Hundreds of New York City schools have enough space to shrink classes to comply with state law — provided that Mayor Eric Adams hires several thousand new instructors, the city teachers union said on Tuesday.
A new analysis from the United Federation of Teachers found that 856 high-poverty schools have the capacity to lower class size by hiring 3,000 teachers, at a cost of $180 million.
“These schools have the room,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew said on the steps of the city’s education department’s headquarters on Tuesday. “We don’t need any more excuses.”
Less than three weeks ago, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and state legislators agreed on a new state budget that extended Adams’ control of local public schools but also put additional pressure on his administration to comply with a class size law that imposes caps on student headcounts, which will be gradually phased in through 2028. Under the new budget, the state can withhold funding from the city if it does not allocate enough money to lower class sizes at individual schools.
The teachers union and many parents have fought to shrink classes for decades. In 2022, the state Legislature passed a law requiring new limits on class sizes in New York City public schools. When the limits are fully implemented, classes will not be allowed to exceed a size of 20 to 25 students each, depending on grade level.
Adams’ administration has pushed back vigorously against the law, which it calls impossibly expensive. The city’s Independent Budget Office has said education officials would need to hire 17,700 teachers to meet the class size mandate, with an annual price tag of $1.6 billion to $1.9 billion.
The education department did not immediately respond to an inquiry about UFT’s new analysis.
In a report on Monday, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and education advocacy group Appleseed wrote that merging schools was one way to help the city comply with the class size law. School mergers are often controversial, protracted processes.
The law’s critics have said that shrinking classes will force principals to cut arts programs, honors classes and electives to create space and free up staff. They have also expressed concerns that the law will cut off access to some of the most sought-after programs, including the city’s highest performing schools.
Queens parent Jean Hahn said her child’s middle school would have to decrease enrollment by 300 students to meet the class size mandate. “That will really create havoc for families that move to neighborhoods so that they can send their kids to the zoned school,” said Hahn, co-vice president of the group Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education, or PLACE, which criticized the mandate.
The teachers union published a searchable database of schools, based on building capacity and number of open classroom seats, that it says have the space to lower class sizes in accordance with the state requirements.
“It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get this done,” Mulgrew said.