Schools to Add 40 Pre-K Teachers

Forty Pre-Kindergarten Teachers will need to be hired to help correct an enrollment mix-up that led to dozens of children being denied a placement in their older siblings' schools.

The subsequent growth of Pre-K classes in the city after younger siblings were added to classes requires that extra Teachers be added to conform with state laws.

A reserve pool of paraprofessionals will be tapped to fill 40 classrooms, where the number of kids per class is rising from 18 to 20. State caps require that an extra Teacher be hired for a Pre-K class with more than 18 children. Each new paraprofessional hired will be at the cost of $35,000 per year to the city.

The two-Teacher setup will also guarantee more individual attention per child in the affected classes.