Who’s taking who to school?
A plan to give the Big Apple extra time to comply with a school class-size cap was supposed to save the city $500 million — but it wasn’t included in the state’s key education budget bill.
A deal to extend the timeline to comply with the rule saw fierce opposition from the powerful teachers union, but lawmakers said the delay will still be handled as a separate bill in the final days of the legislative session.
Under the state’s 2022 law, 80% of classrooms must have no more than 20-25 students by next year, depending on the grade level.
Absent waivers, all classrooms must abide by those caps by the following 2027-28 school year — 20 students for K-3rd grade, 23 for grades 4 to 8 and 25 for high schools.
The United Federation of Teachers championed the class size reduction law even though enrollment is plummeting in the Big Apple school system.
“For an extension to be considered the DOE needs to produce a clear capital construction plan to build seats where they are needed for class size reduction,” UFT president Michael Mulgrew said Wednesday.
Sen. John Liu (D-Queens), who chairs the committee overseeing New York City schools and sponsored the class size reduction law, said talks on changing the law are ongoing.
“Negotiations continue on legislation to provide more time for the city to comply with class-size limitations, pending clear plans for classroom construction and teacher recruitment from the city,” Liu said.
Assembly Education Committee Chairman Michael Benedetto (D-Bronx) said he expected a compromise on class size will be reached before the legislature adjourns for the summer.
“I heard that the Mayor and the UFT came to some sort of agreement about handling this. I don’t know what the deal was,” Benedetto told The Post.
Benedetto said although a standalone bill may be coming, he has yet to be notified.
An Albany source said the mayor hadn’t proposed language to delay the class size reduction law and that’s why it’s not in the state budget.
Mamdani spokesperson Jenna Lyle said, “Smaller class sizes are about giving our students the education they deserve and giving our educators the support they need to deliver it. This administration is committed to implementing class size reductions the right way.
The mayor rep added, “We’re in close conversation with leaders in Albany and our union partners as we work together to make that vision a reality for every New York City public school student.”