Class Sizes and Discontent Rise in NY

The New York Times reported yesterday that class sizes, across the board, have risen in New York City schools.

Large class sizes point to a decrease in the hiring of teachers, the cause of which has become a current topic of acerbic contention.

For city officials, the culprit comes in the form of a weak economy and subsequent budget cuts. But many are unconvinced, noting the Bloomberg-Klein system’s neglect for class-size reduction funds. Council Robert Jackson, Chairman of the city’s Education Committee, had this to say:

Class-size reduction money has been in place for a long time, and they have done nothing with it… They get an F. They don’t even get an A for trying, because getting an A for trying would mean all of what they had been doing would be geared toward getting the size down, which it has not.

It looks like Mayor Bloomberg has a fight on his hands. And likely, it’s one he’d rather not fight before election season has even begun.