what can you do to help?

Become a member by sending a tax-

deductible contribution to: Class Size Matters 124 Waverly Place New York, NY 10011 or by visiting our website at: www.classsizematters.org
Ask for a briefing on class size and/or

why does class size matter?

Please join our ca mpa ign for sma ller classes!

school overcrowding for your parent or community group by calling us at:

212-674-7320
or emailing: info@classsizematters.org
Join the over 4,000 plus subscribers to our

class matters
A non-profit advocacy organization in NYC, fighting for the right of every public school child to benefit from smaller classes and a quality education.

As numerous studies have shown and as parents and teachers have long known, students in smaller classes learn more in school, are more engaged, and are less likely to drop out or cause disciplinary problems. LouAnne Johnson, the teacher who inspired the movie Dangerous Minds, wrote:

free electronic news updates.

For news related to class size and school

overcrowding, send an email to: classsizematters-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

For news and discussion on all the latest

When classes are small enough to allow individual student-teacher interaction, a minor miracle occurs: Teachers teach and students learn.
Class size reduction is one of four K-12 education reforms that have been proven to work, according to the Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the United States Department of Education. It also has been

shown to significantly narrow the achievement gap between racial and ethnic groups. New Yorks highest court ruled that NYC students were deprived of their constitutional right to an adequate education, due to excessive class sizes. And yet class sizes have increased sharply over the last four years, and in grades K-3 are now the largest they have been in over a decade.

NYC education issues, send an email to: nyceducationnewssubscribe@yahoogroups.com

This is a worsening crisis that that should not be allowed to continue.

Councilman Robert Jackson, Chair, NYC Council Education Committee

Concerned about too few or non-existent Kindergarten seats, Stroller Moms join other parents and activists at a City Hall rally for a Better Capital Plan.

Class Size Matters 124 Waverly Place New York, NY 10011 212-674-7320 www.classsizematters.org

Visit our website at: www.classsizematters.org

We advocate for smaller classes in NYC public schools, provide information on the benefit of smaller classes to parents and elected officials nationwide, give parent trainings and workshops, testify before the NY state legislature and City Council on issues involving class size, school overcrowding, testing, and parent involvement. We also analyze class sizes, enrollment trends, and overcrowding in city schools and the monitor the Department of Educations use of funding. And thats not all; here are just some of our accomplishments in 2011:
We pushed for, and the City Council passed a law

Students Per Class

what does Class Size Matters do?

We helped lead a successful campaign to persuade

the State Comptroller to block the State Education Departments granting a no-bid contract to Wireless Generation, owned by Rupert Murdochs News Corporation, that would include confidential student information.
We co-founded a new national organization,

what are the current contractual class size limits?

The class-size limits are as follows: Pre-Kindergarten = 18 Kindergarten = 25 Grades 1-5 = 32 Title I middle schools = 33 High school academic classes = 34 Middle & HS physical education classes = 50 High school music classes = 50
These class sizes are clearly too high!
In 2007, we helped persuade the NY State Legisla-

30.0 27.5 25.0 22.5 20.0

AVERAGE CLASS SIZES IN GRADES 4 - 8 COMPARED TO STATE-MANDATED GOALS

Smaller class sizes benef it every child in every grade!

25.6 25.6

25.1 24.8

25.3 24.6

25.8

26.3

26.6

Parents Across America, to provide parents with critical information about the current corporate agenda being implemented across the country in our public schools, and to promote positive progressive change. This organization already has more than 12 chapters and affiliates nationwide.
We continue to operate NYCs largest electronic

23.8

23.3

22.9

2006 - 07 2007 - 08 2008 - 09 2009 - 10 2010 - 11 2011 - 12

CITYWIDE AVERAGE STATE GOALS

Students Per Class

to require better reporting on school over-crowding, including whether students have access to art rooms, science labs, and space for their mandated services, as well as gymnasiums and auditoriums.
We filed a lawsuit against NYC providing free

education news list, with over 4,000 subscribers, and to run the NYC Public School parents blog, which has received more than 1 million hits since it began. Our blog at ww.nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com offers news, opinion, and humor by NYC public school parents; and was named one of the best education blogs in the entire city.
In 2011, Class Size Matters was quoted more

30.0 27.5 25.0 22.5 20.0

AVERAGE HIGH SCHOOL CORE CLASS SIZE COMPARED TO STATE-MANDATED GOALS

27.0

ture to pass a law, requiring the city to reduce class size in all grades in return for receiving hundreds of millions of state funds. Yet despite this state mandate, for the last four years class sizes have increased in all grades and are now the largest in grades K-3 in over a decade. We must work together to avert this growing crisis.
AVERAGE CLASS SIZES IN GRADES K-3 COMPARED TO STATE-MANDATED GOALS
23.9 22.9 21.0 21.0 20.9 20.7 21.4 20.5 22.1

26.0 25.6

26.1 25.7

26.2 25.2

26.6

24.8

24.5

space and services to charter schools inside public school buildings which prevents the ability of public schools to reduce class size and which we believe violates state law that requires space must be provided at cost.
The State Comptroller released an audit showing

Students Per Class

that NYC underreports its dropout rate, leaving out 15-20 percent of students who are erroneously categorized as discharges instead. This audit resulted from a study we co-authored, showing how thousands of students are discharged from schools each year without a high school diploma but not counted anywhere in the DOEs statistics. As a result, the New York City Council passed a law that for the first time will require detailed reporting on discharge rates.

than 100 times in the media, including the NY Times, Daily News, NY Post, Wall St. Journal, Education Week, metro, AM-NY, El Diario, Los Angeles Times, DNA-info, Daily Kos, Business Week, Gotham Gazette, and GothamSchools, as well as on CNN, Fox-News, MSNBC, NY1, WCBS-TV , Channel 7 News, WPIX-TV Democracy Now, , China Radio International, and national and local public radio programs, as well as many other media outlets.
Our book of essays by researchers, parent activists, and esteemed experts like Diane Ravitch and Deborah Meier has been cited on radio, TV and on blogs as far , away as Australia and Thailand.

2007 - 08

2008 - 09

2009 - 10

2010 - 11

2011 - 12

CITYWIDE AVERAGE

STATE GOALS

25.0 23.25 21.5 19.75 18.0

20.3

20.1

19.9

2006 - 07 2007 - 08 2008 - 09 2009 - 10 2010 - 11 2011 - 12

CITYWIDE AVERAGE STATE GOALS

45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%

PERCENT OF KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS IN CLASSES OF 25 OR MORE

42% 34% 17% 22% 24%

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Class Size Matters was founded and is led by Leonie Haimson, a public school parent.
Available for purchase from Lulu.com

Photo: NY Fam

In 2006, the NY Times called her the city's leading proponent of smaller classes. In 2007, she received the John Dewey Award from the United Federation of Teachers. In 2008, she was honored as one of the citys family heroes by New York Family magazine. In 2009, she began writing a column in the Huffington Post.

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