Elementary schools are key in the city’s push to boost science, math, and technology. (Daily News)
Examining the collapse of teacher evaluation talks, Michael Powell says the mayor looks worst. (Times)
Investigators found that a substitute teacher at Boys and Girls High School tried to woo a student. (Post)
The city wants to fire an administrator accused of setting off a smoke bomb he says was made up. (Post)
A columnist says Mayor Bloomberg can “win” in his conflict with school bus drivers by sitting firm. (Post)
Arlene Ackerman, who resigned in 2011 as Philadelphia’s schools chief, has died. (Times, Inquirer)
A judge ruled that Texas’s school funding system is unconstitutional. (Times, Dallas Morning News)
As Los Angeles gets its first Hebrew language charter school, familiar questions emerge. (L.A. Times)
Michael M. (parent still)
Hey gang, we’re behind Texas! Heee Haw! Their class sizes are smaller, and their judges are tougher!
Compare the Lone Star State’s ”22-pupil limit for kindergarten through fourth grade” (per above DMN Link) with the Big Apple’s UFT contract class size limits, which are higher, and C4E goals, which we are exceeding:
UFT Contract Limits (not an average, a per-class limit)*:
25 in Kindergarten
32 in Grades 1-6
C4E Goals, on average (2011-2012)*:
19.9 for K-3 (Actual average is 22.9, in 2010-2011, and rising) — 15% over and counting
22.9 for 4-8 (Actual average is 26.3, in 2010-2011, and rising) — 15% over and counting
Translation (say it with a drawl): “Y’all need about fifteen puhcent more teachers and classrooms, on average! That there’s round about 150,000 seats, or $12 BILLION with a bee at $80k/seat in capital costs by their lonesome! That’s about the cost of eight o your newfangled Yankee Stadiums. Bake sales ain’t gonna cut it!”
So can we please get Texas State District Judge John Dietz to come to New York, and bring his can of class-size whup-ass to enforce the Campaign for Fiscal Equity-driven C4E class size “goals”? (“Contract” and “goal” don’t seem to jibe, but that’s another story.)
““There is no free lunch. We either want increased standards (in schools) and are willing to pay the price, or we don’t,” [Dietz] said from the bench. “There is a cost to act, namely a tax increase. There is also a cost not to act, the lost (sic) of our competitive position as a state.””
* Note: Non DMN info per ClassSizeMatters.org.
flerp
The courts are clearly not equipped to address this issue adequately. These cases never end, and court orders beget more court orders, none of which stand for much more than the proposition that the current system isn’t acceptable.
Here’s an idea: federal and state legislation that establishes maximum class sizes. No waivers. It’s not like Congress and state lawmakers don’t have any experience passing unfunded mandates.
Michael M. (parent still)
There’s a difference between an unfunded mandate, an unfulfilled mandate, and an undermined mandate.
I’m guessing you recall the cohoots between DOE and SED over whether the C4E monies even ended up spent as earmarked.
Flerp
The mandate is always muck when it comes through the courts. That’s how we end up with “goals” versus statutory maximums. The CFE started its lawsuit 20 years ago. Courts have repeatedly held that NY’s funding system is inadequate. Yet students have no state constitutional right to a maximum class size, or even a *lower* class size. The only way that’ll happen is if the legislature makes it happen.
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