To meet class size mandate, New York officials turn to virtual learning

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To reduce New York City’s class sizes under a new state mandate, Department of Education officials offered an option to help principals comply: apprenticeship virtual.

In a plan released this week outlining ways schools could achieve the law’s goals, the Department of Education suggested some students could “receive regular remote instruction, potentially reducing overall impacts on space in schools “.

Implementing a virtual learning program would be optional, and the plan does not require principals to choose a specific method to reach the new caps. It suggests 11 other possible ways principals can free up space, including reusing rooms not currently used for teaching; increase the number of courses taught by assistant directors; manage student schedules with staggered start times; and ensure that students are evenly distributed across classes.

Virtual learning could prove useful on space-constrained campuses as officials scramble to find ways to reduce class sizes, including launching lengthy and costly construction projects or capping registrations in schools.

Many schools and families have struggled with virtual learning amid the chaos caused by citywide building closures during the pandemic, but city and union officials are betting that more targeted applications can pay off . The Department of Education now operates two remote schools and has seen success with a remote learning pilot, offering online courses to students who could not take these courses at their school. And the teachers union’s latest contract expanded schools’ ability to offer virtual learning.

The class size reduction plan is preliminary and subject to approval by the unions representing teachers and school administrators. And the state’s class size mandate is unlikely to directly lead to a big increase in virtual learning in the short term, since only 40% of the city’s classrooms must comply with the new caps in terms of class sizes in September.

“We are confident that we will be in compliance next year,” Senior Vice Chancellor Dan Weisberg said Thursday at a meeting of the Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Council.

By law, classes should not exceed between 20 and 25 students depending on grade level, and they also apply to virtual classes. Physical education and other classes involving performance groups are limited to 40 students. The law comes into force gradually, with 20% of classrooms per year required to comply with the new caps. All classrooms must meet these limits by 2028.

The city appears to be on track to meet the state’s requirements, and officials are requiring all district superintendents to increase the percentage of classrooms that meet the new caps by 3 percent next year.

“We are looking to make progress implementing this law citywide, although we are close to compliance for next year,” Department of Education spokesperson Jenna Lyle wrote. “This includes injecting $180 million in new funding into school budgets. »

Few schools have signed up to offer virtual learning this year

United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew, who has pushed for reduced class sizes, said virtual options could help address space issues.

“You have fewer problems with scheduling your regular school day because you have fewer students in the building at any given time,” Mulgrew told Chalkbeat earlier this year. “It also gives you more classroom space to work.”

The city’s virtual pilot program, allowing students to take classes from teachers on other campuses, has been a boon for smaller schools that may have struggled to offer a full range of electives and advanced courses.

Under the expanded version of the program negotiated last year in the union contract, schools can offer classes during the regular school day or on evenings and weekends, allowing students to catch up on credits, follow accelerated courses or going to school on a non-academic program. traditional schedule if they work or have other responsibilities.

The contract indicated that 25% of high schools and 6 to 12 schools were eligible to offer virtual instruction this year, with all schools able to participate by the 2027-28 school year. Schools were required to register and neither students nor educators can be required to participate in virtual classes.

But a bureaucratic approval process created barriers to school participation, union officials say. Only 40 high schools are participating this year, although Department of Education officials said 80 schools were approved for this fall and additional campuses were still under consideration. (This does not include schools that allow students to take virtual classes offered by teachers on other campuses.)

“Myself and the chancellor are more involved now,” Mulgrew said, noting that middle and high schools would be eligible to participate next year. “We’re both frustrated about it.”

Backtracking plan to force principals to prioritize teacher recruitment

City officials also indicated that, at least for now, they will not require school leaders with vacant positions to prioritize teacher recruitment over other positions — a move previously discussed by officials that would have limited directors’ freedom to manage their own hiring decisions.

“We do not want to restrict the ability of principals and communities to hire those they deem most essential until we need them,” said Emma Vadehra, director of operations for the Ministry of Education, during of Thursday’s parent council meeting.

Some advocates have expressed concern that the city, which opposed the class size mandate, will not ultimately comply with the state’s requirements.

“Any plan worth the paper it is printed on must predict how many classes will be reduced each year, using what levers and with what results,” Leonie Haimson, executive director of the advocacy group Class Size Matters, said in a statement. . “This document fails on every level.”

Michael Elsen-Rooney contributed reporting.

Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering New York public schools. Contact Alex at [email protected].