NYC set to save millions in delayed class-size mandates for public schools – but at what cost?
The city hopes to save $500 million after state lawmakers agreed to postpone the deadline for NYC public schools to implement limits on the number of students in each class — but questions were raised this week about the extension’s impact on the education of the city’s children.
Smaller class sizes are widely thought to greatly improve student outcomes, especially earlier in education and for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Critics of NYC’s rollout of class-size mandates, however, say the plan must do more to ensure an equitable public school system.
City Council Member Eric Dinowitz (D-Bronx), who chairs the Committee on Education, acknowledged the significant savings during an executive budget hearing Monday, but cautioned DOE officials to plan class-size reductions thoughtfully.
“DOE must get to 100% class size compliance in a way that is equitable,” Dinowitz said. “We cannot prioritize schools that need help reaching compliance at the expense of schools that meet the class size mandate, but have other needs.”
City Council Education Committee Chair, Eric Dinowitz pressed for an equitable distribution of resources while fulfilling the DOE class size mandate. Photo: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit
The 2022 state law would have required city schools to increase the number of teachers and, in some cases, space to ensure that no class in NYC Department of Education schools would exceed 25 students by next fall.
However, the undertaking would require a massive public investment. Amid the city’s massive budgetary shortfall, state lawmakers introduced legislation to extend the deadline by two years, saving the city from immediately investing millions in funds for staffing and school construction costs to immediately meet the class-size mandate.
Chancellor vows class-size plan coming for NYC schools
NYC Schools Commissioner Kamar Samuels said on Monday that the DOE will release a plan for a class-size mandate sometime next week.
“The extension of the implementation timeline will allow us to execute our capital and hiring strategies sustainably and with fidelity, building on the progress we have made since my last testimony,” Samuels said. “Specifically, we’ve worked shoulder to shoulder with SCA [School Construction Authority] to create a multi-year plan for all schools with class-size related space needs.”
To achieve the city’s goal, the DOE allocated funding to schools that require more hiring and additional space needed to reach the benchmark. But many of the schools currently behind on class-size mandates are in districts with lower economic need and higher academic achievement.
Students in districts with lower economic need have been shown to perform, on average, better academically than students in districts with greater economic need. And to satisfy class mandate requirements, additional resources are being funneled to schools that generally outperform schools with less economic need that happen to meet class size benchmarks, according to a report by the policy research nonprofit, the Urban Institute.
Additionally, under an agreement with the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the extension would require that teachers in schools with certain exemptions to the class-size benchmarks be eligible for a pay differential of up to $8,500 a year if their classes exceed the cap.
UFT President Michael Mulgrew said when the extension bill was introduced that the union representing the city’s public school teachers hoped the differential would serve as an incentive for the DOE to do the hiring and expansion needed to serve NYC students.
“We did not want an extension; we want compliance,” Mulgrew said earlier this month. “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.”
But budget analysts at the Independent Budget Office (IBO) highlighted that such incentives could potentially cost the city $21 million next year and possibly increase in 2028. The IBO identified classes that qualified for exemptions this year and estimated that more than 2,300 teachers would be eligible for the pay differential next year. If each teacher received the full $8,500, IBO said it would cost the city tens of millions of dollars.
Louisa Chafee, director of the IBO, testified at a budget hearing in May.
“This bonus program helps teachers in crowded classrooms but does not address the presumed benefits that lower class sizes were envisioned to have for children’s education,” Chaffe said.
The extension passed both the State Assembly and the State Senate and awaits Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature. Without the extension, the IBO said the city would be forced to hire 3,000 new teachers over the summer, a significant expense and logistical hurdle.
