More kids in classrooms

From the Daily News:

More young city students have been forced to learn in packed classes of 30 or more this school year, a sharp increase over recent years, a new analysis of city education department data reveals.

The study, by nonprofit Class Size Matters, shows that as of Oct. 30 a whopping 48,440 kids in kindergarten through third grade were enrolled in outsized classes.

That’s up from 45,442 kids in enrolled oversize classes on the same date in 2014, 45,242 kids in 2013 and 35,137 kids in 2012, according to the analysis.

That’s a 38% increase in just three years.

Class Size Matters founder Leonie Haimson said those growing numbers mean more public school kids in the Big Apple won’t get a shot a decent education.

UFT sues city over class size problem they both created

From the NY Times:

Despite receiving hundreds of millions of dollars to reduce class sizes, the city’s Department of Education has ignored state law and allowed classrooms to grow in the last couple of years, the city teachers’ union and other groups said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The dispute stems from a lengthy legal battle that ended in 2006, when the state’s highest court ruled that the state was failing to ensure that New York City and other high-needs districts were providing all children with the opportunity for a sound basic education. The ruling led the state to send the city about $1.5 billion in the last three years, about $750 million of which was earmarked for class-size reductions.

But despite the new money, and a decline in student enrollment citywide, class sizes have increased, according to the lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in the Bronx.

And from Room Eight:

So the UFT filed a lawsuit demanding that more teachers be hired to reduce class size, which is what some state aid has allocated for. I've got some news for everyone not paying attention. Thanks in large part to the power of the UFT, that money, all available money, was shifted by the state legislature from having more teachers teach in smaller classes, to having more teachers retired for more years. That irrevocable decision passed in early 2008, when the retirement age for teachers was retroactively cut [to] 55 [from] 62, with those qualifying immediately not putting in an extra dime and those near retirement contributing little.

So how does the UFT have the gall to sue the Mayor. Because he was in on the deal too, for reasons the rest of us can merely guess at. School spending is through the roof, as I have shown here as a matter of data, but administrative spending is low in NYC relative to other places. Come on Bloomberg, you're re-elected now; tell the truth about where the money is going.

The decision about the future of the New York City public schools has already been made. It's a repeat of everything that was done leading up to the 1970s collapse. Screw the newbies and kids, flee to Florida. Instead of complaining and suing, the UFT should be celebrating.

Game over. Come on Bloomberg, say where the money is going. They're counting on you not having the balls to tell the truth.