$258 Million at Stake
Unions: DOE Plan Won't Cut Classes

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

Education advocates and union officials last week hammered the Bloomberg administration's claim that two of its major initiatives would reduce class size and increase the amount of time students spend learning.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow SAYS CITY TAKING WRONG APPROACH: United Federation of Teachers Vice President Michelle Bodden said the Department of Education is making a mistake by increasing its emphasis on test scores while shortchanging individualized attention and tutoring for students who are 'in danger of falling behind' their peers.

The United Federation of Teachers and the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators rejected the city's assertion that a program that integrates general and special education students, known as Collaborative Team Teaching, should be considered a class-size reduction plan. The groups are hoping that state officials will force Mayor Bloomberg to fundamentally alter portions of his proposal to spend $258 million in state funds.

'No Gimmicks'

"CTT does not have anything to do with class-size reduction," said UFT Vice President for Elementary Schools Michelle Bodden after a City Council hearing on the spending plan.

ERNIE LOGAN: 'Need more classrooms.'

The UFT, CSA and education advocates are frustrated that more money is not going to add new classroom Teachers, which they say would lower the number of children in each class. The state funds must be spent on five priorities, including reducing class size. The city's plan calls for $66 million for hiring new Teachers and $40 million for CTT. The state will approve or reject the city's plan by Aug. 15.

"We need them to create a plan to provide more space for more classrooms," said CSA President Ernie Logan, "not come up with gimmicks."

CTT creates classes of about 60 percent general education students and about 40 percent special education students, and it is supported by both unions as a useful teaching method. But the Department of Education wants it included as a class-size reduction measure, arguing that having two Teachers for about 25 students reduces the pupil-Teacher ratio.

'Playing Two Games'

DOE officials do not claim that CTT lowers class size for the special-education students, who usually have about 12 to 15 students in self-contained classrooms, or for the general education students who are not in the integrated class. The class-size reduction benefit is only for the approximately 15 general education students who would have the benefit of two Teachers, they say.

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said that the goal is to cap the classes at 25 students, but DOE officials noted that the enforceable limit would be whatever is allowed for regular classes for that grade according to the UFT contract. Those limits, which often produce thousands of grievances, can surpass 30 students.

CSA Vice President Peter McNally used to be the Principal at P.S. 229 in Queens, which had about 270 special-education students and more than 1,000 general education students. Some grades had as many as 10 different general education classes, and the school had several CTT classes. While he supports the use of CTT where appropriate, he argued that setting up one CTT classroom per grade would not relieve the overcrowding in the other 10 classrooms. "They're playing two different games here," he said.

Wrong Emphasis

Union officials also noted that only schools with a concentration of special education students could use CTT, since those classes require at least 12 special education students who are all at the same grade level and would benefit from an integrated classroom. DOE officials said that the CTT classes would go into schools where they had consulted with the Principal and found an appropriate population.

UFT officials also objected to the earmarking of $14 million for the city's new interim testing regime under the state-mandated category of increasing students' "time on task."

"It flies in the face of what educators know about time on task," Ms. Bodden told the Council's Education Committee, "which refers to strategies to expand individualized instruction, tutor and help students who are in danger of falling behind. Not giving more tests."

Tests As Real Gauge

The standardized tests would be administered five times per year, in addition to the existing battery of state and city tests, but would not be high-stakes. Instead, DOE officials say, they would be used to learn more about the gaps in students' knowledge. "If a child doesn't know algebra, spending time on geometry isn't going to do the trick for that child," said Mr. Klein after Committee Chairman Robert Jackson pressed him on the issue. "I don't think you can be on task unless you're effectively assessed."

The unions' testimony came on top of a lobbying and letter-writing campaign by parents, education advocates and Council Members to urge the state to reject parts of the city's proposal. The state money is a result of a court ruling that found that city schools had been systematically underfunded.