More than 1,100 public-school classes are still larger than allowed under the teacher union’s contract, according to preliminary data released yesterday.
While the numbers are down from the 4,300 oversized classes counted by the union in late September, they demonstrate that some schools are still struggling to shrink their bulging classrooms.
“We do what we have to do to make it a good school, but I don’t see any noticeable changes,” said Michael Eisenberg, a teacher at Francis Lewis HS in Fresh Meadows, Queens, which in September led the city with 259 oversized classes.
As for average class size, the Brooklyn Generation School topped the high-school charts at 38.5, with at least one class of 40 students.
Brooklyn College Academy led the middle schools with a 34-student class size average. PS 77 in Manhattan led elementary schools with 28 students in its average kindergarten through third-grade class.
“There is no grade level in which there is not a problem with either average class size or with thousands of kids who are in class sizes that are too large,” said Leonie Haimson, of the advocacy group Class Size Matters.
Department of Education officials said the data – the most comprehensive numbers made public so far – showed average citywide class sizes declining at least slightly in every grade but second.
They noted that 64 elementary and middle schools in a special program to reduce class size were able to drop 1.2 students per class.
About 50 schools per year will be added to the program as part of a city five-year class-size reduction plan that was recently negotiated with the state.
“Our improvements to class-size reporting will provide more information more accessibly to parents and the public,” said Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.
Education officials said they would continue to improve the accuracy of the data.