Honoring Commissioner Betty Rosa at our Skinny Award Dinner

Our Skinny Award Dinner honoring Commissioner Betty Rosa on June 18 was a tremendous success! So many of her admirers attended to enjoy the company of other education warriors, and to sing the praises of our courageous, trailblazing education leader, who has defied the Trump administration's efforts to eliminate diversity and equity from our schools. 

I'm still putting together videos and photos of the event, some are on Facebook,  but meanwhile, here is an Ode to Betty, from Fred Smith, testing expert and former DOE official, followed by comments sent by Diane Ravitch, who is recovering from surgery and radiation treatments, and finally my speech as well, in which I explain the origin of the Skinny Award name. 

----

Full Disclosure from Fred Smith: With apologies to her husband David, I must confess that I have a crush on Betty Rosa. I had the good fortune of meeting her at a Skinny Award dinner in 2012.  We bonded over concerns about the state testing program. In 2010, Regent Rosa called out the program in the NY Times for generating results that were not believable and should not be released. And she stunned reporters in 2016 on the very day she became Regents Chancellor saying directly that she would have had her children sit out the exams. You could hear their jaws drop. But I digress. I offer this poem. 

Why Do We Love Betty? Let Me Count the Ways. 

She never seeks accolades, attention or glory,

Letting a lifetime of learning and leadership tell her story. 

Betty fiercely fights for children and the common weal,

Like Leonie, pursuing reforms with unflagging zeal.  

As a Regent, she served 12 long years all for free,

And deserves a prize for doing hard time in Albany. 

Facing complex issues and crises – making hard decisions

With wisdom, strength, and clear piercing vision.  

She relies on research data to provide her the light

And has a sharp analytic eye that informs her insight.  

Navigating the raging waters of Covid’s cruel years,

An epic maelstrom drowning us in oceans of tears. 

Upholding the standards of quality education;

Charting multiple pathways to graduation. 

Held may’ral control hearings at the legislature’s demand,

Then saw the pols spurn her findings. The public be damned.  

Standing firmly against defiant religionists

And those trampling on the cultures of the indigenous.  

A rare combination of toughness, know-how and grace

With a handle on budgeting and each legal case.  

Managing well-chosen staff to fulfill vital roles;

And trusting task force members to accomplish their goals.  

Brilliant at building consensus, giving credit to others,

Standing in the background has always been her druthers. 

Let me propose a toast to our queen with a touch of mirth:

Here’s to Betty from the Bronx—who remains down to earth. 

--With love, Fred 

June 18, 2025

Diane Ravitch’s statement at the Skinny awards, 2025

Dear Friends,  I am so sorry I can't be with you to celebrate our Beloved Champion, Betty Rosa. I cannot attend because I'm recuperating from the aftermath of two breast cancer surgeries and the radiation that follows. 

I want to give a special shout out to my dear friend, Leonie Haimson and her tireless work to reduce class size. No one works harder than she does to improve the lives of teachers and students. 

Thank you , Leonie, and thank you to everyone who supports Class Size Matters. I also want to pay tribute to my amazing friend Betty Rosa.

Betty has been a champion for children throughout her career, and especially now as our State Commissioner of Education. 

She stood up bravely to the Trump administration and said a loud and unequivocal NO when they ordered her to certify that New York would not condone Diversity, Equity, and inclusion policies. 

Betty said NO. Betty said the state would comply with civil rights law, and it does. 

New York State has a diverse enrollment of students. That's a fact.  New York State wants all schools to aim for equity and wants all students to be included. 

Her example inspire others, as she inspires all of us.  Betty will not be bullied by racists. I am so glad that Class Size Matters is honoring her again. 

I wish that every state had a Commissioner of Education as principled, as courageous and as fearless as our own Betty Rosa.  – Diane Ravitch 

 

 

 

 

The NYC Mayoral debate and what the candidates said on class size

The second and final NYC Mayoral debate happened on Thursday night.  Education and more specifically class size was one of the main topics covered.  Katie Honan of the online publication The City asked each of the candidates their views on the law passed by the Legislature in 2022, requiring NYC lower class size in all grades. 

The full video of the debate is here; and the section concerning education is posted above.  I have also posted a transcript of the education section. I encourage people to watch the whole thing.

Thankfully, the only candidate on the panel to openly oppose reducing class size was Whitney Tilson, a retired hedge fund investor and charter school board member, though some candidates seemed more enthusiastic than others.  Tilson repeated a well-worn myth often put forward by those who oppose lowering class size: that the need to hire new teachers will offset any benefit that would otherwise accrue from smaller classes.   

Yet nearly every controlled study shows significant gains in student outcomes after class sizes are reduced.  One study showed that even after  Los Angeles tripled its hiring of elementary teachers following the state’s class-size reduction initiative, “the district was able to do so without experiencing a reduction in mean teacher effectiveness.” 

Moreover, even if new teachers may be less adept than veteran teachers, the research also suggests that smaller classes are likely lead to lower teacher attrition rates, which in NYC are  24% over four years.  Teacher turnover is especially problematic in our highest-need schools. This means that as class sizes are reduced in NYC, the result will likely be a far  more experienced and skilled teaching force over time.  [Interestingly, even as he supports raising the cap on charter schools, it doesn’t appear to bother Tilson that the annual attrition rate of Kipp charter schools in New York, on whose board he sits, is 23% - meaning they have to hire about one fourth of their teachers every year.)

Another issue that came up during the Mayoral debate was whether the state should provide more funding to NYC to lower class size, which both Cuomo and Lander argued would be necessary.   

My view, which I explained in detail in  testimony on Foundation Aid, is that the state should only send more funding to the city for class size reduction if and when NYC puts forward a detailed,  multi-year class size plan showing how those funds would be effectively used for this purpose.  The Department of Education has yet to propose any such plan, even though it is required by law. 

The plan should include how they will provide sufficient space for smaller classes in the nearly 500  schools that are too overcrowded at their current enrollment to lower class size to required levels. Our analysis shows that these schools currently enroll nearly half of all students.  Even then, there needs to be rigorous oversight by the state to ensure that the funds are spent appropriately towards the intended result.

Twice in the last 25 years, the state has sent millions in additional aid to the city specifically for smaller classes, and both times the city improperly used those funds to supplant their own spending on teachers. 

The first time this occurred was in 2000-2006, when the state provided more than $88 million annually as part of the Early Grade Class Size Reduction Program.  Yet two State Comptroller audits, in 2002 and 2005,  found that the extra dollars did not lead to as many new classes as they should have, because the DOE instead simply cut their own spending for teachers.

In 2007-2008, the state created the Contracts for Excellence program, and with it, provided nearly a billion additional dollars to NYC, along with a requirement that a portion be used to lower class size in all grades. Instead, class sizes increased sharply.  Another audit, this time  from the NYC Comptroller’s office, showed that these funds were again “improperly used to pay for teacher positions that would have existed without the ….program.”

In short, DOE has a terrible record when it comes to class size.  Whoever the next mayor may be, he or she cannot be trusted to do the right thing without first showing us a detailed plan for how the money would be spent.  Even then, DOE must be watched like a hawk to ensure the funds are invested to provide all NYC students with smaller classes, which is their right under the state constitution, according to New York's highest court.