kindergarten proposal briefing city council 5.24.12

7/31/2019 Kindergarten Proposal Briefing City Council 5.24.12

1/22

Briefing Presentation by Class Size Matters

to New York City Council

May 24, 2012

Potential impact ofProposed Mandatory

Kindergarten


2/22

General Implications ofProposal

Mandatory Kindergarten would lead to an estimatedaddition of 3,000-6,000 students in the NYC public schools(NYT, 3/21/12);

When DOE closed ACS daycare centers in 2010, 3,000

more Kindergarten students entered the system;

IBO cites this development as a major contribution to largeincreases in Kindergarten class sizes;

Share of Kindergarten students in classes over thecontractual limit of 25 increased from 6.6% to 7.9%, mainlydriven by schools in areas where daycare centers wereclosed.


3/22

Implications for Existing Pre-K Seats

Space crunch induced by influx of additionalKindergarten students could produce an increased lossof Pre-K seats

This occurs during a time of rising demand for Pre-K:28,815 applications in 2011 v. 25,487 in 2010

In 2011, only 68% applicants were admitted to Pre-K, adrop from 72%; over 9,000 children rejected

This year the number of Pre-K seats in DOE buildingsdropped to lowest level since 2006


4/22

Pre-K Seats in DOEBuildings, 2006-2011

20,374

21,71021,604

21,656

22,014

21,335

19,500

20,000

20,500

21,000

21,500

22,000

22,500

2006-7 2007-8 2008-9 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12


5/22

Kindergarten Seats CurrentlyInadequate

Even without mandatory Kindergarten, there are notenough seats for zoned Kindergarten students

This has led to Kindergarten waitlists in all boroughs &

in nearly one fifth of elementary schools

Additionally, class sizes in K & early grades are highestin 13 years, though lower class size one of few reformsproven to narrow achievement gap and lead to more

learning for all students

This is an ongoing crisis which cannot be ignored


6/22

Wait lists worse in 3 out of 5boroughs this year

88131

76

182

22

462

235

720

942

47

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

Man Bronx Brooklyn Queens SI

No. of K students on wait lists for zoned neighborhood schools

2009-2012

2009

2010

2011

2012


7/22

More than 2400 Kindergarten students

on wait lists in April for zoned schools

499

1880

2569

2406

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

2009 2010 2011 2012

Zoned Kindergarten wait lists citywide, 2009-2012


8/22

52%

29%

7%

11%

5%4%

14%

19%

31%

6% 5%

41%

5%

41%

14%

17%

7%

42%

50%

30%

11%

21%

9%

35%

16%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

2 3 4 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 17 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

% Elementary Schools with waitlists by district


9/22

Kindergarten Wait Lists Though some children will drop off wait lists over time,

numbers show extreme pressures on schools tosacrifice cluster rooms and further increase class sizenot just in K, but in all grades as students move

upwards

Furthermore, substantial Kindergarten wait lists exist insome districts with no funded seats in Capital Plan

Especially large wait lists in District 12 in Bronx andDistrict 21 in Brooklyn where there are NO fundedseats in Capital plan


10/22

Currently, K enrollment is still growing(gened & CTT)

64132

64806

69268 69273

71429

60000

62000

64000

66000

68000

70000

72000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011


11/22

K-3 total enrollment also growing

(gened + CTT)

266868

269621

275490

278144

280941

255000

260000

265000

270000

275000

280000

285000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011


12/22

K-3 Class Sizes Largest in 13years

24.9

23.2

22.422.1

21.7 21.621.3

21.1 21.0 20.9

21.4

22.1

22.9

23.9

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

K-3 Class sizes largest since 1998(data sources: IBO 1998-2005; DOE 2006-11)


13/22

42% of Kindergarteners inclasses of 25 or more

58%

39%

20%

7% 9%

20% 21%

17%20%

33%

42%

8% 9%

23%

33%

40% 41%38% 37%

40%38%

27%24%

16%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

2010 first year since 1998 that more K students in classes of 25 or morethan 20 or less since 1999

% at 25 ormore

% at 20 or less


14/22

% of Kindergarten students in classes

of 25 or more (by Borough)

14 14

23

17

27

17

38

31

4342

52

42

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Brook Man Queens Staten I Bronx Citywide

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011


15/22

Background on Capital PlanPromises

When Mayor Bloomberg introduced his first CapitalPlan in 2005, he said it would achieve the followinggoals:

Alleviate overcrowding

Provide space for classes of 20 or less in grades K-3 inall schools

Eliminate the need for trailers

NONE of these goals have been achieved, andovercrowding in elementary schools and k-3 classsizes now WORSE than in 2005


16/22

Elementary Schools MoreOvercrowded than in 2006

According to the historic Formula in the Blue Book more

elementary school buildings are overcrowded & 50,000 more ESstudents are in overcrowded buildings than in 2006.

Utilization Rate

(Historic) 2006-2007 2010-2011# buildings 100% or

over 257 306# students 118156 167673% students 24% 33%% of buildings 28% 32%


17/22

According to target formula, 53% of all

elementary school students are inovercrowded buildings

74%

48%

41%

51%

72%

53%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Staten Island Bronx Manhattan Brooklyn Queens Total

% PS Students in Buildings 100% or over in 2010 -2011(Target)


18/22

Actual need for new seats

DOE has explicitly admitted that their estimates showa need for about 50,000 seats, with 16,186unfunded;

Our estimates of need from building starts alone,

using City Planning multiplier, is more than 78,000seats , which is likely to be underestimate;

Doesnt count need to alleviate existing overcrowdingor to reduce class size;

Doesnt count need to regain lost cluster andspecialty rooms, or eliminate trailers;

Doesnt count need for more pre-K seats.

DOE h l b k


19/22

DOE sharply cut back oncapital plan after Nov. 2010

25,142 25,142

30,377 30,377

50,074

28,866

33,888

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

New Seats in capital plan


20/22

Spending on capacity back loaded to

FY 14


21/22

Recommendations Though proposal to make Kindergarten mandatory is

laudable, this would add thousands of students to analready overcrowded and underfunded system, and wouldundercut expected gains;

CSM recommends that funding for school capacity projectsbe accelerated and moved from FY 14 to next year;

Comptrollers office points out that this would add no coststo taxpayers, but would produce 15K additional jobs,potentially save millions in the long term by takingadvantage of low interest rates and construction costs, andcreate more school seats.

(NYC Capital Acceleration Plan: Creating Jobs Todayby ImprovingTomorrow's Infrastructure, May 2012)


22/22

Public school parents calling for more schoolconstruction in 1950s

at Brooklyn Borough Hall

kindergarten proposal briefing city council 5.24.12

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