5,485 overcrowded classes this year, compared to 6,447 last year, a drop of 962 from 2014 and the first time the number of oversize classes fell below 6,000 at the start of school since 2009.
A United Federation of Teachers survey has shown that more than 230,000 students — the equivalent of almost a quarter of the entire school system — spent part or all of their first few weeks of school in overcrowded classes.