Good morning. It’s Wednesday. Today we’ll look at what it will take to reduce class sizes in New York City’s public school system. We’ll also get details on Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado’s decision to drop his campaign against Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Free bus service and universal child care are two items on Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s ambitious agenda that have received considerable attention. Another — smaller class sizes in the city’s public schools, as mandated by state law — has largely played out beyond the spotlight. I asked Troy Closson, who covers education in New York City, to explain what’s at stake.
How much will reducing class sizes cost?
It’s expensive, and it’s not just Mamdani who wants it. Several years ago, the State Legislature passed a law requiring classrooms across New York City to have 25 students or less by 2028. Former Mayor Eric Adams’s administration largely slow-walked the implementation of the law, although it did add some funding for new teachers.
But Mamdani needs to find as much as $700 million more a year to hire all the teachers it will take.
For comparison, his proposal to make buses fast and free could cost $800 million annually.
In other words, Mamdani has a lot of items on his agenda that are expensive, and mayors often have to choose which to prioritize.
How many new teachers will have to be hired? Can the city find them?
Math and science have been particularly hard to staff across the state. Areas like special ed and bilingual education are really tough, too.
New York City teachers have typically been paid competitively, but the city’s Independent Budget Office found the salaries alone may not be enough to attract more teachers to the profession.
One of the biggest concerns, even if the city manages to hire all the teachers that the law requires, is that when well-off schools have openings, veteran teachers who are working in schools that are less well-resourced might leave. That could mean that some struggling parts of the school system could see a lot of turnover and less experienced educators.
Is it realistic to think that the city can meet the deadline set by the state law for having no more than 25 students in 80 percent of classrooms by the first day of school in the fall?
It’s unclear if they can meet that requirement on that timeline.
People will be watching what happens in Albany in the next few months — whether state lawmakers tweak the law, change the timeline or direct more funding to New York City. There are a lot of competing pressures, particularly with Mamdani embarking on his very ambitious plan to create universal child care for children under 5. That also still requires much more long-term funding.
One of the things I’m most interested in watching is how Mamdani responds to the question of what to do about the city’s selective schools, which tend to be overcrowded, higher performing and often don’t meet class size requirements. There are families who have called for the city to cap enrollments at sought-after schools to redistribute kids across the system. A move like that would be extremely contentious.
Where will the city find space for the extra classrooms? Some schools are already bursting at the seams. And how much will it cost to build them?
Construction is a separate challenge. School construction is handled by an agency outside the Department of Education that has its own budget. But building enough space to spread out students across the system could cost more than $15 billion. And building new school buildings takes time. It’s another reminder of how the Adams administration didn’t do much to prepare the city to implement the law — and the challenges ahead.
It’s probably worth asking a basic question: Do smaller classes help students? Who benefits the most?
Research has shown that smaller classes can help students. There’s frequent debate about how small classes actually need to be, what grade levels the impact is most significant in and how the quality of teachers affects the benefits students receive. Gains from smaller class sizes, for example, might be muted for struggling students if they’re taught by less effective teachers.
But if you talk to any teacher in New York City, they’ll probably tell you the difference in having five, eight or 10 fewer students in a classroom is monumental and hard to overstate in terms of the time and attention they’re able to spend getting to know each kid’s individual needs.
Weather
Today will be sunny, breezy and a lot warmer, as temperatures near 40 degrees. Partly cloudy conditions are expected tonight with a low around 28.
ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING
Suspended for snow removal.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Technology impacts how people experience government every day, from accessing services to trusting that systems work fairly and responsibly.” — Lisa Gelobter, a computer scientist who led the team that developed the animation technology behind GIFs and was on the launch team for Hulu. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed her the city’s chief technology officer and commissioner of the Office of Technology and Innovation.
The latest Metro news
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Pride flag taken down: The flag was quietly removed from the Stonewall National Monument, the symbolic heart of the gay rights movement, after a directive from the Trump administration on the display of “non-agency” flags in the National Park System.
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Malinowski concedes in New Jersey House primary: Analilia Mejia declared victory in the Democratic primary to fill the House seat vacated by Gov. Mikie Sherrill, hours after her main opponent, Tom Malinowski, a former member of Congress, conceded. The Associated Press has not officially declared a winner in the race.
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An expensive news conference: Former Mayor Eric Adams agreed to pay a $4,000 fine for violating the City Charter by having city employees assist with props attacking his former rival in the mayoral election, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, at a news conference last August.
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MetroCards as art: How much longer can New York artists who found inspiration, steady pay or a measure of fame by crafting sculptures, collages and mosaics out of MetroCards stretch a finite supply, now that the floppy cards have been discontinued?
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A Brooklyn icon joined Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl: Maria Antonia Cay, known as Toñita, appeared in Bad Bunny’s performance of“NuevaYol,” a phonetic mix of musical genres that celebrates neighborhoods in New York City with Puerto Rican and Dominican roots.
Delgado ends his campaign for governor
Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado gave up his House seat to be Gov. Kathy Hochul’s running mate in 2022. Then they had a falling-out, and as she made plans to run for another term, Delgado announced that he would run against her.
On Tuesday, four days after he failed to meet the threshold for an automatic place on the Democratic primary ballot, he made another announcement: He would end his campaign for governor. “After much consideration,” he said, “I’ve concluded that there is simply no viable path forward.”
Delgado had hoped to position himself to the left of Hochul, a centrist, by criticizing her refusal to raise taxes and her record on environmental issues. He had also hoped to win support from the Working Families Party, which would have given Delgado another path to the ballot. But an endorsement did not materialize.
Delgado’s exit will spare the governor from attack ads on the left and let her spend the $20 million that she has amassed on the November campaign. Her Republican opponent is expected to be Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive. Last week Hochul chose Adrienne Adams, the former City Council speaker, as her running mate.
METROPOLITAN diary
Monster moves
Dear Diary:
In 1975, I was 16 and attending a school that overlooked the East River in Manhattan. I lived with my family in an apartment two blocks away.
Instead of walking on East End Avenue, I usually strolled home along the East River Esplanade and through Carl Schurz Park.
One day, as I walked with a friend past the concrete chess tables near the basketball courts, we noticed a large man with a familiar bald head who was engaged in a chess match.
“It’s Peter Boyle,” we squealed.
The movie “Young Frankenstein” had come out the year before, and I had seen it because my father was a huge Mel Brooks fan.
My friend and I ran unabashedly up to Mr. Boyle gushing about the movie. He was gracious, taking time to chat with two goofy teenage girls.
Realizing that we had interrupted his game, we backed up and watched silently from a distance. It looked as if Mr. Boyle had the upper hand.
“Wow,” I whispered to my friend. “Look at that. Frankenstein’s got moves.”
— Kim Jones
Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Tell us your New York story here and read more Metropolitan Diary here.
Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B.
Davaughnia Wilson and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at [email protected].
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James Barron writes the New York Today newsletter, a morning roundup of what’s happening in the city.
The post Smaller Classes: Mamdani Does the Math appeared first on New York Times.
