New York City taxpayers may have to pay up to $21 million in bonuses to thousands of teachers as part of a dealeasing restrictions on public school class sizes, according to a new analysis released Tuesday.
The powerful teachers’ union negotiated pay bumps of up to $8,500 in the upcoming school year beginning in September and $9,500 for the following year for educators in schools being exempt from the class size mandate.
This was a concession to the United Federation of Teachers for agreeing to amend the state’s controversial 2022 law to give Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his Department of Education two additional yearsto meet the caps.
The New York City Independent Budget Office estimates that at least 2,463 teachers will be eligible for the bonuses next school year, according to its new report.
If all eligible teachers receive the maximum bonus of $8,500, the IBO found it could cost the city DOE $21 million during the 2026-27 school year.
“It is unclear whether the Department of Education budget will require additional funds for these bonuses,” the IBO noted.
The report noted the bonuses could cost less if some of them are lower than $8,500, if enrollment declines, if fewer teachers are eligible or if principals maneuver to redistribute students to comply with the caps.
The number of eligible classes was calculated by the IBO using the list of schools that have received exemptions to the size caps this year.
Under the state’s original law, 80% of city public school classrooms by next year were required to have no more than 20-25 students, depending on the grade level.
Absent waivers, all classrooms were to abide by those caps by the following 2027-28 school year — 20 students for K-3rd grade, 23 for grades 4 to 8 and 25 for high schools.
But the new timeline gives the DOE until the 2029-30 school year to be in full compliance, which the city said would saveit roughly $500 million.
Under the agreement involving Gov. Kathy Hochul, the Democrat-controlled state Legislature, Mamdani and the UFT, the city will need to reach 70% compliance by the upcoming 2026-27 school year, 80% by 2027-28 and 90% by 2028-29.
To address a projected $5 billion shortfall and difficulty in meeting the class size reduction targets, Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels requested a delay to give the DOE more time to comply.
Albany approved the two-year extension to the class size reduction edict last week, although it was not included in the state budget.
“This law requires class size reductions, a mandate the State imposed without providing any fiscal supports,” IBO said.
The bonuses for teachers in classrooms exempt for exceeding the cap were not included in the amended law, but negotiated separately by City Hall and the UFT.
The IBO analysis suggested the teacher bonuses were the price the city agreed to pay to win to delay full implementation of lower class sizes.
“Meeting the original timeframe would have required New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) to hire 3,000 teachers this summer—a requirement that would have posed massive operational challenges, in addition to the obvious financial burden,” IBO said.
UFT president Michael Mulgrew said the “differential pay” was a stick — an incentive — to hold city’s feet to the fire to lower class sizes.
“New York City has to keep pushing to make the class size law a reality across the city,” Mulgrew said Tuesday.
“The differential is one way to hold the city accountable for building the space and hiring the staff needed to bring smaller classes to all students.”
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