By Rich Bockmann
Queens public schools lead the city in overcrowded classrooms, according to a survey the United Federation of Teachers took of school registers on the sixth day of class this year.
Classroom sizes are expected to fluctuate during the first few weeks of school, but the survey found the borough had the largest number of oversized elementary and junior high school classrooms with 802. The most overcrowded high school in the city is Benjamin Cardozo in Bayside with 307 insufficient classrooms and No. three is Long Island City High School with 207 overcrowded classrooms.
With 212 overcrowded classrooms, District 27 — which covers schools in Ozone Park, South Ozone Park, Woodhaven, Richmond Hill and Howard Beach — was the worst of the city’s 32 community school districts. Overall, Queens had a city-high 802 overcrowded classrooms.
“Years of budget cuts and austerity are catching up with New York City’s public schools. Tens of thousands of children have started their school year in oversized classes as the system struggles to deal with increased enrollment and a shrinking teacher force,” said United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew.
Classroom sizes are limited by the union’s contract, and the UFT said it plans to take the DOE to arbitration in order to bring down those oversized classrooms.
The city Department of Education plans to release its final register some time before Jan. 1.
“We are still finalizing our class size reports, but we do expect class sizes to rise modestly as a consequence of nearly $1.7 billion in state and federal budget cuts that have forced us to do more with less,” said DOE spokesman Frank Thomas. “But we believe that getting effective teachers into every classroom is the most important stepping stone to student success, and we will continue to work toward that goal.”
Whereas most voices in this discussion agree that poor economic conditions and budget cuts have driven classroom sizes up, at least one group has called on the UFT to do its part to offset those reductions.
“If the UFT wants the city to hire more teachers, it should look closely at its collective bargaining agreement to determine what concessions could be made to help schools save money,” said Steve Gunn, a spokesman for the nonprofit Education Action Group Foundation.
The school-spending reform group suggested a number of contract concessions, such as salary cuts and increases to pension contributions, as ways the union could help lower class sizes.
“If the union has cut its collective bargaining agreement to the bone in an effort to save schools money, it has a right to complain about class sizes. But if the labor agreement continues to cost New York schools millions of dollars for unnecessary employee perks, then the union should shut up,” Gunn said.
A UFT spokesman said the union does not negotiate in the press.
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
