Right now, in the Legislature, there is a proposal to require that the city be required to produce a plan that would lead to smaller classes in all grades, using a portion of the extra funds our schools will receive as a result of the Court's decision in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case.
Huge pressure is being put on our lawmakers from the Mayor and DOE to eliminate all language requiring smaller classes in our schools.
These provisions would be in this year's state budget, due only a week away, on April 1.
The meeting between Queens legislators and Chancellor Klein referred to below occurred because Queens parents, as well as public school parents citywide, continue to be agonized about the huge class sizes their kids are crammed into, with no significant improvement over the last four years and no relief in sight.
Despite the fact that our schools are projected to receive more than $5 billion in additional funds over the next four years, this administration has no plan to significantly reduce class size in any grade -- even though smaller classes are one of the few educational reforms that have been proven to work. For years into the future, our classes would remain the largest in the state by far and among the largest in the nation.
Indeed, NY state's highest court found that our kids were being deprived their constitutional right to an adequate education because of their excessive class sizes.
All public school parents have to do our part to tell our legislators that is their responsibility to make sure our kids have a fair chance to learn by providing them with the smaller classes that students in the rest of the state -- as well as the children of the Mayor and the Chancellor -- already receive.
To send a free fax to the Governor, click here.
To send a free fax to your Assembly member, click here.
To send a free fax to your State Senator, click here.
If you can, personalize the message. Tell them how your child is suffering, and why it is their responsibility to make sure that our schools reduce class size soon!
Done, done, and done.
ReplyDelete