GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

Class sizes across the city could increase by an average of 13 percent next year if the city decides to cut more than 6,000 teaching positions, according to a report the teachers union released today.

The United Federation of Teachers’ report doesn’t consider whether the city will lay off teachers by seniority — as is currently mandated by law. Nor does it factor in Mayor Bloomberg’s desire to lay off teachers based on how their principals have rated them, or how many unexcused absences they’ve accumulated, among other factors. Instead, it takes a blunt measurement of what the loss of over 6,000 bodies in classrooms could do to class sizes across the city and in certain districts.

The calculations don’t appear to take into account many of the complicated details behind how schools distribute their teachers. Often, schools will keep class sizes low for younger students, then increase them for older ones. Schools that separate their advanced students from those who are struggling are also likely to keep class sizes high for the former and low for the latter. (more…)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed cutting 6,400 city teaching jobs today — but he said without action from Albany, the exact number of layoffs is still anybody’s guess.

The mayor’s annual budget proposal would leave 2,000 teaching jobs unfilled and lay off another 4,400 teachers. And Chancellor Joel Klein urged principals to begin preparing for massive reductions that could cause classes to grow by nearly 20 percent.

But Bloomberg and Klein emphasized that all of the numbers could change depending on what happens in Albany, where legislators are now a month overdue in setting a budget for the state.

The city based its budget proposal on the governor’s proposed state budget, which cuts nearly $500 million from school aid to New York City and is more severe than the State Assembly’s proposed plan.

“If we don’t have any specificity in Albany, we have to act on what is a conservative best guess,” Bloomberg said. (more…)