New York City Department of Education Convenes Working Group on Class Size Legislation Implementation

  • Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2023

New York City, NY – New York City Department of Education (DOE) Chancellor David C. Banks today announced the members of the Class Size Working Group. Made up of a diverse cross-section of stakeholders, the goal of this working group is to gather input and provide feedback for DOE leadership to consider related to implementing the State’s new class size legislation.

The legislation, which was signed into law by Governor Hochul in September 2022, prescribes new class size caps for all DOE K-12 community school district schools as well as the creation of a class size reduction plan, to be phased in over five years, for all DOE K-12 community district schools. In addition to requiring the development of the class size reduction plan, which must be approved by the United Federation of Teachers and the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, the law also requires the submission of annual implementation reports. While the New York City Department of Education anticipates being in compliance with the legislation for the next two years, we hope to use feedback from this working group to determine approaches to reaching compliance in the years ahead.

From a large and diverse group of applicants, DOE selected the following members, with a goal of including parents or guardians of DOE students, educators, advocates, researchers, and other key stakeholders. In considering the group composition, DOE considered individuals’ geographic representation, experience, school affiliation (including grade composition and size of the school), as well as organizational affiliation to ensure that a diversity of perspectives are represented within the Working Group.

“We will only succeed in meeting the requirements of the class size legislation with the support of our families, educators, and community partners,” said Chancellor David C. Banks. “The class size mandates included in the legislation passed last year will require difficult decisions and trade-offs in the years ahead, as well as require more funding and other resources. It is critical that members of our school communities are included in this process and help guide the decisions that must be made around implementation of this law.”

The Class Size Working Group will begin meeting this week.

Members of the Class Size Working Group:

Name

Borough

Affiliation

Al Suhu

Queens

Parent

Alysa O'Shea

Queens

Parent

Andrea Daniels

Bronx/Citywide

Parent

Andrew Rein

Citywide

Citizens Budget Commission

Ayishah Irvin

Manhattan

Parent

Bradley Alter

Brooklyn

Parent

Brenda Gonzalez

Bronx

Principal

Celeste Douglas

Brooklyn (District 18)

Superintendent

Chris Ogno

Brooklyn

Principal

Dale Kelly

Citywide

CSA

David Marmor

Queens

Principal

Deborah Alexander

Queens

Parent

Dia Bryant

Statewide

EdTrust NY

Elizabeth Hoffman

Citywide

Office of City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams

Elizabeth Kennedy

Citywide

Office of the NYC Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams

Johanna Bjorken

Brooklyn

School Business Manager

Johanna Garcia

Manhattan

Office of State Senator Robert Jackson

Kaliris Salas Ramirez

Manhattan

PEP Member

Keisha Sydney

Brooklyn

Parent

Kesha Rashed

Bronx

Teacher

Lara Lai

Citywide

NYC Comptroller's Office

Latoya Coleman

Bronx

Parent

Leonie Hamson

Citywide

Class Size Matters

Lisa Rivera

Bronx

Parent

Lori Podvesker

Brooklyn/Citywide

Parent

Lucia Curatolo-Boylan

Staten Island

Parent

Marina Marcou-O'Malley

Statewide

AQE

Matt Chingos

National

Urban Institute

Myrna Torres

Citywide

Children's Aid

Naveed Hasan

Manhattan

PEP Member

Patrick Sprinkle

Manhattan

Teacher

Phillip Composto

Queens (District 30)

Superintendent

Rachel Paguaga

Brooklyn

Teacher

Randi Garay

Brooklyn

Parent

Randi Levine

Citywide

Advocates for Children

Chair Rita Joseph

Citywide

Chair of the Education Committee, City Council

Ron Britt

Queens

Parent

Rosa G Diaz

Manhattan

Parent

Stephen Stowe

Brooklyn

Parent

Tom Sheppard

Bronx

PEP Member

Venus Sze-Tsang

Staten Island

Parent

Vijah Ramjattan

Queens

Parent

Additional UFT and CSA Representation to be determined

Citywide

UFT, CSA