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The city wants parents to weighs in on how to spend nearly $230 million in new money for schools.
The Department of Education is proposing to use $228 million of state money towards reducing class size, hiring new teachers, and other programs for high-need students.
“Educators in this city, when they have more resources, frequently prioritize class size reduction; we always see that as a good thing,” said Garth Harris of the DOE. “What we have been careful of saying, and what we continue to say, is student achievement gains have to be the preeminent goal.”
The problem is, many parents and families are on vacation and were not notified about the public hearings until after school was out for summer break.
But the city says it wants to know what parents think.
Hearings will be held in each borough next week; the first one is July 9th in the Bronx.
The problem is, many parents and families are on vacation and were not notified about the public hearings until after school was out for summer break.
“They did announce this last Friday, two days after schools were closed,” said April Humphrey of the Alliance for Quality Education. “So it makes it very difficult to get the word out to parents and teachers and students, who are the stakeholders in how this funding is spent.”
“The timing of this is not ideal, from our prospective,” said Harris. “We are constrained by when the legislation was passed and are our ability to get real information from the schools about what their plans are.”
The money is part of a $700 million cash infusion from Albany after a judge ruled that city schools are being shortchanged.
Most of that money is already set to go toward charter schools, pre-kindergarten, and other expenses.
The DOE's final plan must be sent to Albany by July 15th.
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