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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Michael Rands, Researcher at Class Size Matters, on Class Size Reduction Compliance and Funding
11:16:03
ยท
3 min
Michael Rands from Class Size Matters expressed deep concerns about the lack of funding allocations for schools to comply with class size caps by 2028. He criticized the DOE's voluntary process for principals to apply for class size reduction funds without clear goals or disclosed funding.
- Highlighted the increase in students enrolled in overcrowded schools and the lack of space in 495 schools to meet class size caps
- Pointed out that practical solutions proposed by the Class Size Working Group, such as balancing enrollment between nearby schools and shifting some pre-K classes, have not been implemented
- Noted that the capital plan does not include enough funded seats to comply with class size caps by 2028, with only about 33,000 new capacity seats added so far
Michael Rands
11:16:03
Thank you so much, Chair Joseph and entire members of the education committee for sticking it out and allowing me to testify tonight.
11:16:12
My name is Michael Rands, and I'm a researcher at Flat Sides Matters.
11:16:16
We are deeply concerned about many aspects about tonight, especially relating to the lack of funding allocations to ensure that schools are going to be able to comply with the cap size class size caps that we're expecting by 2028.
11:16:36
As we've already talked about, 50% of classes need to be complying with the caps that September compared to the 48% that we have now.
11:16:45
Yes, we think that the process designed by the DOE to achieve this goal is an entirely voluntary, meaning that the principals are essentially allowed to apply for class size funds with no actual funding allocated or disclosed or appropriated for reducing class sizes.
11:17:00
And there's no clear goal in this plan of how many teachers are to be hired in the budget.
11:17:06
And while the DOE had originally stated that an announcement would be made to which schools would be awarded class size reduction fundings by the February.
11:17:15
As the last time we checked, we couldn't find that information.
11:17:18
But perhaps more crucially, there's been little progress so far made to create sufficient space for overcrowded schools to be able to meet the class size tax this year.
11:17:27
The percentage of students enrolled in schools over 100% utilization rates eventually increased last year rather than decrease.
11:17:34
And as we heard earlier, according to the DOE, there's upwards of four ninety five schools that do not have enough space to meet the class size caps.
11:17:44
And of these four ninety five schools, they actually enroll nearly half of all K-twelve public school students.
11:17:53
Unfortunately, there were a lot of really good practical solutions put forward by Classes working group, yet very few of them have been adopted.
11:18:01
One of them was to balance enrollment and utilization rates more evenly between nearby schools, which would improve both overcrowded and underlies to schools, yet that has not been implemented.
11:18:13
Nor has the DOE acted on the Class I S Works Group proposal to shift some of the pre K and three K classes and overcrowded elementary schools to nearby pre K programs run by community based organizations, which have thousands of empty seats and are now threatened with closure by the DOE if they do not have the 95% of their seats filled.
11:18:35
Nor has the capital plan come up with enough new funded seats to really comply with the cats by 2028.
11:18:43
According to Nina Cabot, President of SCE last estimated that they would need 85,000 new school seats to comply with the capsized caps yet only about 33,000 seats have been added as new capacity seats far, far fewer than what we need and approximately only 20,000 are expected to be completed by
UNKNOWN
11:19:06
September.
11:19:06
Time's expired.
11:19:07
Thank you.
Michael Rands
11:19:08
Again, are deeply thank you.