Union: Class Size Drops For First Time in Three Years

For the first time in three years, the number of overcrowded classes is down in New York City public schools, according to the teachers union.

In its annual survey, taken on the sixth day of school, the union found 5,485 classrooms with too many students, compared to 6,447 overcrowded classes the year before.

It's the first time the number of overcrowded classes fell below 6,000 since 2009. 

The union attributed the improvement to more school funding from the state and to better allocation of that funding at the city level. The union also credited principals with doing a better job scheduling overcrowded schools.

“I want to thank Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Fariña for starting to tackle the class-size issue, and thousands of students today are in classes smaller than they would have been thanks to the administration’s efforts," said Michael Mulgrew, the union president, in a statement. "But much more remains to be done.” 

The union contract sets class size limits by grade level: 18 students in pre-kindergarten; 25 students in kindergarten; 32 students in first through sixth grades (in elementary schools); 30 students in Title I middle schools, or no more than 33 students in non-Title I middle schools; and 34 students in high school.

More than 180,000 students are still in overcrowded classes, and Queens schools still top the list as some of the most overcrowded, both for high school and elementary grades.

Leonie Haimson, who heads the organization Class Size Matters, said a reduction in overcrowded classes may be attributed simply to a change in population trends. 

"The data shows that our high schools are a bit less overcrowded," she said, while also warning that Queens high school enrollment was still projected to worsen and overcrowding would likely increase unless the city made a concerted effort to reduce class size.