Mayor Asked To Correct Class Size Statements

A handful of city education advocates are asking Mayor Bloomberg to correct statements that suggest lowering class sizes is not the top priority of public school parents, but the mayor is not budging. A Department of Education spokesman, David Cantor, said Mr. Bloomberg represented results of a citywide parent survey accurately. "Class size is a major concern, but the fact is that more than 40% of parents say improving academics is the most important issue facing our schools," he said. The advocates countered in a letter sent yesterday morning that class size was in fact king.

Out of 10 options to improve their schools, smaller classes were chosen by most parents. The 40% figure refers to four choices — more or better arts programs, more challenging courses, more hands-on learning, and more or better enrichment programs — which were grouped as one category, "program enhancements." None of these options alone received more than 19% of support, but together they received 45%.