NYC schools announce plan to hire 3,700 new teachers across 750 schools to reduce class size
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Mayor Eric Adams unveiled a plan to hire over 3,700 new teachers across the New York City public school system.
The move supports the city's attempt to comply with a state requirement to reduce class sizes.
It is a proven educational reality, reduced class sizes lead to more personalized instruction for students and less stress for teachers.
Achieving that reality was a 30-year challenge for the nation's largest public school system until science teacher Tracy Ivanic came up with an idea on how to dole out the money meant to address the problem.
"And I said, Give it to me, give it to me. And I said, okay, to be fair, let's give it to anybody who does need it. If you just let them write an application, the money will go where it is needed," Ivanic said.
That common-sense idea completely flipped the previous approach, which saw education department administrators decide which schools received funding.
Eight-hundred schools applied for support to address their specific needs, and 750 got approval to reconfigure classrooms and hire new teachers.
Bronx principal Luis Torres got four of the 3,700 new teachers that will fill classrooms beginning next fall, positions that are now funded in the city budget.
"Now I am able to offer more music programs to the children as well as reducing my class sizes in Kindergarten, first and second grades," Torres said.
"This is an incredible benefit. It is a game changer for the educational landscape of our entire city," Mayor Eric Adams said.
In their applications, some schools said they needed funding more than just new teachers.
"Funding to convert a room into an instructional room because what they needed was more space at the school level," Emma Vadehra, NYC Schools Deputy Chancellor said.
The mayor, the schools chancellor, and the teachers' union president announced Wednesday's good news at PS 88, one of the most crowded schools in the city's largest district.
Come September, there will be fewer students in all the classrooms.
More individualized instruction is hoped to lead to higher academic achievement.
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