Our Children Deserve Better

By LILLIAN RODRIGUEZ-LOPEZ, El Diario-La Prensa - April 25, 2006

Para leer la versíon en Español, oprima aquí.

I fear for the future of Latino children in this city.  A recently released report by the Manhattan Institute found that in New York City, only 37% of Hispanic girls and 30% of Hispanic boys graduated from high school. What a sad state of affairs for our schools and our children. 

Last year, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit that class size was one of three key areas in which our children were being deprived of their constitutional right to a sound basic education. The Court noted that the number of students affected by overcrowded classrooms is large enough to represent a systemic failure.

The research is overwhelming - not only is small class size important in the early grades but studies show that smaller classes in the middle and high school grades also lead to higher student achievement, lower dropout rates, higher attendance, less school violence, fewer disciplinary referrals and narrows the achievement gap for low-income and ethnic groups.  While smaller classes are not the only improvements needed in our schools, there are other areas such as teacher quality and curriculum enhancements, without class size reductions, other improvements prove to be much less effective.

Fearing that small class sizes would not become a reality, the New Yorkers for Smaller Classes coalition was formed to advocate for them.  A key initiative was a proposal for a City Charter amendment that would require designated funding for class size reductions.  To pay for the initiative, the city would be required to dedicate 25% of the funds expected from the state settlement of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit.

Unfortunately, the City ruled our amendment proposal “invalid” and ineligible to ever appear on the ballot. We disagreed and countered with a lawsuit in the State Supreme Court.  Today, oral arguments begin on whether our class size amendment should appear on the November 2006 election ballot.

The Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit took forever to be decided in the Courts and we are still waiting to receive the funding.  Now we have the Smaller Class Size lawsuit because City officials don’t want you decide the issue.  As New Yorkers who value education and our children, you should be allowed to make smaller classes a priority.  Our children deserve a better chance to learn and succeed.