Public Officials, Top Statewide Candidates, Parents,
Teachers, New Yorkers For Smaller Classes
Urge Lower Class Sizes in New York City

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Senate Minority Leader and Democratic Lt. Governor candidate David Paterson and Democratic Attorney General candidate Andrew Cuomo today joined New Yorkers for Smaller Class Sizes Chair Lillian Rodriguez Lopez and United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten to greet parents and teachers on the first day of school and push for lower class sizes in all grades.

Speaking to parents and reporters outside P.S. 89 and I.S. 289 in Lower Manhattan, the officials, along with parent leaders, other elected officials and community activists, said small classes are essential to learning, create a safer classroom environment and lead to higher student achievement. They also stressed that lowering class sizes must be part of any resolution of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit.

"As 1.1 million students return to New York City's public schools, elected officials must remain dedicated to providing them the best educational opportunities possible," Quinn said. "The City Council is proud to have helped create 2,000 new full-day slots of universal pre-kindergarten to give our kids the foundation they need to succeed. We look forward to working with New Yorkers for Smaller Classes, the UFT and others to secure smaller class sizes and new and improved schools."

"Every public school student in the city is entitled to a first-rate education," Paterson said. "Many studies show kids in smaller classes do better than those in big classes. Common sense says a student in a Regents Math class with 33 or 34 children —the average in New York City — will not get anywhere near the attention given to a child in a class of 20 —the average in the rest of the state! Those numbers are simply mind-boggling and our children are being hurt."
"We must do everything we can to ensure that our children thrive and reach their greatest potential," Cuomo said. "There is no question that smaller class size leads to higher student achievement and makes a dramatic difference
in our kids' education and lives."

Weingarten, who visited several schools, said: "We need significantly smaller classes and we need a portion of any CFE award to make that happen. Smaller class sizes lead to consistently higher student achievement, a narrowing of the achievement gap, lower dropout rates and fewer discipline problems."

The first-day event came on the eve of oral arguments in the class size coalition's attempt to let voters decide in November whether 25% of any CFE award should be used to lower class sizes.

"Today, the class of 2019 enrolls in kindergarten; another generation of children destined to learn in overcrowded classrooms and overcrowded schools," said Rodriguez Lopez, who also is president of the Hispanic Federation.

"Tomorrow, our lawyers will ask an Appellate Division panel to let voters decide the issue. We must not allow yet another generation of our children to learn without the foundation for success."

Tim Johnson, chair of the Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council, said: "Year after year the number one issue for parents is reducing class size. The city must let voters decide how their dollars should be spent on education."
Others on hand included Council Member Robert Jackson, chair of the Education Committee; Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer; State Senator Martin Connor; Council Member Alan Gerson and parent leaders Dennis Gault, Toni Robinson and Zakiyah Ansari.

Research shows that small classes in all grades lead to higher student achievement. The STAR project in Tennessee randomly assigned 6,000 children to small and large classes in kindergarten through third grade and followed them throughout their school careers. The students in small classes did significantly better in the early grades, held on to those gains through high school and were more likely to go to college.

A U.S. Department of Education study of national test scores found small class size had an even stronger link to higher student achievement in the upper grades than in the lower grades. A Florida study found similar results in such critical areas as writing and problem solving.